West Aurora High School began the 2025–26 school year with two operational changes aimed at reducing disruptions and improving student movement: students now scan ID cards to enter assigned lunch periods, and the school implemented an “Off and Away” cell-phone policy in classrooms. School leaders told the West Aurora School District 129 Board of Education these changes were piloted in the spring, communicated to families over the summer and launched at the start of the school year.
Principal Whitney Martino said the cafeteria scanning was intended to “more accurately account for students in each period, essentially take attendance during lunch,” reduce congestion at a First Floor crossroads and ensure students sat in assigned lunch periods. Assistant Principal Patrick Eshman explained they reconfigured entry and exit routes — making the guidance hallway an enter-only access — and rearranged tables into long rows to speed service. “We repositioned our staff and then the physical layout of the facility also helped lead to the success that we’ve experienced at the beginning of the year,” Martino said.
Eshman read an unsolicited message from a senior named Juan about the phone policy: “The new phone policy actually helps me learn better in my opinion.” District staff said the cell-phone approach was shaped by a district committee, teacher and student feedback and classroom professional learning before launch. Teachers were provided phone holders and posters and a Google Form for staff to log nonreferral incidents and patterns across periods.
School leaders reported 132 staff submissions to that Google Form as of the morning of the board meeting; they said those entries reflect informal tracking of phone incidents and are being used to identify patterns without increasing formal disciplinary referrals. Martino said the school will continue to monitor discipline, attendance and grade data and will gather targeted student and family feedback at a scheduled school improvement day about a month into the year.
The changes were presented as informational updates; the board took no formal action on either the scanning process or the phone policy at the meeting. School leaders emphasized the changes began with a spring pilot, frequent family communications and staff training as key reasons for early success.