Electronic Devices and Networking

Middle School students should put away their personal devices (e.g., cell phones and smart watches) when they enter the building in the morning and keep them stored until after the school day has ended. Without explicit permission of a Trinity faculty or staff member, students are not permitted to use cell phones, smart watches, or similar devices to call, text, email, or otherwise communicate with others before or during school hours, regardless of their location on campus.

Students are encouraged to bring to school only those electronic devices deemed necessary by the teacher for school work (calculators, iPads, etc.). Without explicit faculty or staff permission, no device may be used for accessing the internet, watching videos, listening to music, communicating with others, or playing games. Music-listening devices are not permitted for Middle School students during the school day, but these may be used on campus after school hours. The rules governing the use of Trinity iPads are described in the Responsible Use of Technology Policy. Copies of this policy are available on the School Forms page of the Trinity website and from the Middle School office.

Electronic devices used in violation of these rules will be collected and held by the Head of Middle School through the end of the school day. After the second offense, they will be returned only to the student’s parents.

After school hours, students may use electronic devices such as cell phones to communicate with their parents. However, while they remain on campus, Middle School students’ electronic devices are still subject to Trinity guidelines. Thus, Middle School students can still be instructed by a member of the Trinity faculty or staff to put away or limit the use of their devices. After school, the streaming of music and videos remains prohibited unless permitted by a member of the Trinity faculty or staff.

Online Social Networking and Group Chats

Parents are advised that social networking sites like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc., prohibit students under age 13 from using their sites. While Trinity prefers not to involve itself in students’ online behaviors, from time to time we must deal with discipline issues that arise from students’ activities on such online sites. It is Trinity’s position that social networking sites are inappropriate for Middle School students, who lack the maturity, judgment, and language skills to use them in a healthy manner, and that the use of such sites should be delayed until students are, at a minimum, in the Upper School. We invite parents to partner with us in our goal of being a middle school in which students do not participate in online social networking activities. If you still choose to allow your child to be active on social media networking sites, we strongly encourage you to regularly and closely monitor your child's online activities.

Similarly, middle school students are often very engaged in online communication with others through group chats.  These conversations can sometimes be difficult for students in middle school, who are still actively developing their social skills.  We encourage parents to actively monitor their student’s participation in these activities.  As with social networking, Trinity prefers not to involve itself in students’ online behaviors; however, occasionally, we must deal with discipline issues that arise from students’ activities.