With the new academic school year rolling in, Millbrook is making new changes. From new phone policies to dismissal, students are adjusting to the new policies being intstated.
In years prior, the school was more lenient, but after the 2023-2024 school year, things needed to change. Phones used to be a teachers preference for the classroom, but now most teachers are strict on phone policies. Pouches, lock boxes, and stadiums have been used to detain phones until the end of instruction. In the student handbook, it covers how phones should be handled from now on. “In general, phones should be silent and stored securely in a student’s bag or pocket. Phones are never required for students to complete coursework.” It is never specifically stated that phones should be away from the student, but it can happen if the student does not keep their phone away. If a student has to be corrected for having their phone out more than once, then their phone will be placed in a secure location in the classroom, they will get a referral, and their parent or guardian will be notified. The next step would be to have administrators step in to handle the student and their referral.
Mrs. Carter, a 9th grade English teacher, mentioned that she has always taken phones in her classroom. Students in her sections do not receive their phone until their work is complete or the bell has rung.
Phones aren’t the only thing that has changed. Leaving school during lunch has become more tedious, as drivers have to face traffic upon leaving campus. This resulted in a new rule allowing students to leave three minutes before lunch starts. Walking off campus isn’t an option anymore for freshmen and sophomores. Daily, students used to walk to nearby businesses, including Sheetz, Dunkin, and Goodberry’s. This resulted in students being late getting back to school, and some not coming back at all. Many students do have this pass and drive, but it can be difficult trying to get off campus all at the same time. To try to ease the traffic, students with this pass are allowed to leave three minutes early.
Junior Lizzy Cable says, “I definitely think that it helps because before it would take at least 5 minutes to get out of the parking lot and then you would be rushed during lunch. Of course a longer lunch would be great!”
As mentioned before, students were regularly walking off campus and not coming back. Others would linger around the hallways and bathrooms and never go to class. This year however Millbrook is cracking down on student absence. Cats on Time stations are now located across campus, creating easier access. They also have a new system of recording tardies.
The old system allowed students to have more tardies and they counted by block. To complete a slip, teachers would have to manually write the student up and then record it again in google sheets. Now they have a system that automatically counts which tardy you are on and sends you on your way faster, while a ticket is printed.
IB Diploma Programme Coordinator, Mrs. Gentile, who assisted in carrying out these new rules, comments, “…I have not had cats on time duty, but I went to the training and I’m familiar with the new system. It seems like it is much more efficient for students because writing out those passes took a long time.” Gentile further elaborates on how she thinks the new system has helped cut down absences. According to her, she has seen less students wandering the halls and more in class.
While a lot of things have changed at Millbrook, that doesn’t mean they are necessarily bad. Not having phones at hand has given some people the push to focus on school work. Students having less leeway with absences has resulted in positive changes in class attendance. Millbrook’s new policies might have been hard to get used to at first but have made positive waves since.
