Important Back-to-School Update: Personal Device Policy

Welcome Prairie River Families to our 2024/25 school year! August 28th is a Grade 7 students only day, and Grade 7-9 students gather for our first day all together on August 29th, 2024.

There are some very important changes to note as we start our new school year:

•Alberta Education has directed that there will be no student use of personal electronic devices whatsoever during class time. To ensure that this is the case, students must lock their devices (cell phones, smart watches, headphones, air pods, etc.) in their lockers during morning and afternoon classes. Students will have full use of their devices before school, after school, and during the lunch hour from 12:13-1:13 PM. Student devices cannot be used during our transition times, as they are only 3 minutes long and are designed to give students time to move to their next class.

•Frequent verbal reminders at the start of morning and afternoon classes will be given so that students do not unintentionally violate this new policy. If staff become aware that a student has not placed their device(s) in their lockers (notifications sound, or the device becomes visible to staff), a student will need to take their device to the office, where the device will remain until the end of the day. Parents/guardians will be notified, and a note will be made on our student information system. This is a very new and dramatic departure from past practice, and we ask families to help students make peace with this very important change. Prairie River Junior High and High Prairie School Division are not responsible for loss, theft or damage of student devices.