Cell Phone and Laptop Use at FSMS

We know that many of our middle school students have personal devices—cell phones and/or computers. All 2024-25 Falcons are required to have a cell phone/device contract on file. This contract will be sent to parents via Blackboard and available on our campus website.

Cell phones should be turned off and kept in your locker throughout the school day.  All students are provided a district laptop to use at home and school and are required to bring that device with them each day. Studnets are no longer allowed to use personal devices for instructional purposes while at school, so personal laptops and iPads should not be brought to campus.

Students are permitted to use their phone before school in the common areas while waiting for the instructional day to begin, but at 8:40 they are asked to power off and put their phones and earbuds in their backpack where it will remain throughout the instructional day. At 4:10, when the dismissal bell rings, students are allowed to have their phones out.

When students are on campus and using their phones during non-instructional time, they should not be using social media, texting, taking pictures, or recording videos.

FSMS is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen electronic devices, and administrators will not conduct searches involving stolen or lost personal devices.

Students are not allowed to contact their parents during the instructional day via cell phone or device and parents should not contact them as the student’s phone will be off during the hours of 8:45-4:10.

If using earbuds before or after school, use in only one ear so you will still be able to hear any announcements.

If a student has their phone out of their locker (even if it is in their pocket), the phone will be taken up and turned in to the front office until the end of the school day. If a student has their phone taken up 3 times, there is a district fee of $15 to retrieve the phone and a parent must come to the school to collect the phone. On the 4th offense, students will not be permitted to have their phone with them and will have to turn it into the front office each day.

We have a ZERO tolerance policy for phones in the locker rooms. Phones should remain in a student’s backpack even when in the locker room. Phones out in the locker room will be taken up and turned in to the office. If a second locker room offense occurs, students lose their device privilege for the rest of the semester. If a student uses their phone to take pictures or videos while in the locker room, they will lose their phone privilege for the remainder of the school year and additional disciplinary action may occur.

All students are provided a district email address. Student email is monitored and anything inappropriate is flagged and sent to administrators for review. Disciplinary action may result in inappropriate use of district email and/or district devices.

We ask that our falcons make good choices when it comes to using their electronics, and we teach them our expectations at the beginning of the year, reviewing as necessary throughout the school year.