New policies, including no phones during the academic day, and adjusted times for check-in and study hall have some returning students feeling like new students again.
Over the Summer the Dean’s Office changed three major policies in the Williston handbook: as of this school year there are now no phones allowed during the academic day, and check-in and study hall have new times.
Brooke Schlutter, a junior from Orange County, Calif., feels the new phone policy wasn’t very thought-through.
“Personally, I think the phone policy is a little overkill,” she said. “I think it is a little forced. If they want us to foster connections, I think they need to come up with better ways to do that and not take away ways that we as a generation bonded over.”
More than 10 states including, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia, have already banned cell-phones during the school day. Massachusetts is working towards doing the same thing.
Massachusetts has not officially banned cell-phones in schools but the State senate passed the bill this past July, according to a July 31 press release published on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts website. By the fall 2026 school year., Massachusetts is set to have bell-to-bell no cell-phones in school.
Head of School, Robert Hill, along with the Dean’s Office, researched the effects of phones on teenagers, especially in schools, and found that, now that phones aren’t a factor on campus, kids are talking to each other more and spending more time interacting with each other.
Aside from the cell phone policy change, certain check in times have been altered as well, though the impact isn’t quite as intense.
Students who were used to a 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. study hall now have to make some slight changes in their routine while also juggling not being able to have their phones most of the day. For the past several years, study hall has been 8:00 -10:00 pm with a check-in between 7:30-7:50pm. Now study hall is from 7:45-9:45pm with check-in between 7:30-7:40pm.
Maggie Duffy, a junior from Cumberland, Maine, feels overwhelmed with study hall and check-in being pushed up.
“I dislike study hall because it feels much shorter,” she said. After the 8:50-9:00 p.m. break I have zero motivation to do my work and that’s a big struggle for me. The earlier check in is a little frustrating, especially if you have late practice or a club after dinner. It gives you less time to recover from those activities before study hall.”
She also feels it is hard to stop and breathe.
“The schedule now seems go go go go,” she said. “There doesn’t seem like anytime to take a break until 9:45 when Study Hall ends.”
Taylor Russ, a dorm parent in Mem East, thinks the new policies will help bring day students and boarders closer together.
“Taking away access to the phones at certain times, I think it has helped with shortening the gap,” she said, “because they talk to each other more so they are connecting more.”
David Koritkoski, Williston’s Dean of Students, states that the earlier study hall and check-in was a product of the students wishes.
“Both Student Council and dormitory proctors have brought up these ideas in the past, and we are excited to see how these changes go this year,” he explained. “Having a single, predictable check-in time for consistency will help students stay in the routine, regardless of whether it’s a weekday or a weekend. “
