Issuu

The Coat of Arms

Volume 51 Number 1

Menlo School, Atherton, California

October 3, 2024

serving Menlo’s upper school since 1973

New Phone Policy Follows CA Movement But Stops Short of Full Ban by ASHER DARLING

Five years ago, Adam Gelb, who was serving as assistant principal at San Mateo High School, helped ignite a monumental movement for high schools across the nation — the prohibition of cell phones. There, he implemented a cell phone policy prohibiting students from accessing their phones for the entire school day, a decision that earned national media coverage. “We became the biggest public school in the country to go cell phone free bell to bell,” Gelb said. Gelb is now in his third year as Menlo’s assistant upper school director. During an assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 3, he announced that Menlo will be adopting a new cell phone usage policy for the Upper School. Students are now required to place their phones in a designated cubby area when they walk in the door for class or advocacy. “I think you come to school to learn and you do that in the classroom and advocacy, so let’s make those cell phone free spaces,” Gelb said. On Monday, Sept. 23, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation giving public schools in the state two years to begin restricting cell phone usage during school hours. Gelb doesn’t think placing restrictions on phones in this fashion would be the best for the Menlo community at the moment. “I didn’t feel like that much of an aggressive approach was needed,” he said. “I’d say a good amount — like 80 to 85 percent — of our students are not on their phones during lunch. That’s different from what I’ve seen on other campuses.” Sophomore Matthew Majalya thinks that the new phone cubbies in classrooms have been a good addition.

St Am aff il be lus r M tra or tion e :

“When [the phone] is in your pocket and you get a notification, it is certainly distracting and can take your mind off the work that you’re doing,” he said. Senior and Student Body Vice President Melanie Goldberg agrees that students’ use of phones can disrupt academic time. “I do think kids pick up their phones, myself included, when they’re going to the bathroom,” she said. “That’s a bad issue we have.” “I would not want our phones to be taken away [all day] — I would be strongly opposed to that,” Goldberg added. “But I think during classes it makes sense.”

Computer science teacher Douglas Kiang, who came to Menlo five years ago, has maintained his own phone protocol in his classroom for the past few years. “We’ve had a policy that students drop their phones at the front of the room,” he said. “I haven’t heard any complaints.” Kiang added that he’s seen the biggest impact in his advocacy, where he’s also had students put their phones away. “I feel like it has caused [the students in my advocacy] to interact with each other more,” he said.

Phones, pg. 2

Club Hub Rollout To Resume After Privacy, Login Concerns Resolved by MALIA CHEN

Two weeks after the Menlo administration introduced a new platform called Club Hub, the rollout of the program was halted after senior Alexandre Haddad-Delaveau discovered a serious privacy issue within the Club Hub website programming. Club Hub, founded by University of Chicago student Ilan Puterman in 2022, is an online platform designed to simplify the process of joining and managing school clubs. Students can sign up for clubs using Club Hub QR codes,

What’s Inside?

the program’s website or the program’s app. The platform aims to streamline club activities for both members and leaders. Additionally, Club Hub offers administrative tools that track club membership, attendance and event history while providing a centralized communication method for students. In May, Club Hub was first introduced to Assistant Upper School Director Adam Gelb and former Student Activities Coordinator Frances Ferrell through a Menlo alum and other students who were using it at different high schools. In early August,

the administration officially decided to implement Club Hub to help students get connected to opportunities on campus. Gelb hopes that the platform will provide a place for students looking for a community on campus to not only connect but also find information all on one platform. “The idea was that it would make it easier for students and get them interested in maybe joining in something they wouldn’t otherwise join,” Gelb said. At the beginning of the school year, Dean of Student Life and Culture Alexis Bustamante informed all club leaders that the school planned to adopt Club Hub.

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