WordPress for Teaching

Hello!

Currently I teach graphic design at the High School level and just started teaching a web 2.0 class at my district’s Middle School. I have created many websites using WordPress for clients and love how it can be set up to allow them to change information on the site themselves rather than calling me up every time. The question here is as follows…

I want to be able to set up a class website using a WordPress, that would allow students create their own blog. This way they can decide on what topic they would like to write about. I have tried some free blogging sites but they are either completely locked out and void of any kind of customization or they simply are one blog that allows students to post comments under that blog title.

I want to give the students the freedom to create their own custom blog while I can still administer them, read and comment on them from one dashboard location.

The research I have conducted has led me to WordPress MU but I believe that is now built into the WordPress 3.0.

Can anyone help me with creating something that would give me the abilities as stated above? Or at least shoot me in the right direction?

Right now we are using a site called gaggle.net. but the restraints on that site make it very hard to be creative and there is really no customization at all.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Mike