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Phone-Free Policy

At St. Richard’s, we educate the whole student, promoting academic, emotional, and physical development. In keeping with those principles, we have to consider how technology seeps into the daily life of all children today.

With care and respect for how each family interacts with technology at home, there is too valuable a correlation between smartphone/smart device usage at school, lower learning outcomes, and worsening mental health. St. Richard's Episcopal School is proud to have been phone-free since 2016, and the policy was recently expanded to also include smartwatches and AirPods. The evidence is clear that this is essential for schools to protect their student's learning, focus and attention, and mental well being. We are proud that our entire Dragon school day, field trips, and off site school travel are all protected from the distraction of outside student devices.

St. Richard’s Phone-Free School Day Policy

  • Student phones and smartwatches must be stored completely away in backpacks or lockers throughout the school day from 8:00 a.m. - 3:20 p.m. 
  • Students are not allowed to use headphones, earbuds, smartwatches, or any other personal devices. 
  • All faculty and staff members collect a student’s phone anytime they see one out during the school day, and bring it to the Head of School or Director of Technology. Parents may schedule a meeting during regular school day hours to obtain the device back. This same procedure holds for use of listening devices (outside of approved class time) and any other personal device (iPad, kindle, etc.). Repeated violations will result in disciplinary actions as outlined in the Family Handbook.
  • Students who need to use their phones for urgent or emergency reasons may do so at the Front Desk, with the written permission of a faculty or staff member. 

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