Middle School Parent Communicator - Back to School with The Commons, Being Intentional and Engaging at Summerville Elementary

Good afternoon, Summerville Elementary Middle School Parents, 

We are so excited about the quickly approaching 2026-2027 school year. We have so many great things in store for your student this year, and we are so excited to share them with you and your student in the coming days. Get ready for an amazing school year. 

This year, we are intentionally working to create a more engaging learning environment at Summerville by addressing the constant distraction of cell phone notifications. As devices become ever more ingrained into the fabric of daily life, our goal is to foster a collaborative, healthy school climate where students can learn productively in a digitally distraction-free space.

We are excited to share with you that we have partnered with a program called The Commons. The best way to desribe it is a "airplane mode" for school.  Our goal is to help partner with families to help create more avenues of communication while helping to reduce distractions on campus. 

We invite you to learn more about The Commons at the link below:

• www.the-commons.app 
• Privacy Policy 

The app is simple:

• Parents and students download the app to their student's device.
• While phones are at school, notifications from social media and other applications are silenced and blocked.
• Phones stay with students the entire time, out of sight, out of mind, but still functional in the event of an emergency.

It's a simple, proactive, and highly effective way to protect learning time and to promote higher levels of engagement while quieting the nonstop noise of social media. 

In the coming days, we will have a lot more to share with families about the new tool and ways that we can work together to help promote an engaged, productive, and distraction-free school environment. Stay tuned for more information. For now, we encourage you and your student to learn more before we launch school in a few days.

We are so excited to see your student on campus soon! Until then, continue to enjoy the final days of summer.

We believe that "Together, we can make a difference!" And together we are going to help our students engage in learning intentionally this year.

More soon!

~Ben Howell, EdD - Superintendent, Summerville Elementary School District