Palm Beach Maritime Academy

A couple of years ago, our Secondary Campus made a bold move. Every student in grades 6 through 12 began locking their phone into an individual Yondr pouch each morning, keeping it secured for the entire school day. We knew it would take some adjustment, and we were honestly prepared for pushback.

What we got instead surprised us. Teachers told us almost immediately that students were more locked in, more present, and easier to teach. Our scholars were talking to each other in the hallways and the cafeteria instead of staring at screens. Online bullying dropped. Reports of phone theft on campus dropped too. And the data backed up what our staff were seeing in the classroom: schoolwide test scores climbed by as much as 37% in a single year.

We have heard from a few scholars that the rule is not their favorite part of the day, and we understand that. But even our skeptics have told us it forces them to be more present, in class and out of it. And we have built in the safeguards every family wants. Every classroom has a phone for emergencies, and our front office is always available if a student needs to reach home.

Limiting distraction is only half the story. We also want our scholars learning in a world that increasingly runs on artificial intelligence, and we want them to do it thoughtfully.

The School District of Palm Beach County allows our staff and students to use approved AI platforms to support personalized learning and instruction, and we lean into that at PBMA. For us, this fits naturally with who we already are. Long before AI tools were part of the conversation, we built our classrooms around individualized, differentiated instruction. Approved AI tools give our teachers another way to meet that goal, helping them tailor lessons, identify where a scholar needs more support, and free up time for the relationships that matter most.

We pair that approach with real instruction in digital citizenship and responsible use, because we want our scholars to understand these tools, not just use them. Technology should sharpen a student's thinking, not replace it, and that is the line we work to hold every day.

We know families choose PBMA because they want their student known, supported, and prepared for what comes next. Our approach to phones and technology is part of that promise. We remove what gets in the way of focus, we bring in what genuinely helps our scholars learn, and we keep people at the center of it all.

If you have questions about how we use AI tools in the classroom or how the Yondr pouch program works day to day, we would love to talk it through. Reach out to schedule a visit at palmbeachmaritimeacademy.org.