Looking Up: An Upper School Policy Prioritizes What Really Matters

By Joy Prince

Eyes down, headphones on or earbuds in, texting and scrolling.

Huddled together, yet alone, catching up on social media platforms, rather than interacting with their peers face-to-face.

These patterns kept showing up among Agnes Irwin’s Upper School students, especially how frequently the girls would pull out smartphones and mobile devices while passing between classes, during lunch, and at other unstructured moments.

We recognized it was time for a change — one made for and with students, rather than to them. So in 2024, Agnes Irwin addressed the growing dynamic we were seeing around tech devices.

Our goal was not to take something away but to give Upper School students something meaningful: the gifts of time, focus, and connection.

Sarah Leonard, Dean of Students, and Ali Monzo, Director of Programs, Center for the Advancement of Girls, led Upper School faculty and staff through a discussion process grounded in research. They also guided a thoughtful pilot that removed cellphones from the division as a trial program. Student feedback gathered before, during, and after the pilot was key.

With this information in hand, Agnes Irwin established a new policy for the Upper School for the 2024-2025 school year: Students would put away their phones at the start of the school day, collecting them at the end of classes.

As the new policy took effect, we noticed girls collaborating on schoolwork, engaging in conversations, and simply enjoying one another’s company. Now, in our second year with this arrangement, we see them gravitating toward the puzzles and card games we placed in common areas.

The daily ritual around 8:20 a.m. has become something to behold. There’s a bit of organized chaos, full of chatter and motion, as devices are dropped off in a central cellphone caddy on the way to class. In the beginning, students jokingly described the caddy as “phone jail,” but we now see the ease with which they have made this routine their own.

Students have described feeling a sense of freedom — freedom from social media, constant notifications, and the pressure to stay digitally connected during the school day.

I smile when I think of a parent who heard of our pilot program and commented, “You know, they can do everything on their laptops that they can do on their phones.”

I replied, “That’s true, but they’re much less likely to walk down the hallway with an open laptop watching video clips, or doing TikTok dances throughout the day.”

I don’t mind a fun TikTok dance now and then, but they are much better suited for after the school day has ended.