There's a big pile of dirt out by the soccer field, and that pile of dirt has a set of stairs going right up the middle of it.

Yes, the soccer field will soon have bleachers. If the weather cooperates, school officials say the bleachers should be finished by the end of September. 

With the exception of the stairs, all of the work is being completed by the Marshall operations staff.

Can you identify the classrooms here? You may get some clues if you head to the Middle School Back to School Night tonight!

Lori Williams is the parent of a 7th grader at Marshall. She contacted the blog this week to ask the following question:
"I'm wondering if Marshall would consider instituting the students wearing uniforms. Personally, I think it is wonderful on several levels. In this modern era, it may be considered completely absurd - mostly by the students. I would think most of the better private schools in the USA have this as part of their requirements. I do think nearly all of the international schools include this as part of their schooling. I'm curious to know Dr. Ehrhardt's opinion on this subject."

I contacted Dr. Ehrhardt and he was happy to respond to the question for the blog. The following is his response.

"The question of uniforms and dress codes is very interesting. Certainly, as a parent I have feelings about the matter each time there is an argument at home about what to wear to school! In my experiences at two of the arguably best international schools in Latin America and Europe, they did not have uniforms. However, all British public and private schools did. Great private schools like Blake and Breck in the Twin Cities do not have uniforms, but I am sure that you can find equally great schools that do. If a uniform is part of a school tradition, I think that is great. In cases where a school introduces a uniform, the rationale would need to come from within the organization. Charter schools often implement uniforms to address issues of student behavior or peer bullying about clothing. One middle school in town is taking that a step further this year by introducing clear backpacks to prevent theft. Thankfully, I have not seen this type of behavior at Marshall, but I am certain that the topic of dress will continue to be part of my first-year dialog at the school."

Thanks to Dr. Ehrhardt for his quick response to the question.

If anyone else has a question for the Parent Pass Blog, please post to the blog, or send me your question by e-mail, to ksuekos@charter.net. Have a great 3-day weekend!

-Kim Kosmatka, Parent Pass Blog Moderator

Students at work in Ms. Ball's class.

Juniors getting to know one another this afternoon.

Happy faces after a great first week of school!

Lunch looks a little different to returning students this year. The wall between the hallway and the lunchline was removed over the summer, opening up the space quite a bit.

The school also received some new serving stations from UMD.

These shots were taken during the middle school lunch hour today.

The Camp Menogyn informational meeting is tomorrow (Thursday, September 2) at 7pm in the Chapel.