Hope School in West Seattle has operated without classroom cellphones for 15 years, implementing restrictions long before Seattle-area schools began grappling with smartphone policies now gaining momentum across Washington state.
The private Lutheran school serving preschool through eighth grade banned phones during school hours well before the practice became a nationwide education trend. Their experience offers insights for institutions just beginning similar transitions.
“The reason that we decided to not allow phones in the classroom is because we noticed that students were very distracted in class,” said Kristen Okabayashi, Hope School principal. “They were getting texts, they were getting phone calls, they were wanting to play games on their phones.”
The school’s most instructive lesson involves not the original 2010 implementation but rather maintaining the policy through the pandemic’s aftermath, when students and families had grown accustomed to constant digital connectivity and challenged boundaries that previously functioned smoothly.
Hope School, which has served West Seattle families for over 65 years, experienced minimal resistance to the cellphone ban for more than a decade. The pandemic fundamentally altered that dynamic.
“The most difficult part of our transition to not having cell phones in class has actually not been the original implementation, but it’s been the time that we had post pandemic when students came back from being at home,” Okabayashi explained. “Our students were used to connecting with each other and with their parents, and parents were also used to connecting with their students at a moment’s notice.”
Remote learning created unprecedented accessibility between parents and children during instructional hours. Okabayashi described the post-pandemic period as “actually our most difficult time, because parents were used to calling and texting their kids all the time.” The school found itself defending a previously uncontroversial 15-year policy against families who had spent months in direct, immediate contact with children during school hours.
Sally Heit, Hope School’s Director of Communications, noted the adjustment period required patience from all parties. When parents challenged the longstanding policy, school leadership responded deliberately rather than abandoning their approach.
“At first it felt like some parents wanted us to do it and some didn’t,” Heit said. “But over time they definitely grew to discover the benefits of it, that it really helped our students stay focused in class.”
Hope School’s experience parallels findings from districts across the Seattle area that recently implemented comparable policies. Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, among Washington’s first large districts to ban cellphones, reported students feeling happier and more engaged following initial adjustment. Robert Eagle Staff Middle School and Hamilton International Middle School in Seattle Public Schools have transitioned to phone-free environments this year, with teachers reporting they reclaim five to 15 minutes of instructional time per class period previously lost to smartphone disruptions.
Research validates observations Hope School administrators made 15 years ago. Studies demonstrate that phone-free policies particularly benefit students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and those already struggling academically. Teachers nationwide report students display more social interaction in class, including helping each other with assignments, when phones are secured.
“All of us want to actually have them learn when they’re at school instead of being on their phones,” Heit emphasized, articulating the fundamental goal driving these policy changes.
Hope School pioneered in 2010 what schools across Washington are attempting currently. In August 2024, Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal issued guidance requesting the state’s 295 school districts to develop policies limiting student cellphone use by the 2025-26 school year.
“Reducing the use of cellphones in class improves concentration and learning, improves mental and physical health, and reduces pressures caused by social media,” Reykdal stated when announcing the guidance.
The trend extends nationally. Eleven states enacted new cellphone restriction policies in 2024 alone, with California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, and others requiring districts to establish formal policies limiting classroom device use. A Pew Research Center survey found 72 percent of high school teachers and 33 percent of middle school teachers consider smartphones a major classroom distraction.
Hope School identified these problems 15 years ago, before social media reached current ubiquity, before every middle schooler carried smartphones, and before the pandemic normalized constant parent-child communication during school hours.
The most persistent parental concern centers on emergency communication. Many worry about inability to reach children during crises, particularly given contemporary school safety concerns. Schools address this by maintaining traditional communication channels through office phones and emphasizing that systems serving previous generations safely remain functional. Some districts allow exceptions for students with medical conditions requiring device monitoring, such as blood glucose levels.
Hope School’s administrative team worked deliberately to engage families rather than imposing policy unilaterally. This community engagement approach has proven crucial for successful implementation across different school environments.
Measuring phone-free policy success involves more than test scores. At Hope School, success means students who look at each other during lunch, who don’t conceal earbuds under hoodies during lessons, and who can focus on teacher instructions without notification distractions.
Teachers report students now help each other more with assignments, engage more deeply in discussions, and display genuine interest in topics previously unable to compete with endless social media scrolling. One study of schools using locked phone pouches found student academic success rates increased by up to 6.27 percent, accompanied by a 44 percent decrease in behavioral referrals.
While students initially expressed frustration with restrictions, many have acknowledged unexpected benefits. At one Alabama school implementing similar policy, a student told researchers she appreciated walking hallways without worrying about being filmed, something that previously made her hide her face.
The national movement toward phone-free schools reflects growing recognition that allowing unfettered smartphone access during school hours hasn’t served students well. For Hope School, this represents vindication of policy implemented when smartphones were just beginning to proliferate in educational settings.
The average teenager now spends over four hours daily on phones, receiving dozens of notifications hourly. That constant distraction state has coincided with rising anxiety and depression rates among adolescents. Hope School recognized these patterns emerging 15 years ago and took action before problems became endemic.
Hope School’s experience demonstrates that schools don’t need exhaustive research studies or state mandates to make decisions prioritizing student wellbeing. By starting early with clear expectations, involving parents in understanding rationale, and staying focused on learning outcomes, individual schools can successfully maintain phone-free policies even when cultural pressures push opposite directions.
For West Seattle families considering Hope School, the phone-free environment represents a time-tested element of the school’s identity as a place where students can focus on academics, build genuine friendships, and develop without constant digital connectivity pressure.
Okabayashi reflected on maintaining the policy through the challenging post-pandemic period, noting the school’s foresight has become increasingly clear. What seemed like a simple policy decision 15 years ago has positioned Hope School as a model for what Seattle-area schools are now scrambling to implement.
With the post-pandemic adjustment behind them, Hope School continues offering Seattle families an environment where education happens without digital interruption, where students are present for each other, and where classroom buzz comes from engaged learning rather than incoming text messages. They’ve operated successfully for 15 years under this model.
For more information about Hope School, visit hls.hopeseattle.org or find them on Instagram at @hope_seattle.
