Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm

Academics

Why Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm is a Smart Device-Free Campus

Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm is proudly a Smart Device-Free Campus. Modern science is validating what Waldorf teachers have known for a decades: the consumption of media by infants, children, and young people inhibits healthy development. At-home recommendations on media at summerfieldwaldorf.org/smart-device.

Modern science is validating what Waldorf teachers have known for a long time: the consumption of media by infants, children and young people inhibits healthy development.

Line drawing of a laptop, tablet, phone, e-reader, headphones, smart watch and smart glasses in a pile, crossed out by a bold orange diagonal stroke.

Why an on-campus smart device policy?

At Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm, we place an emphasis on direct human interaction and authentic experiences.

Studies show that a direct experience, as opposed to a virtual one, has a measurable positive impact on the brain’s development throughout childhood into adulthood. Issues associated with premature phone usage, especially with smartphones that have unlimited internet access include:

  • Continuous Partial Attention
  • Early consumerism
  • Mental health struggles
  • Instances of online bullying
  • Exposure to explicit online content

All of the above are proven to have a long lasting, negative impact on a young person’s social, emotional, and psychological stability and wellbeing.

Smartphone (or any Smart device) and social media usage during school hours on-campus (other than in our teacher-led programs in our technology lab) can inhibit a student from fully embracing one-on-one human interactions with fellow students and teachers, and interferes with immersing oneself in present-moment, experiential learning opportunities.

Smart Device Policy (revised August 2025)

High School

High School students are required to check their Smart Device(s) into an allotted and secure slot within the high school office for the entire duration of their daily school hours on campus (7:45am–3:10pm). High School students may use their Smartphone(s) after school hours from 3:10–3:30pm and only in the area in front of the High School office (near the Annex and Bio Lab). If a student needs to make a call during the day, they may use the the landline phone located in the High School/Lower School Offices.

Grades 1 through 8

Students in grades one through eight are not permitted to bring to school any personal electronic devices, such as phones, tablets, music players, or e-readers. In the case that it is necessary for a student to bring a device to school, parents must submit, in advance, a permission request form. For permitted devices:

  • Devices will be checked in to the Office directly upon arrival to Campus.
  • Device will not be accessible to the student throughout the day.
  • Device may be checked back out after dismissal time.
  • Device is to remain powered off and put away while being transported to/from the Office until in their vehicle.

Urgent contact for parents

Parents who need to get an urgent message to their student may call the main school line — see the Contact directory for receptionist and secretary extensions. (No SMS available.)

Recommendations at home

Smart devices — Summerfield encourages and recommends families hold off on getting Smart Devices for their child(ren) until Grade 9 and above.

Social media — Summerfield encourages and recommends families prohibit social media until Grade 11.

The Summerfield community works hard to foster authentic human experiences each day. We feel strongly that a media-free childhood is a significant factor in creating a nourishing environment at school and at home; where screens of any kind such as television, tablets, Smart phones, video games, movies, and alike do not become a distraction in a child’s development.

Media introduced at a young age has proven to have the negative effect of allowing “media to script the play” where children play out the media they watch as a script rather than freely creating their own scripts through imaginative and open-ended play, active socialization, and hands-on learning. We maintain and strengthen this media-free policy by engaging in conversation within our class communities, to gain perspective on how media exposure relates to each age and stage of development. From this understanding, we forge our agreements each year to renew our commitment to the healthiest possible childhood, providing our community as a whole with the opportunity to parent with intention.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

  • What role do parents play in the daily life of the school?

    Our parent community thrives here at Summerfield in the active support of various programs, fundraisers, projects, and field trips throughout the year.

    At Summerfield, parents have the opportunity to serve on the Board of Trustees, participate on committees, act as chaperones on field trips, organize annual events such as the Sprites Night, Winter Faire, Epiphany Bonfire, and more. Through our Community Enrichment Program, they host the daily Coffee Cart* before school to create a gathering place for parents to share, support, and engage. Our parents plan educational lecture series, community dances, and family game nights...just to name a few. They also help the sport coaches, assist in food preparation for the seasonal fundraiser meals, and make handcrafts for various events.

    Summerfield parents also support the work of the classroom teachers by creating a home life conducive to healthy growth and learning. The parents' support of our Smart Device Policy and Social Media Recommendations reinforces our pedagogical foundation and subsequent teacher-led responsibility to present technology to a class only at the appropriate developmental stage for the child to best receive it.

    Regular parent evenings with the class teachers help to create a caring network of support for each child and for the class as a whole. Friendships between Waldorf families often continue for decades after the children graduate, and many parents tell us that the unusually close-knit community at the school is a joy appreciated by the whole family.

    *Coffee Cart is generally Tues-Fri (year-round).

  • What role does technology play in the the lower and upper grades?

    The quality of student engagement deepens with hands-on, face-to-face work with teachers, peers, and course material. We engage in ethical conversations about Smart Device and Social Media use, study comprehensive online research methodologies, and learn budgeting & spreadsheets.

    Because digital technology evolves so rapidly, we find that teaching students critical thinking and learning skills better prepares them for life in a high tech world than teaching specific technology programs. Alumni have shared that based on their life experiences after high school, they were able to easily pick up the technology they needed for college & their careers.

    Please read our Smart Device Policy and Social Media Recommendations.

  • How does Summerfield Waldorf integrate technology by grade? Will my children be prepared for the digital world?

    At Summerfield Waldorf, we place an emphasis on direct human interaction and authentic experiences. Our approach to technology is to introduce it when it is developmentally appropriate to do so. We fully realize that when students graduate from Grade 12, technology will be a key component of their higher education and learning. Therefore, we structure its introduction in specific, teacher-led courses to be useful and relational to a subject, not a detriment or distraction.

    Our High School faculty and staff firmly believe that being a smart device-free campus during the school day improves a high school student’s attention, sense of self, healthy social interaction, and mental health. We are committed to creating a learning environment where each student can be as fully present and fully themselves as possible.

    How technology is integrated at Summerfield:

    Early Childhood Education

    No technology or electronics, including Smart devices (tablet, iPads, kiddie computers), or social media. Unstructured play in nature with open-ended toys which feeds their imagination along with stories, art, and music is where a child thrives. Our classes focus on imitation, imagination, movement so the child can learn without being encumbered by preconceived visuals and narratives found in modern television, videos, movies and alike.

    Technology integration: no technology is introduced until the high school level.

    Lower (G1-6) & Middle School (G7& 8)

    No technology or electronics, including Smart devices (phone, earbuds, watches, tablets, Ipads, e-readers, e-music players, and, no social media. If the family decides a phone is needed for their child, choose a flip phone or phone with no browser or internet access. Consider parental controls and agreements for parental oversight of text messages.

    Technology integration: no technology is introduced until the high school level.

    High School:

    No Smart Devices (phones, watches, earbuds, iPads, tablets, e-readers, e-music players) are allowed in the High School/on campus during school hours. We recommend no social media until Grade 11.

    Each morning: High School students are required to check their phones into their allotted phone slot in the "phone box" every morning, and at the end of the school day (3:10pm), students may collect their phones. A secure check in/check out process is monitored in the high school office.

    Technology integration:

    High school students use computers in the preparation and research of papers and projects for various courses.

    • In the Grade 10 Research Paper course, both library books and internet research skills are taught by their teacher to learn about citations & source material. Here is where we introduce responsible cyber citizenship.
    • Grade 10-12 prepare Physics Lab Reports on school-provided Chrome Books during school hours.
    • The high school yearbook is designed using computer graphic software to teach how a beneficial partnership with technology and art can exist, and fuel the creative mind.
    • There are elective courses on the fundamentals of computer architecture, hardware, and installation where students design and build a computer from scratch.
    • Our facilities consist of one computer workstation in the library, which is available for word processing and shared usage of office computers for word processing, printing, and scanning of images.

    Read more: Smart Device Policy and Social Media Recommendations

More answers on our full FAQ page.

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