The Start of the Spring Semester: Principal Shin brings changes to Redwood

By: Ayla Ozturk

The start of the Spring semester is bringing changes to Redwood. Principal Matt Shin has announced three areas of focus to address some of Redwood’s issues:

Shin mentioned the addition of these rules last November. He implemented a few policies last semester as well.  

The two-minute bell was added and if a student had a certain amount of tardies and/or absences, they are not allowed to attend school events or leave campus at lunch [Freshmen cannot leave campus regardless of the rule].  

This also impacted students with a GPA of 1.5 or below. 

The new approach includes color-coded lanyards, the addition/emphasis of detention, the “ten-minute rule”, and special envelopes for cell phone use in class. 

The addition of the “ten-minute rule” means that students are not allowed to leave the classroom within the first and last ten minutes of class unless absolutely necessary. 

For example, the first period typically lasts from 8:10 am to 9:07 am. From the times of 8:10 am to 8:20 am and 8:57am to 9:07 am, students cannot leave class unless there is an overriding reason. 

The cell phone envelopes are sealed by Velcro. If a student is on their phone in class, their teacher may ask them to put their phone in said envelope.  

The student keeps their cell phone, it is just encased in the envelope.  

This way, teachers do not have to confiscate cell phones. The Velcro is noisy, it would be obvious if a student were to open it. 

The lanyards are color-coded to each building. This allows staff to know where a student is supposed to be.  

In addition, the lanyards have a special color for activities such as ASB, journalism, yearbook, and so on. 

Walking in and out of classrooms, Shin feels these policies have been effective so far.  

He states, “I don’t think any kids [students] are really pushing back on it, I think they [students] understand that rules are rules.” 

Shin reports that the new policies are “making staff be a lot more aware” of students leaving the classroom. 

As far as Redwood administration has seen, cell phones are not as big as an issue they were before. Shin says students “have been compliant” when teachers ask them to put away their cell phones. 

Shin acknowledges that tardies will be a “work of progress” regardless of the new rules.  

He expresses, “I think once we [administration] start implementing some of the consequences, then you’ll [people in general] probably see a change in that [tardies].” 

Shin observes that “the kids [students] wanna be outside not inside” depending on the weather. They could potentially be tardy due to rain and/or fog as well. 

He notes that it is too early to have a full picture of the results, but he will have a better idea of how effective this new approach truly is after the first marking period of the semester [six weeks]. 

“I’ve been in education for 25+ years and you know; I can go back to my old experience when I was in high school. I didn’t get to walk around campus without a pass”. Shin reflects 

These systems were created by listening to the concerns of teachers and staff. According to Shin, a survey was put out so they could establish “what we [Redwood] need to work on”. 

With a substantial impact on the Redwood student body, one might wonder what the exact reasoning is. Why were these policies created? How will they help? Luckily, Shin has an answer. 

“Kids forgot about how it’s required to be in school. If you’re at school, tell me when you want to leave, you don’t get to shut down when you want to. I think it’s just getting kids back in the routine and having structure. Structures are good, and you know it’s a reminder. It’s accountability too.” 

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