Replacing the traditional hall passes found in the student agenda book, CHS has introduced a new digital hall pass known as SmartPass.
Introduced to students and staff in early September, SmartPass is now the new norm here at Cinnaminson High School. Assistant Principal Ashley Kalfazade implemented and now oversees the new system.
According to Kalfazade, the biggest reason for the use of these new passes is for the safety of students. She also said Smartpass helps make hallway travel an easier experience for students.
“Number one for their safety, if there’s a crisis we can tell right now where a student is at. We can tell which students are in the bathroom if we had a fire drill and such,” Kalfazade said about the main reasons the school introduced Smartpass. “Number two it gives important data. We notice a lot of kids are going to the bathroom at a certain time of day, what is the reasoning? Do we have to do something in school to make it better for kids? [SmartPass] improves things and gives information to help improve.”
She explains how the passes work.
“Teachers can see students in the hallways and such teachers can see passes in advance. The front kiosk in the morning can be used to create a pass,” Kalfazade said. “Teachers can schedule passes in advance and in the future students may be able to request a pass.”
Kalfazade shared how the features that are involved in the passes are an advancement compared to previous paper passes. According to initial feedback collected from students, SmartPass seems to be well received.
“I have a student feedback group and a teacher feedback group,” Kalfazade said. “Students said making the pass is easy, they like not having to ask their teachers, they find it easy and simple to do, and improvements could be [that it’s] a little time-consuming.”
Mr. Carlo Iacono, an English teacher said he has adjusted to the new system despite having some initial concerns about the process.
“It took some getting used to, but so far I feel it’s gone smoothly,” Iacono said. “I hope that it will become more student-driven and my initial concerns were that I would stop class to write passes hasn’t come to fruition.”
Iacono feels it has been a good addition to the high school and along with that, it has made his life easier when he does not have to deal with the signing of passes at all times.
As the yearbook advisor, Iacono said he used SmartPass to help him with the scheduling of senior portrait retakes.
“I think it is intuitive, it is easier to use, and as the yearbook advisor I am even in the position to schedule passes in advance,” Iacono said. “For instance, we are doing senior portrait retakes in two weeks and I was able to issue the 70-something passes for it way faster than I would have been scribbling 70 pieces of paper.”
Besides reducing the amount of time writing passes, SmartPass also helps students remember if they have somewhere to be. Through the system, passes can be issued in advance and notify students of upcoming events or meetings.
One drawback of the system, according to Iacono, is the need for another tab or device to help with monitoring.
“The only negative now is that without dedicating a tab or machine to it you can not see a view of who’s out and who’s in,” Iacono said.
Kalfazade is working to resolve this issue by distributing Chromebooks to classrooms so they can specifically be used as kiosks and eliminate the need for a separate tab.
While students and staff adjust to the new system, it appears SmartPass is here to stay.
