Cell Phones, Mobile Technology and Laptops: Middle School
We seek to help each member of the school community be a thoughtful and responsible user of cell phones and other electronic devices, including laptop computers. We encourage students to actively engage with each other and their teachers socially and academically. The use of cell phones and other personal electronics on campus can interfere with face-to-face communication and may adversely affect students’ academic and social development and the school community as a whole. Counseling and intervention will be provided for students who are unable to manage their laptop and electronic device use appropriately.
Middle School students may not use mobile phones---or even have them visible---between the start of school day at 8:10 and the end of the school day at 3:15. To be specific, no calling, messaging, Snapchatting, “checking the time,” picture-taking, fantasy-team updating, Fortnite-playing, or using any other applications during school hours. Phones are to be powered off or in airplane mode and stored out of sight in a student’s backpack. This policy extends to all other personal electronics, including headphones, earbuds, AirPods, iPods and tablets.
The only exception to this policy is if a student has explicit permission from or is under the direction of a teacher who is incorporating devices into a lesson or project. An example of this is using an iPhone’s inclinometer functionality during a Geometry trigonometry project.
If families need to leave a text message for a student, students may request special permission at break or lunch from a faculty member to check these messages. Ideally, we kindly request that messages be called in to the front office, and they will be promptly delivered to your student.
Laptop computer use in the Middle School: From the beginning of the school day at 8:10 until the end of the school day at 3:15, laptops may only be used for directly relevant academic purposes and only during class. Students may not use their laptops during break or lunch except with explicit permission from and under the direct supervision of a teacher. To be specific, recreational game-playing, Spotify-listening, YouTube-watching, fantasy-team updating, and any other non-academic use is not allowed during the school day.
Cell Phones, Mobile Technology and Laptops: High School
St. Mary’s is an institution of academic learning, and students are expected to tailor their use of laptop computers and other electronic devices to that end. Excessive or improper use of laptop computers and other electronic devices can negatively affect students’ academic and social lives and the school community as a whole. Counseling and intervention will be provided for students who are unable to manage their laptop and electronic device use appropriately. We expect students to follow these guidelines.
In the classroom, laptops and other electronic devices may only be used for relevant academic purposes except with the explicit permission of the instructor. Recreational game-playing and social networking are prohibited in the classroom. Individual teachers develop computer use policies for their classes and make their expectations known to their students.
The library is an academic learning space. Recreational use of laptops and other electronic devices, and cell phone use in the library, is not permitted.
Repeated inappropriate use of a laptop or other electronic device will result in serious consequences that may include limits placed on the student’s use of electronic technology. The school’s commitment to mutual respect extends to online interactions and social networks. Online bullying, harassment, threats, and attempts to intimidate or belittle are not tolerated.
The St. Mary’s Computer Acceptable Use Policy provides additional details about user responsibilities with respect to copyright compliance, accessing the school’s network, email behavior, Internet safety, and more. Please see prior pages for more details.
Cell Phones in the High School: St. Mary’s encourages students to actively engage with each other and their teachers socially and academically. Use of cell phones on campus can interfere with face-to-face communication and may adversely affect academic and interpersonal focus. We ask community members to use cell phones thoughtfully and respectfully. Cell phones may not be used in a way that interrupts the learning environment, distracts from others, or in any way violates the school’s code of conduct. Cell phones are not to be used during class unless a teacher otherwise allows them to be used. Teachers reserve the right to collect cell phones before or during class if they deem them to be distractions to a positive learning environment.
Parents should not text their students during the day. Call the front office and we’ll quickly reach your child. High School students who need to use their mobile phones to communicate with parents may do so in the front office or after obtaining permission from a teacher.
Cell phone use is prohibited during assemblies, morning meetings, adviser group, and Masses.
Personal electronic devices: For high school students, generally speaking, the use of personal audio players such as iPods is not permitted during the school day. However, in the high school, teachers have the latitude to allow students to use these devices in particular situations. During the school day, mobile phones and wireless devices are not to be used except for breaks and lunches.