After a year-long pilot program at the Northfield Campus, the use of phone caddies will expand to both campuses next school year, New Trier High School administrators announced at the March 17 Board of Education meeting. 

Next year, students will be required to put their cell phones away during classes and advisery unless a teacher instructs them to use them for educational purposes or during an emergency. The goal is to increase engagement by removing technological distractions such as social media, text messages, and mobile games. 

This decision comes as Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushes legislation that would require every school district to enact policies banning cell phone use during class. Neighboring schools, such as Evanston Township High School and Glenbrook North and South High Schools, have enacted phone bans during class times since the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

“Our teachers have appreciated the consistency,” Northfield Campus Principal Paul Waecthler said. “Even before, when kids were compliant, they would often have it [their phone] out, and the teacher didn’t want to send them to the adviser chair, so they would say, ‘Put that away,’ and it’s still just a distraction that ruins the flow of the class.” 

These procedures were proposed by the Technology Usage Committee, a group of administrators and faculty members tasked with researching the role of cell phones in the classroom and looking at survey data from parents, students, and staff. 

Winnetka Campus Associate Principal for Student Services Chris Mitchell, a committee co-chair, said the procedures were developed in partnership with teachers to ensure every classroom has consistent expectations. 

“We feel like that buy-in is there,” Mitchell said. “We will have to have continued conversations throughout the year, see how things are going with everybody, but we feel like with the attention that was placed on it, it will be something we can manage and monitor.” 

Another change set to take place is increased iPad restrictions. While parents can currently opt their child out of restrictions, they won’t have that option next year. 

“The driving philosophy is classroom time should be used for instruction and learning,” Waechtler said. “Part of that is making sure the iPad is used as a learning device and not a distraction to what you’re doing.” 

Some students feel that phones and iPads do the same thing.

“Most kids are just doing the exact same thing but on their iPads,” sophomore Molly Tir said. “Even with the limited access, using Safari is easy and nobody necessarily needs their phone. It’s just for convenience sake.”

As the administration begins the transition into these procedures, they want students to know this decision was not made to be restrictive, but to support them. They said the same was true for the attendance policies implemented at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.  

“As we talk about the attendance policy getting students back in school, a big reason for that is to create those communities, create those spaces, and create those relationships,” Mitchell said. “This is just yet another step for us to do that.”