Hoover High sees grades rise, suspensions drop after phone ban
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At Hoover High School, grades are up and suspensions are down, thanks in part to a cellphone ban this school year, assistant principal Robert Randazzo tells Axios.
Why it matters: Hoover's results could help guide best practices for other schools, especially since Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed every school district implement a cellphone ban during instructional time.
By the numbers: There were major improvements between the 2023-24 and the 2024-25 first semesters, Randazzo says.
- Hoover experienced a 31% increase in A's and B's and a 6% decrease in F's.
- There's been a nearly 60% decrease in out-of-school suspensions and a 4% increase in overall student attendance.
- Hoover is taking four to five devices per day on average, compared with 20 to 30 a day at the beginning of the school year.
The other side: While the majority of adults support school cellphone bans, some oppose them, saying they need to reach students during an emergency, like a school shooting, a Pew Research survey found last year.
- At Hoover, students are still allowed to keep their phones, but they must be put away in backpacks.
Zoom out: Several other metro schools have also implemented cellphone bans, including Ankeny and Dallas-Center Grimes.
The big picture: The cellphone ban is part of the school's larger mental health movement, in which staff members are encouraging students to socialize more. Research has found that excessive cellphone use can affect children's mental health.
- Hoover opened up its gym for students to play during lunch periods.
- They've also added conversation starters to tables after getting feedback that students don't know how to talk to each other.
What they're saying: As more Iowa schools prepare to ban cellphones, Randazzo recommends two best practices: Find staff members other than teachers to take away cellphones.
- And when students negotiate to keep their phones, acknowledge what they're saying, but follow it up with an "and" statement.
- "We say, 'I hear what you're saying and we need your phone,'" Randazzo says.
What's next: The next area Hoover wants to focus on is sleep, Randazzo says. While they haven't determined how to approach students about it, he says, they want to start conversations.
- "It's great that your phone is away here during algebra class, but what could make you even better in algebra class is getting eight to nine hours of sleep the night before."