Watertown, Mass., school first in country to pilot new app limiting students internet access
Updated: 4:14 PM EDT Aug 27, 2025
Watertown High School will be the first public school in the country to roll out a new app designed to limit students’ screen time in the classroom. The app, called the “Doorman,” uses VPN technology to temporarily block a smartphone by redirecting the phone’s web traffic through a restricted, encrypted server, ultimately preventing students from texting or engaging with other distracting content in class.”This strikes a balance where the kid can keep their phone, but they’re able to focus for those 56 minutes of our period because their phone is bricked, disabled, and it’s blocking all high-dopamine apps,” Watertown High School principal Joel Giacobozzi said. “So a student simply taps and it tells them that they’re in class, and it says when class is over, you’ll be able to unlock the phone restrictions. And so at the end of class, a big unlock button shows up, and the student can just unlock.”In the case of an emergency, there is a way to disable the restriction.”I’m horrified to hear about the recent shooting. And, you know, most of the time where we have to ask students to step outside of the building, it’s because of something far more innocuous, but still important that our staff and students could shoot a text message if we centrally unlocked their phone,” Giacobozzi said.Teachers will begin to learn the new system on Thursday, while students can experience it during the second week of school. The school plans to pilot the app through the new year.
WATERTOWN, Mass. —
Watertown High School will be the first public school in the country to roll out a new app designed to limit students’ screen time in the classroom.
The app, called the “Doorman,” uses VPN technology to temporarily block a smartphone by redirecting the phone’s web traffic through a restricted, encrypted server, ultimately preventing students from texting or engaging with other distracting content in class.
“This strikes a balance where the kid can keep their phone, but they’re able to focus for those 56 minutes of our period because their phone is bricked, disabled, and it’s blocking all high-dopamine apps,” Watertown High School principal Joel Giacobozzi said. “So a student simply taps and it tells them that they’re in class, and it says when class is over, you’ll be able to unlock the phone restrictions. And so at the end of class, a big unlock button shows up, and the student can just unlock.”
In the case of an emergency, there is a way to disable the restriction.
“I’m horrified to hear about the recent shooting. And, you know, most of the time where we have to ask students to step outside of the building, it’s because of something far more innocuous, but still important that our staff and students could shoot a text message if we centrally unlocked their phone,” Giacobozzi said.
Teachers will begin to learn the new system on Thursday, while students can experience it during the second week of school. The school plans to pilot the app through the new year.