New cell phone/confiscation policy in place for school year

The school year is quickly approaching, and our administration is hard at work getting everything ready for the 2022-23 academic year. 

As part of this school year, a new cell phone/confiscation policy will be in place. 

• Students will be permitted to have cell phones in their possession throughout the school day. However, cell phone use will only be permitted before the first bell, during lunch, in hallways or other common areas, and after the last bell of the day. NOT IN THE CLASSROOM SETTING.
• Students MUST have their cell phones placed on silent during the school day; cell phone use shall cause no distraction or disruption.
• Cell phones will be out of sight during instructional time (inside and outside of classrooms) and collected by instructional staff.
• Cell phone charging is not allowed in the classroom setting.

First Offense:
Confiscation, teacher contacts parent indicating an item was confiscated. Item returned by the teacher at the end of the school day.

Second Offense:
Confiscation, item turned into Dean of Student Life, logged with demerits, and item not returned until conclusion of the day. Student placed on out-of-school suspension.

Third Offense:
Out-of-school suspension. Administration meets with the family to discuss expectations upon return.  

Any electronic device used in a classroom is under the discretion of the teacher.

*Emergency situations are to be reported to the VASJ Main Office, where conversations are to take place.

Maintaining the integrity of the learning environment is our top priority, and the use of cell phones has deteriorated the quality of classroom instruction. We understand that the last few years have been tough and students have gravitated to cell phone usage as a strong means of socialization. We need to get back to the basics of in-class instruction, and one way is the elimination of our top distraction — our CELL PHONE.