Springfield Central High School phone pouches

Springfield Central High School students lined up in front of their school on a chilly Wednesday morning. Some hurrying to finish their coffee before entering the school; others could be seen chatting with friends — not a single cellphone was in sight.

Central High School Principal Thaddeus Tokarz greeted students with fist bumps, smiles and head nods as they approached the high school entrance.

“Make sure your pouch is locked before you walk-in,” Principal Tokarz reminded the students.

Central High School’s latest cellphone policy requires students to lock their cellphones inside Yondr phone pouches at the beginning of each school day, students aren’t allowed or able to access their phones until dismissal. Principal Tokarz said the school put the policy in place to curb distractions in the classroom.

The policy has been gaining traction. Springfield High School of Commerce and John F. Kennedy Middle School in Northampton have reached out to Yondr asking about the pouches, according to a company spokesperson. The Greenfield School Committee also voted in support of locking student phones away in Yondr back in August.

Every Central High School student was given a Yondr cell phone pouch during the second week of school on Sept. 7. If a student breaks or misplaces their phone pouch they must pay $20 to get the pouch replaced.

Before Central students can walk inside their school, they must first tap their cellphone pouch on one of the Yondr sealing stations positioned near Central’s front entrance. These stations magnetically lock the pouch and can only be opened using specialized unlocking devices located in classrooms and other points in the building.

Central High School student taps phone pouch on Yondr magnetic lock station.

If a student doesn’t have their Yondr pouch with them on hand they must forfeit their cell phone to the front office or undergo a security check to show they don’t have a cell phone with them.

Months leading up to the start of the school year, a group of Central High School students spoke with MassLive about concerns they had about the phone pouch policy.

Central High School Senior Class President Marguerite Kocsmiersky believed the phone pouches impeded on students’ privacy and would make communication with parents, siblings or other students extremely difficult.

Kocsmiersky’s opinion changed since the phone pouches were fully implemented.

“It’s not that bad,” the senior class president said. “It’s still difficult to maintain a level of privacy necessary for certain communication, mostly talking to my mom about personal things.”

Although Kocsmiersky’s warmed up to the phone pouches she says some students at Central are still against them, destroying the pouches to access their phones — some even ended up breaking their phones while attempting to free them from the pouch, according to the senior class president.

Principal Tokarz said phones in the front office are available for any student that needs to speak with their parent for any reason.

“Honestly I think a lot of people were being overly dramatic at first,” Central First-year student Gianni Medina said. “It’s not bad at all and its honestly cool going to school without a cellphone.”

Medina said she and her sister Tanya Medina, Central High Junior, organize after-school plans with their parents before they get dropped off at school.

Central High School students Tanya and Gianni Medina show off their phone pouches.

“It’s just been nice talking with people face-to-face,” Tanya Medina said.

The Springfield School Committee approved the new policy for the fall semester. Central will act as a pilot program for the phone pouches, purchased through a partnership with cellphone pouch company Yondr for $15,000, according to Springfield School Committee Vice Chairman Christopher Collins.

Principal Tokarz proposed that Central High School adopt Yondr phone pouches after observing the impact they made at Chicopee High School — which rung in cell phone pouches in March.

“We haven’t heard many complaints from parents and it’s been going pretty good,” Principal Tokarz said as he directed students into school. “It’s been a learning experience, we’re getting better with our procedures and structures. So I think what we have now is as streamlined as it’s ever been and it’s something we’ll continue to build on and improve.”

Tokarz checks in with the Springfield School Committee monthly to report on the program and whether Central’s seen any tangible improvements.

In a survey sent to Central teachers earlier in October, over 83% of teachers said they’ve seen vast improvements in student engagement.

Drew Curto, 10th-grade physics teacher, said the phone pouches have made a big difference in his classroom.

“When I first started every student had their cellphone, they had them out a lot,” Curto said. “And now I almost never see them, yeah a student would manage to sneak one out once in a while, but the pouches have made students more attentive, more participative.”

The only problem Curto said he’s noticed with cell phones out of the classroom is student banter.

“Kids in my classroom have a really good relationship with one another, they’re definitely talking a lot more; sometimes too much,” Curto said with a chuckle.

Headphones were another major contributing factor to Central’s cell phone policy, according to Principal Tokarz.

“Headphones and students using them while in the class while teachers are instructing was part of the planning behind phone pouches,” Tokarz said.

With loud music at times leaking from students’ headphones and teachers unable to even speak or address students using headphones in classes, Tokarz believes the removal of cellphones along with headphones will have a direct impact on academic performance.

Central Freshman Darian Oquendo said he’s been more focused in the classroom with the school’s phone policy.

“It’s keeping me away from distractions and I can count on myself to finish more work,” he said.

Oquendo believes that many of his peers have become overly reliant on cellphones and the break-away from phones will help students struggling in class or using their phones to cheat.

“All this technology’s also been tracking a lot of young folk like myself,” Oquendo added. “I like the phone policy. It keeps me distant from that.”

With cellphone usage and social media progressively becoming an active part of most younger people’s lives, Tokarz believes a break away from cell phones will have a positive impact on adolescent mental health.

“I believe most schools will go in a similar route in the future,” Tokarz said.

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