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Poughkeepsie Schools Superintendent Dr. Eric Rosser said the Yondr pouch program was launched in Dutchess County at Poughkeepsie High School in April.
Rosser wrote in his school newsletter that the program has changed its culture and improved attendance and engagement since its inception.
This fall, district officials are expanding the program to Poughkeepsie Middle School.
“The success rate in the high school is outstanding,” Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education Dr. Charles Gallo said. “That’s what we want to bring to the middle school.”
Under the program, each morning, the students will be required to lock their phones away in a Yondr pouch, a padded bag that seals with a magnetic lock.
The pouches can only be unlocked when they leave at the end of the day or in an emergency with the help of an assistant principal.
Unlike the high school program, in which students are issued their pouches and must return with them each day, the middle school students will receive them at the start of each day and return them as they leave the building, Rosser said.
The district has a policy forbidding the use of phones in classrooms. However, he added, teachers still widely report instances in which students’ attention is pulled to their phones and away from lessons or engaging with fellow students face-to-face.
The pouches allow schools to prevent phone use without taking the device out of the student’s possession.
Gallo said students could keep their phones on silent mode within the pouch, allowing parents to check their student's location and send messages. If a parent needs to reach their student immediately, they can contact the main office.
Parents will be contacted if their students attempt to use their phones and fail to use the pouch within the building.
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