With the start of a new school year comes many new policies for students to follow, and this year there are plenty of different rules to get accustomed to at OHS. From the cell phone holders on the wall of every classroom to the stricter penalties for tardiness, improved student learning is a goal for all.
Although there may initially be resistance to some policies, they are ultimately in the student’s best interest to allow them to succeed. With additions like the cell phone policy, many teachers have already seen its effects on learning.
“Cell phones over the years, I’ve seen them become such a problem. This is my first week of using the little cell phone caddy and I think it’s been awesome. It’s so easy to withdraw from class and go on your phone and this really helps,” said Andrew Cardon, math teacher.
Although at first, some students were against this new policy, it is hard to ignore the effectiveness it has had since it was implemented.
“The cell phone policy is really aiding to help keep kids off their phones even though there are going to be kids who are going to think they’re cool, and try not to listen, and try to keep them out of the pockets,” said Joseph Romano, junior.
Without cell phones as a distraction in the classroom, many teachers are already able to see how this policy will positively impact student lives.
“The long-term impact [is] the kids will develop better habits in the classroom, they will learn more, our scores will go up. I think everything that’s coming from this is going to have good results,” Cardon said.
Beyond the new cell phone policy, the start of this school year has also seen the addition of a stricter tardy policy.
“This year we had to move to an even stronger system because we have to change culture. We want students to be responsible, to be where they are supposed to be on time, which is 7:30 when that bell rings inside their classrooms,” said Dr. Julia Spurgeon, assistant principal.
Implementing a stricter tardy policy proved important when many noticed some students were failing to get to class on time. This has changed because of the new policy.
“I have noticed there are very few kids showing up late. Like two years ago, I think it got a little better last year, it was out of control. The bell would ring and kids didn’t even care, they were just strolling into class. There was no consequence for being late so I’m glad we’re adding it,” Cardon said.
Although initially being a few minutes late might not seem like a big deal, this new tardy policy can help prepare students for the future.
“It’s good that we’re starting to hold the kids accountable for being late because it’s a habit that when you start going to work in your real life, it’s one of the easiest ways to stand out in your job is just to show up on time,” Cardon said.
Alongside the new tardy policy this year, OHS has also included a stricter sign-out policy for when students need to leave before the end of the school day.
“That was a change that was made so that it wasn’t last-minute type releases because we would have parents calling in past ten to two and that would create not only a disturbance but we couldn’t ensure that we could even get the student to respond,” Spurgeon said.
Ultimately this sign-out policy is helpful because it provides more clarity for everyone when it comes down to making sure students get where they need to be without any additional hassle.
“In order to call a student out, we wanted to make sure parents were actually filling out forms and students weren’t filling out the forms themselves so that parents knew where their kids were at all times and were actually requesting them to leave in a safe and orderly manner,” Spurgeon said.