Schools across the Foothills School Division and all school divisions in Alberta implemented a no-cellphone-in-class policy this year.
While some schools are navigating their way through the new change this school year the staff and students in High River at École Secondaire Highwood High School are already in their second year.
We reached out to the school division and Principal Dave Roberts and Vice Principal Carolyn Lenstra asking them how the last school year went for both staff and students.
Roberts and Lenstra took the time to respond with the following statement:
"This is the second year that École Secondaire Highwood High School has had a no cellphone policy during instructional time. Last year we decided to try it as a school, while this year it is part of the Ministerial Order for all students in schools across Alberta. While we do still have to deal with individual students now and then regarding use of their personal devices, which are mostly cellphones but also include other smart devices, the policy has had a noticeable effect on student learning. Here is what we are seeing and hearing from staff, students and parents: “Student engagement in classroom has improved. Students who are caught using phones are taking responsibility for their actions.” “Classrooms are noisier – in a good way. Students are engaging more with each other and talking about learning rather than being glued to their phones.” “We (students) understand why there is a need for this – while we don’t necessarily love it, we know why and are noticing that they are more engaged.” Parents have been really cooperative and supportive of the new Ministerial Order. As an administrative team, both myself and the Vice Principal have seen a significant drop in the amount of online student issues (Social Media, Bullying, Gaming, visiting inappropriate websites to name a few) that we deal with now compared to what we used to deal with. Most staff report that while the school implementation last year was a success, this year has been even more successful as the Ministerial Order now means the same for all students in all schools. We engaged our grade 11 and 12 students regarding use of personal devices during spares. While this is still instructional time for the majority of other students, we have allowed students on a spare to access their personal devices in the Learning Commons. We are also purchasing more Chromebooks so students can access a school device should they want to be able to work on their classwork/homework during their spares."
The province-wide policy was instituted at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.