SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — A year of transition in the Shaker School District will include, among other things, requiring students not to use their cell phones during class during the day.

As schools begin reopening to different grades this week – some moving to new buildings – the new cell phone policy is intended to improve student well-being, safety and academic engagement.

“The goal of this initiative is to reduce distractions and give students the opportunity to focus on their academic and social development,” the school district said in a press release to families.

The school administration added that exceptions could be granted in individual cases for health reasons, special educational needs “or other important circumstances”.

These procedures were developed through discussion and collaboration between school administrators, teachers, students, and families and require elementary school students (preschool through 5th grade) to keep cell phones and personal devices turned off and stowed in their backpacks during the school day.

Students in grades 6 through 12 – where problems with cell phone use are more common – are given individual “Yondr” bags to store turned-off devices, which remain magnetically locked in their backpacks until the end of the school day.

“Wearable” devices such as earphones and Apple Watches are also put away for the day.

Yondr’s cloth bags can only be reopened with special magnets that are placed at the middle school doors when students leave school at the end of the day.

“We really view this as a well-being initiative,” Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning Felecia M. Evans told parents earlier this year.

“We are seeing impacts on students’ mental health and also on teachers’ ability to teach and students’ ability to learn,” Evans added.

The work is the result of months of research and discussions by a wide range of stakeholders about mobile device use in schools and included visits to districts that already had cell phone restrictions in place.

Representatives from the Shaker School also met with experts in the medical, mental health and legal fields to discuss the latest research and implications regarding cell phones in schools.

The Shaker School District received approximately 3,000 individual responses to a survey sent to all staff, families, and students in grades 3 through 12. The results show:

– About 85 percent of the families surveyed supported a ban on cell phones during the school day.

– About 92 percent of teachers supported such restrictions, as did 51 percent of support staff such as bus drivers, aides and administrative assistants.

– “Significantly, about 60 percent of students who responded to the survey agreed that something needs to be done,” district officials noted.

In Shaker, upper-grade students keep their Yondr bag with them throughout the day and take it home in the evening, just like their district-issued Chromebooks.

School officials pointed out that all classrooms are still equipped with telephones for emergency needs and that messaging systems have already been set up in the district.

Cost estimates for Yondr bags were not immediately available in Shaker.

But the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District recently spent about $40,000 on Yondr bags for 1,200 students at nearby Brush High, which works out to about $33 per bag.

Delayed start

Shaker’s 2024-25 school year begins this week, providing “a targeted start-of-school orientation period for students, particularly those transferring to new buildings,” as the former Woodbury Intermediate School is currently closed for renovations to convert it into the district’s middle school.

Fifth-grade students will remain in their respective elementary schools, while sixth-grade students will transfer to Shaker Heights Middle School, where additional modular classrooms have been set up.

With the staggered start schedule, First day of school On Wednesday (21 August) the following content will be offered:

— Meetings planned with every family in grades K-5

— Class 6 attends all day

— Tours for 8th grade students who are new to the district

— Class 9 attends all day

— Grades 7-8 and 10-12 do not attend

Day two on Thursday (22 August):

— Orientation for preschool children

— Students from preschool to 5th grade attend all day

— Class 6 does not participate

— Grades 7-8 attend all day

— Grades 9-12 in school all day

Day three (Friday, August 23):

— Orientation for preschool children

– All students in grades K-12 are present throughout the day.

The first day for preschool children is Monday, August 26th.

A diagrammatic view of the staggered launch schedule is provided below. Click here to view the printable version.

“We are ready for fifth graders in elementary schools and there is room for them,” said Scott Stephens, executive director of communications and engagement.

“The renovations that will take place in the primary schools in a few years will create more spacious and modern learning environments for all children,” added Stephens.

The modular classrooms outside the middle school are also ready for students when they return this week.

Ludlow Preschool

Meanwhile, district officials and community partners celebrated a ceremonial groundbreaking on Aug. 11 for the future Ludlow Early Learning Center, which is scheduled to open in fall 2025 after extensive renovations to the former school.

More than 50 people attended the event, which preceded the Ludlow Community Association’s annual summer picnic. Representatives from GPD Group, the county’s architectural firm in charge of the project, and Gilbane Building Co. also attended.

The new facility is expected to double the district’s current preschool capacity.

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