Dear Families of Washington Middle School Scholars:
At Washington, it is important that all students feel safe and loved every day at school, and it is important that we create the conditions at school to maximize student learning. Students’ personal devices can and have posed educational disruptions, distractions, and significant social conflict.

For all these reasons, I am excited to share with you our new no personal device policy at Washington.
All students must have cell phones, air pods, and tablets powered off and out of sight from 8:50 – 3:45 daily. They may use their device during their lunch period. Of course, the best security for the cell phone is to leave it home. If a student’s phone or other personal electronics such as air pods or tablets are out, seen, or heard they will receive a warning to turn it off and put it away, if out, seen, or heard a second time in the same class period, the consequences will be as follows:

1st incident in any class:

• The phone will be safely secured by the classroom teacher.
• Teacher contacts home same day to inform families of 1st incident, student can pick up their phone from teacher after school, no sooner.

2nd incident in any class:

• The phone will be safely secured by the classroom teacher.
• Teacher gives phone to the student’s Grade Level Administrator.
• The administrator will contact the student’s family and arrange a time for an adult family member to pick up the phone from them at Washington.

3rd incident in any class:

• The phone will be safely secured by the classroom teacher.
• Teacher gives phone to the student’s Grade Level Administrator, who will arrange a family meeting to plan and implement “no phone contract” for their child.
• This student will no longer be allowed to carry their phone with them throughout the school day, for the remainder of the year.

Family support is essential to the success of Washington’s no phone policy. Here’s some ideas:

• Proactively talk with your student about your family’s after school plan, lunch planning, appointments, or activities in advance of Washington’s first bell at 8:50 AM.
• Remind your child that if they need to reach family during school hours, they may ask their classroom teacher or go to the office to ask to use the phone.
• If you need to get ahold of your child, please call the main office to deliver a message to your child or ask them to come to the main office to call you back. Avoid non-emergency texts as it encourages cellphone use in the classroom. They will be able to contact you from their cell phone during their grade level lunch time.
  

Please note: Washington Middle School is not responsible for lost or stolen devices. In addition, we are not staffed to conduct investigations into lost or missing devices.

Our goal is to create a safe environment, conducive to learning, and free of all distractions in support of the learning process. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation. Please let us know if you have any questions and/or concerns.

Thank you,
Washington Middle School Administration Team