While many schools throughout the nation have instituted different policies to remove phones from classrooms, UPrep has not made any changes regarding cell phone use.
In the UPrep Family Handbook, accessible on Veracross, the cell phone use policy states that “All upper school students do have more privileges regarding responsible use of cell phones during free periods and lunch. If a student exhibits behavior that is not in alignment with the general responsible use policy, the assistant director and/or director of upper school have the discretion to address individual situations.”
The Lakeside School, located just five miles north of UPrep, introduced its “Invisible Device Policy” at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
The Lakeside School website states that “Lakeside Upper School students will not use their cell phones and/or smart watches during the school day (8:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.). This includes during free periods, lunch and community time. Students are expected to store devices in their bags or backpacks, not in their pockets.”
“They’re definitely going all in on this policy, I thought it was too all in at first,” Lakeside senior Connor Ward said. “You can’t text your parents, you can’t text your friends when you have a free period. You don’t really know when to go off campus with your friends.”
Even just a month after its implementation, the limitation of phone usage has grown on Ward.
“Once you get used to it, it’s not the end of the world,” Ward said. “The options are doing homework or socializing with friends, which are both great. I honestly like it because it makes me feel a lot more connected with my grade. ”
At UPrep, teachers use different methods to keep students off their phones. Director of the Upper School Susie Wu noted that she has seen almost every teacher limit phone use in class.
“Last year, I went in to do classroom observations, and it seemed like nine out of the ten classes I’d walk into, teachers were already doing that,” Wu said.
“I don’t see them used in class,” sophomore Cole Simon said. “As long as they aren’t being used in class, they’re not a disruption.”
Wu emphasized that the current system was already working as intended.
“It’s unnecessary to ban something that is already in practice effectively,” Wu said. “To me, there have been zero problems in the upper school. So there’s no point in putting in a ban.”