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New Britain middle schools report smoother classrooms after Yonder pouch rollout
Summary
Presentations from two middle-school administrators said Yonder phone pouches have been widely adopted, with dozens of damaged pouches and dozens of parent pick-ups but early signs of improved student engagement; staff said discipline data remain preliminary.
Two New Britain School District administrators told the board on March 4 that students at two middle schools have largely accepted Yonder phone pouches and that teachers are seeing fewer phone-related disruptions.
Pulaski Middle School and a second middle school began rolling out the pouches earlier this year; Pulaski reported the pouches were embraced quickly and that teachers have reported phones are not in classrooms. "We had 6 percent of our Yonder pouches that looked to have been damaged and were lost. And that's with a total of over 900 students," said Miss Whitehead, who presented the Pulaski update.
Miss Major, who spoke for the other middle school, said preparation with students, families and staff helped produce a smooth transition. "Parents are coming to get the phones," she said, noting the school has recorded 58 parent pickups since January. Both presenters said many students tried a pouch once and then complied; Miss Major said the district had not seen second-pouch payments at her site.
Administrators gave specific program details: the first replacement pouch costs $10 and a subsequent replacement is $22.50, and Pulaski reported a total of 81 pouch incidents described as damaged or lost. School leaders said the change has coincided with more student-to-student interaction and fewer phone-driven incidents, though they cautioned that comprehensive discipline data are still being assembled.
Board member Tony Cain told the board his school saw a 77% drop in discipline incidents after a similar rollout; the board and staff emphasized that such figures are preliminary and that the district will collect more formal data. Tyrone Richardson was cited by staff as a point of contact for analyzing cell-phone–related discipline trends.
Superintendent Dr. Gasper introduced the presenters and asked the board to look for districtwide data over the next months before drawing firm conclusions. Administrators said parent cooperation and consistent staff enforcement were essential to the implementation and that they would report updated metrics to the board in coming months.
