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Urbana Middle plans one-to-one phone-pouch pilot to create cell-phone-free spaces
Summary
Urbana School District 116 staff described a Yonder phone-pouch pilot at Urbana Middle School that assigns students individual pouches and uses mounted magnets and accountability checks; staff plan a community roundtable Aug. 28 and anticipated a Monday rollout pending final mounting and labeling.
Julia Lowry, an assistant principal at Urbana Middle School, told the Urbana School District 116 board that the school will pilot a Yonder phone-pouch program designed to create cell-phone-free spaces for students.
The pilot uses a one-to-one pouch assignment: each student will receive a reusable pouch that locks to a magnet at school entrances. "They will arrive with their assigned pouch ... they will turn their cell phone off or they can turn it on airplane mode," Lowry said, describing the daily in-and-out routine for arrival and dismissal. Staff will monitor mounts at doors; if a phone is visible outside a pouch, it will be confiscated and sent to the office for parent pickup.
The district plans monthly surprise "accountability checks" by administrators and…
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