Dear Parents and Guardians,
At Aurora Highlands P-8, we pride ourselves on our vision to create a safe environment that empowers all students to own their futures as lifelong learners and leaders. To provide this opportunity, we need to minimize distractions. As a result, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, we will make our school a phone-free space to improve teaching and learning, using Yondr (overyondr.com/schools) and phone lockers. Yondr has been implemented in over 1,000 schools across 21 countries to facilitate an engaged learning environment.
This means students in grades 5-8 will be required to keep their smartphones and earbuds secured in a locked pouch during the school day. They will keep the pouches with them, and they will be unlocked at the end of the day. This allows students to maintain ownership of their phones without constant distraction. Research shows that the absence of this distraction can increase student learning and engagement and decrease potential bullying and negative experiences. If phones become a distraction for students P-4, we will utilize phone lockers.
We reviewed the challenges faced by today’s youth, as described in Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. Early adolescence, particularly middle school, is a time of vulnerability in wellbeing. The average adolescent in America spends 5 hours on social media per day, and levels of anxiety and self-harm are rising. At Aurora Highlands P-8, we anticipate that ending cell phone use during the school day will give back valuable time for learning, social and academic engagement, and building healthy relationships. Murphy Creek P-8 has been piloting Yondr pouches this school year. Staff and families have shared support and success stories, including decreases in incidents between students and more engaged learning.
We recognize this is a major shift. We are committed to upholding the highest standards for communication between parents and students. Parents can call the main office and school staff will connect them with their child. If students need to access their phones, arrangements will be made in the main office in a supervised setting.
If you’re interested in learning more, please visit anxiousgeneration.com and yondr.com/phone-free-schools.
Sincerely,
Joshua Cooley
Principal, Aurora Highlands P-8
[email protected]
303-326-3125