Berkner, Pearce, and Richardson HS Parents & Students,
We hope you are having an amazing, restful, and safe summer so far. We’re reaching out to share some information about a tool we will be implementing for the upcoming 2024-25 school year at our high schools – Yondr pouches for student cellphones.
As you may be aware, Yondr pouches are soft pouches that hold cellphones and seal magnetically. They have been in use to limit cellphone usage at events, concerts and schools for a number of years. You can visit www.overyondr.com to see how they work. Five RISD secondary schools, including Lake Highlands High School, already use Yondr pouches for student cellphones, and their experiences and success have been very compelling to us.
We feel the Yondr system will be an important tool for our campus starting this year for two primary reasons – the pouches will help reduce student distractions from their academics and also reduce our incidents of student discipline related to improper use of cellphones while at school.
As you’re likely aware, RISD updated district policy for cell phone-free classrooms and hallways in August of 2022, which was a necessary and needed first step. At our schools, that policy has primarily been enforced by our teachers and assistant principals, who we feel spent far too much of their limited time dealing with student cell phones. The Yondr system will really help our teachers and staff enforce the student cell phone policy, recapture critical classroom time for academic instruction, and remove the temptations and distractions that cell phones present for our students throughout the school day.
The experiences and data from the RISD schools that have already implemented Yondr pouches are very compelling. Teachers report recapturing 10 or more minutes of instructional time each class period – time and attention previously spent dealing with the distractions and class interruptions caused by student cellphones. In addition, discipline instances dropped, in some cases dramatically, as some students could no longer use their cellphones at school as a precursor to choices that violate the code of conduct.
In June, administrators shared their experiences and impact of their Yondr implementations with RISD trustees, and we invite you to watch through the RISD website at this link.
We all feel optimistic that we can effectively implement the Yondr program at our schools starting this year and it will have a positive impact on both academics and discipline. Our campuses will also have the benefit of learning from the experiences of other RISD schools as we are planning our implementation for 2024-25.
We understand that some parents may be uncertain about this step for our school – and if you do, we’d love the opportunity to talk with you about it further, and why we strongly feel it will be positive for our schools and students. One common question some parents have had at the beginning of implementation is how can they communicate with their child during the school day if the student’s phone is in a pouch. All RISD secondary students are provided and have access to a Chromebook and student email account throughout each school day, and parents are encouraged to use that tool to message students as needed. As well, students will still be able to use their phones before school and directly after the final bell.
Please feel welcome to contact us at the information below if you have questions or thoughts. More specific information about pouches and student expectations will be coming from us as we get closer to the August 13 start of school, but right now, we just wanted you to be aware that we are implementing this tool for our schools when the 2024-25 year begins next month.
Thank you for your support as we work to maximize the academic engagement of our students and limit their exposure to disciplinary consequences that come from social media and text usage throughout the school day.
Sincerely,
Farrah Smock
Berkner HS Principal
Farrah.Smock@risd.org
469-593-7000
Carrie Breedlove
Pearce HS Principal
Carrie.Breedlove@risd.org
469-593-5000
Chris Choat
Richardson HS Principal
Chris.Choat@risd.org
469-593-3000
