what is your private middle school's policy for cell phone usage in class/at school?

[Anonymous]

I'm sure that I can ask but we're only applying to schools---does anyone know the Norwood, Bullis and St. Andrew's policies?

[Anonymous]

Needs to be turned into a "phone basket" at the start of the day. Escalating, and extreme, penalties if that doesn't happen. Third time a student is caught with phone = expulsion.

[Anonymous]

For WES you have to keep it in your locker the entire day. No use during the day allowed. Rule is enforced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter at SR is required to keep her phone in her locker all day, it is strictly enforced.

So during class breaks, or when they go to their lockers, are they allowed to check phone/use it?
We have a SR babysitter who always texts me back during the day when I ask if she's available. But she's in high school.

HS rules are different. The girls are allowed to use them during breaks.

[Anonymous]

At gds ms, must be in locker/back pack and off between beginning of day to dismissal, including lunch and recess. I think it is enforced because if it wasn't, my DC would be the first to break the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our kids school, there's policy, and then there's what actually happens.

This. All of these schools have policies about cell phones, many of them “strict” policies that phones cannot be used during the school day or during classes. But at many places they simply aren’t enforcing these policies.

When we toured several of the schools listed on this thread (GDS and SAES come to mind) we saw so many kids on their phones, many wearing air pods, in the halls, in classrooms, everywhere.

So asking the school about their policy won’t get you any reliable info. Tour the schools during a regular school day. Send your kid on shadow visits and ask what they saw.

[Anonymous]

In general for middle school, the K8s tend to enforce the no phone policy more strictly because it is easier for them to have a hard rule with no high school students. At our K8 I’m at the school fairly frequently and have never seen a kid using a phone during the school day. I’m sure it happens occasionally, but the kids just take the policy as a given if no one on campus is ever using a phone

[Anonymous]

The Sycamore School (5-12) - all students put phones in a box under front office supervision on arrival. Seniors can take theirs out for off campus lunch. Otherwise, no exceptions.

Works very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our kids school, there's policy, and then there's what actually happens.

This. All of these schools have policies about cell phones, many of them “strict” policies that phones cannot be used during the school day or during classes. But at many places they simply aren’t enforcing these policies.

When we toured several of the schools listed on this thread (GDS and SAES come to mind) we saw so many kids on their phones, many wearing air pods, in the halls, in classrooms, everywhere.

So asking the school about their policy won’t get you any reliable info. Tour the schools during a regular school day. Send your kid on shadow visits and ask what they saw.

In HS or MS? My child attends MS at one of those schools and I've never seen kids on phones when I've dropped by, but I assume that HS is totally different.

[Anonymous]

WIS MS -- Phones, AppleWatches etc. stowed away for the school day. If used, parents must come in and pick it up. Policy is enforced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our K-8 makes them keep it in locker for the school day.
If they’re caught with the phone the phone goes to the office and a parent has to come get it.
My 6th grader doesn’t take hers to school.

I think that’s what ours does too. Probably the same one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our kids school, there's policy, and then there's what actually happens.

This. All of these schools have policies about cell phones, many of them “strict” policies that phones cannot be used during the school day or during classes. But at many places they simply aren’t enforcing these policies.

When we toured several of the schools listed on this thread (GDS and SAES come to mind) we saw so many kids on their phones, many wearing air pods, in the halls, in classrooms, everywhere.

So asking the school about their policy won’t get you any reliable info. Tour the schools during a regular school day. Send your kid on shadow visits and ask what they saw.

You should always ask a student off record if you want the real story.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the replies. This is very helpful.

[Anonymous]

These policies are all well and good but what are the kids supposed to do if the unthinkable emergency happens

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These policies are all well and good but what are the kids supposed to do if the unthinkable emergency happens

Go to the front office, tell a teacher, the nurse or an adult…