"What Side?"


EAST SIDE

NEWS


May 31, 2024

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL


Hello Maine East Families, 


Thank you so much for a fantastic school year!  I am deeply grateful for your partnership in providing our students a safe and enjoyable high school experience.  Our students are simply amazing and it is a privilege to be able to serve them each day.  We had a great month filled with awesome events to celebrate the Class of 2024.  We wish all of our graduates the very best as they enter the next phase of their journey.  We also celebrated 16 outstanding staff members that retired from Maine East this year.  We are forever grateful for their commitment to our school community.  


This summer will include a lot of time planning with our building leadership team.   Please watch for late summer communications regarding the start of the 24-25 school year.  Thank you again for your support of our school.  


I hope that your family has a fun and safe summer! 


Sincerely, 

Melissa Pikul

Principal 

IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR THE

2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR

Dear Maine East Families, 


Similar to high schools across the country, Maine East has growing concerns over the impact of our students’ frequent cell phone and social media use.  Our staff cares deeply about the emotional well-being and academic achievement of our students.  Research has shown that cell phone usage during instructional time disrupts the learning process, diminishes the quality of classroom social interactions, impedes student focus, and results in missed instruction.  


We want our students to engage in learning and be free from the distractions and social stress often caused by frequent cell phone use. For this reason, all Maine East classrooms will be equipped with visible storage units where students will be expected to store their phones at the start of each class period.  Because students will not be connected to their phones during class time, it is also expected that earbuds/headphones will be kept in backpacks.  


Students do not need to use their personal cell phones during class time.  Our school-provided Chromebooks and teacher tools in the classroom are sufficient for participation in all of the engaging learning activities our faculty provides.  We appreciate that there are some purposeful phone-based applications that serve as great learning tools.  There will be times in some classrooms where teachers will invite students to utilize their devices for a particular portion of a lesson.  Our goal is to support our students' learning opportunities by limiting distractions while recognizing that technology can be an asset to learning when managed appropriately.  


Many Maine East teachers experimented with utilizing cell phone storage units throughout the 23-24 school year with tremendous success.  Their reports of increased student collaboration, communication and overall engagement confirmed our need to offer this positive learning environment to all of our students.  


Please refer to this resource list if you are interested in reading more about the mental health and academic impact of cell phone use on students.  We understand that updates to policies and procedures can create concerns for students and families.  Below are answers to some anticipated questions.  Please know that we will communicate more about our new policy with students and families when we get closer to the start of the school year.


Questions & Answers for Families


1) When can students use their cell phones? Will there be times that students are allowed to use their phones during class?

  • Our new policy is not a ban on cell phones, earbuds, and headphones.  Rather it is a process to reduce distractions during instructional time in order to enhance all learning opportunities.  
  • Students will keep their phones on their person at all times with the exception of class periods when they are in the classroom.  Students may access their phones before school, after school, during their 45 minute lunch period and during each 7-minute passing period.  


2) How can I get in contact with my student in the event of an emergency?

  • If a family emergency arises while your student is in class, please contact the school’s main number (847-825-4484).  Our support staff will be able to quickly locate your student and deliver the message.  Please note that this is not different from previous years.  Cell phones were always meant to be silenced and put away during instructional time.  Our staff is prepared to get urgent messages to students in classrooms.  


3) Who will put my student’s phone in the phone pouch?

  • Our policy does not require anyone but your student to touch their phone.  As students enter their classrooms, they will place their phone in the pouch that will be clearly visible, in the location that is safest based on the layout of the classroom.


4) What if my student becomes sick during the school day?

  • This procedure has not changed.  If your student becomes sick during the school day, they must visit the health office.  If they are in class when they are feeling ill, they should let their teacher know.  The teacher will issue a pass to the health office.  The student will then retrieve their phone and go to the health office.  The health office will contact a parent/guardian and account for your student’s attendance.  More information about our Health Office can be found here.  


5) What will happen if my student is not compliant with the new policy?

  • If a student is not compliant with the phone policy they will be referred to our Assistant Principals for Student Supports. 


6) What if separation from a cell phone creates particular challenges, such as anxiety, for a student?

  • The health and safety of our students will always take priority.  Some of our students have documented medical or social-emotional challenges that may necessitate a plan for how they can take part in our cell phone policy without compromising their personal needs.  Your student’s Student Support Team will be able to guide you through your concerns.  Contact information for Student Support Teams can be found here.  


7) How can I help my student with their constant need to use their phone?

  • We are hopeful our new policy will curtail the addictive feelings that some students have with their phone, at least during class time.  Please work through these resources with your student to better understand the research on teenage cell phone use.  


8) Why change the cell phone policy? Is my student being penalized for those students with discipline issues?

  • Our new policy is in response to the overwhelming body of research that indicates that our students can use support in limiting their frequent cell phone and social media use.  We have a responsibility to create learning environments that allow students the best opportunity to succeed in our classrooms.  Despite our teachers’ best efforts to navigate cell phone distractions, nearly all students have needed frequent reminders to put their phones away during classroom instruction.  


9) How will my student complete their classwork without their phone?

  • Your student has a school issued Chromebook.  All classwork can be completed on their Chromebook.  If there is a special learning experience where a cell phone will elevate their learning experience, students will be invited by their teacher to retrieve their phones during that portion of the lesson.  This is common in some classes where the learning process is more mobile and/or utilizes a wide variety of applications (ie: auto services, physics labs, etc.) 


10) What happens if my student’s cell phone is lost, broken, or stolen? 

  • We have always maintained a process for items that are lost, broken and stolen which includes cell phones.  If any of these issues arise, a student should immediately report the situation to their Assistant Principal for Student Supports and our process will be followed.  We do not anticipate an increase in incidents with our new cell phone procedure.  Many classrooms began utilizing cell phone pouches in the 23-24 school year with no reported incidents.  Reports from area schools with long-standing cell phone policies also report very few incidents.  


11) How will this policy impact a schoolwide safety emergency?

  • Our staff is prepared to handle emergencies.  We have procedures to handle building emergencies efficiently with safety as the top priority, regardless of cell phone access.  We also have systems for quick and clear communication with emergency personnel and parents/guardians during emergency situations.  More information on our safety procedures can be found here.  Students will have access to their cell phones if it is determined to be the safest, necessary and appropriate action.  

UPCOMING CCRC EVENTS

Quick Links
Follow us on....
Maine East High School
Facebook  Twitter  Instagram