A Year of Yondr
A year later, the pouches that once sparked outrage in the student body now feel like a normal part of the Grace community— a sign that, for better or worse, Yondr is here to stay.
Media provided by Maggie S. ‘26
A year ago, Yondr — a pouch that seals phones throughout the school day — arrived, surprising most faculty and outraging many students. Desperate to access their cherished electronics, some students looked for any way to escape the system: some going to the extreme lengths of breaking their Yondrs. Students petitioned the administration to get rid of Yondr, and candidates for student government promised to get the policy reversed. Yet, Yondr prevailed.
The beginning of the 2025-2026 school year marks Yondr’s one-year anniversary at Grace Church High School, and feelings about the pouch continue to shape daily life at Grace, sparking debate among students, parents, and faculty. Furthermore, in light of the smartphone ban in schools, the Grace administration’s decision to lock students’ phones throughout the day is no longer a novelty. Over a third of NYC public schools use Yondr, and this number is set to rise.
One year before Yondr, Grace introduced a no-phone policy everywhere except the library and cafeteria. If teachers saw a student with their phone in the hallways or in class, they were required to confiscate the phone and give the student an infraction. “Teachers were not in alignment on what our role was, and Yondr provides more continuity,” stated Dr. Toby Nathan, the High School’s Department Chair of History. Furthermore, Dr. Nathan explained that the need to confiscate phones “was a cost to my relationship with the students,” and that Yondr allows him to focus on teaching rather than disciplining.
Assistant Head of Grace High School, Tom James, agreed with this statement. “An air of surveillance doesn’t feel good for anyone. One of the biggest advantages I see of Yondr is that we’ve completely removed the friction between students and teachers,” he said. “I’m really glad we did this,” he added.
Mr. James, along with High School Head Lori Perry and Head of School Robbie Penoyer, were the team responsible for bringing Yondr to Grace. Since he arrived in 2023, the Grace administration had been thinking about how to help folks engage with their phones differently. “We were also getting a lot of parental interest,” Mr. James said. “Parents really wanted us to prevent phone use during the school day, and we realized we needed a definitive solution.” In the summer of 2024, winds were changing nationally regarding the accessibility of smart phones in schools. Many of Grace’s peer schools were also implementing Yondr pouches. Grace decided to follow suit.
A year later, Yondr has become normalized, accepted, and even appreciated. However, students still mourn the loss of their smartphones. Iris J. ‘26, a senior at Grace, pointed out that not having your phone makes it difficult to make plans with people, like meeting up for lunch or to study.
For many students, the real tragedy isn’t missing a test— it’s missing the chance to capture and archive high school life in the form of photos. Senior Shailen S. ‘26 reminisced fondly about his freshman and sophomore years, where he could document his school experience in pictures and videos. “I feel like photos and videos are how you develop memories,” Shailen said. “How am I going to remember my time at Grace?”
Shailen is not the only student who expressed disappointment at not being able to capture school memories on camera. Truly H. ‘26 also mentioned this loss as a significant consequence of Yondr pouches. “I’ve lost all my memories of Grace Church,” said Truly. “I don’t have them.”
But, according to the same students, Yondr does have its pros. Truly is excited to get “more face-to-face connection.” Shailen thinks that the pouches are useful because they make “[his] screentime lower, and [his] phone’s charged by the time he leaves school.” He also finds that he is “more focused in class.”
“I understand why [teachers] like Yondr, and appreciate why they do,” said Iris.
Many students seem to have accepted Yondr as a part of their lives, but they almost all agree that there was a better alternative. The biggest issue with electronic devices, said all the interviewees, was getting distracted by them in class. Some students think that this issue would be better remedied by “phone jails” or cubbies where students place their phones for the duration of class, as opposed to Yondr pouches that take away access for eight hours of the day.
“[Phones] are a tremendous distraction inside the classroom,” said Allison M., parent of Grace student India B. ‘27. “But I feel like people, humans, are going to have to learn to live in a way where they modulate [cellphone usage], and keeping it out of the classroom seems sufficient to me. And I think at this stage, it seems oddly unrealistic and punitive to not have access to your phone at all from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone jails would be a vastly superior solution.”
Dr. Nathan, however, disagreed. Before Yondr, even with phone cubbies, he found himself counting phones at the beginning of class and questioning if students had actually just “forgotten their phone” that day. He described himself as a Yonder “convert”, initially questioning if they were necessary, but now appreciating that they relieve him of extra discipling duties.
Of course, no system is perfect. It is no secret that there are Yondr leaks, such as screen mirroring on the MacBooks issued to every Grace student. However, teachers are aware of this “trick” and don’t find it a major issue. Dr. Nathan, who frequently meets with the teachers in his department, said that “Teachers have been working to decrease the amount of time spent on laptops in classrooms. A lot of teachers are working towards handwritten assessments.”
All in all, the pouches that once sparked outrage in the student body now feel like a normal part of the Grace community— a sign that, for better or worse, Yondr is here to stay.
“I want to express my gratitude to students for complying,” said Lori Perry, the Head of Grace High School. “Since we Yondr’d phones, kids seem so much more comfortable expressing themselves. Had there been fear of being recorded, I’m not sure that ninth graders would have gotten up in community meetings to dance. Mr. Taptastic [a guest at Grace’s October Dance Chapel] wouldn’t have brought a third of the community to their feet.”
“This is what makes our community special,” she added. “ And I’m glad we’re protecting it.”
Caitlin L. ‘27, the author, is a staff writer for The Grace Gazette.