Updated Greenbrier Cellphone Policy 2025-26

In the Spring, the Ontario Government released a new policy addressing cellphones and social media in schools. Backed by research and putting children’s learning at the forefront while at school, some changes have been made to our cellphone policy. 

Continuing this September, our school is committed to minimizing distractions during the day so students can focus on learning and socializing face-to-face with their peers. As a team at Greenbrier, we have decided to implement the policy in the following way: 

• If families decide to send their child to school with a cellphone, they will be kept in their backpacks during instructional time and either on silent or turned off (there is a secure, locked location available in the office if families prefer this over the backpack)
• Students in grade 7 and 8 will be permitted to use their cellphone during the 20-minute eating break and will be asked to return phones to their bags when they go outside 
• There may be occasions where teachers allow students to use their phones for instructional purposes. This will be the only time they are able to use their phone during the school day (outside of the two twenty-minute breaks) and it will be clearly communicated to the students by the teacher 
• If families need to reach their children during the school day, we ask that you call the office directly. Students will be permitted to use the office telephone should they need to communicate with families during the day 

We understand this will be a change, and we appreciate your support at home as we transition to a distraction free learning day for our students. To have full transparency, please note the following steps that will be taken for progressive discipline, should that become necessary. 

• 1st time a student has their phone outside of the above guidelines, the phone will be given to their homeroom teacher for the remainder of the day (will be returned to the student at the end of the instructional day and will not be used at breaks that day)
• 2nd time, the student will bring the phone to the office and will pick up at the end of the day (will not be used at breaks)
• 3rd time, the student will bring the phone to the office and a parent/guardian will be required to pick up the phone at the end of the day

** Please note that if a student reaches step three in our progressive discipline plan, they will lose the privilege to have their phone in their possession during the school day (bell-to-bell) and if the phone is brought to school, it will remain locked in the office for the entirety of the school day for the remainder of the school year. 

As a team, we are trying to balance the concept of using cellphones as learning tools and devices, while understanding the extreme disruption and hardship that can go along with them. With that said, we are hoping that our policy will allow students to learn to cope without their phones more often, focus on learning and appropriate socialization with peers, and allow students the opportunity to check in on their devices during smaller increments in the school day. 

We know this will be a change for all, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you would like any further clarification. We would appreciate it if families could share this new information prior to the first day of school so your children have time to adjust to the new policy. Students in grades 4-8 will take part in an information session on the first day of school to learn more about the policy as well. 

Thank you for your support in our quest to provide the best learning environment we possibly can for your children.