Teachers at F.A. Day Middle School in Newton said students’ cell phones were always out, and it was becoming a problem.

“It was all the time. Classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, lunchrooms. It was on their mind, and it was on our minds,” said Jenna Monahan, a seventh grade teacher at F.A. Day Middle School.

Jackie Mann, the school’s principal, decided to change that.

Three years ago, Mann implemented a system where students would drop their phones into special pouches at the beginning of the day, and not get them back until the final bell. In just one year, phone issues, like texting in class and arguing with teachers when told to hand them over, dropped from 400 to just 15.

“The kids are literally and figuratively present,” said Jess McGettrick, a theater teacher at F.A. Day Middle Schoo

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