LockedIn has successfully piloted its phone-free campus solution at top Los Angeles schools including Milken Community School and Brentwood School. With proven results, LockedIn is now expanding pilot programs to schools across the country.
When LockedIn launched its first pilot programs in Los Angeles earlier this year, the question on every administrator's mind was simple: does it actually work? After weeks of live deployment at some of LA's most respected institutions — including Milken Community School and Brentwood School — the answer is unequivocal. LockedIn works. And now, the program is expanding to schools across the country.
Los Angeles: The Proving Ground
Los Angeles was the natural starting point. As the birthplace of LockedIn — founded by two LA high school seniors who watched Yondr pouches fail firsthand — the city offered both a built-in network and a community of schools hungry for something better.
The pilot schools were chosen deliberately. Milken Community School, one of the largest Jewish day schools in the country with over 700 high schoolers, had already experienced the limitations of physical phone pouches. Brentwood School, a prestigious K-12 institution in the heart of West LA, brought a different profile — a school exploring digital enforcement for the first time.
Together, these pilots represented the full spectrum: a school transitioning away from a failed physical solution and a school implementing phone-free enforcement from scratch. If LockedIn could succeed in both environments, it could succeed anywhere.
The Results Are In
Within weeks of deployment, the pattern was clear across every pilot campus. Teachers stopped spending class time policing phones. Administrators stopped fielding daily complaints about non-compliance. Students — even the ones who initially resisted — settled into a new normal where phones simply weren't part of the school day.
At Milken Community School, the impact was particularly striking. The school had previously relied on Yondr pouches, spending tens of thousands of dollars annually on a system students routinely circumvented. LockedIn replaced that entire apparatus with a software-based solution that required no hardware, no daily collection rituals, and no physical confrontation between students and staff.
"We have tried different approaches to managing phone use, but LockedIn is the first solution that actually works at scale. It removes friction for teachers and creates a consistent experience for students across campus."
— Beau Lindsay, Head of the 11/12 Division, Milken Community School
For an in-depth look at the Milken implementation, read the full Milken case study.
What Schools Are Saying
Across every pilot, three themes have emerged consistently from administrators, teachers, and — perhaps most surprisingly — students themselves.
Administrators: "It just works."
School leaders reported that LockedIn eliminated the single biggest operational headache of phone-free policies: enforcement. With OS-level device locking and campus geofencing, compliance became automatic rather than adversarial. Instead of relying on teachers to confiscate devices or monitor pouch integrity, schools could track campus-wide compliance from a single dashboard.
Teachers: "I can actually teach."
The most immediate impact was felt in the classroom. Teachers at pilot schools described a measurable shift in student attention. Without the constant pull of notifications, social media, and group chats, students were more present during lessons, more engaged during discussion, and more focused during independent work. The phone battle that had consumed the first five minutes of every class period simply vanished.
Students: "It's honestly fine."
The most telling signal came from students. While initial resistance was expected — and, in some cases, enthusiastic — it faded quickly. Students discovered that a phone-free school day wasn't the catastrophe they imagined. Conversations happened in person. Breaks were spent socializing rather than scrolling. Several students at pilot schools reported that they actually preferred the phone-free environment, even if they wouldn't have chosen it voluntarily.
Why Pilots Matter
LockedIn's pilot-first approach is deliberate. Implementing a phone-free campus is a significant cultural shift for any school community — students, parents, teachers, and administrators all have to adjust. Pilots allow schools to experience the technology in a low-risk environment before committing to a full-scale rollout.
During each pilot, LockedIn works directly with school leadership to:
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Configure geofencing tailored to the school's physical campus layout
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Onboard administrators to the real-time compliance dashboard
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Communicate with parents to address privacy concerns and build community buy-in
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Deploy the student app across iOS and Android in as little as one day
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Monitor and iterate based on real-time data and school feedback
This hands-on, collaborative approach is a major reason the LA pilots have gone so smoothly. Schools aren't left to figure it out alone — LockedIn is embedded alongside them from day one.
From LA to the Nation
With the LA pilots validated, LockedIn is now actively expanding its pilot program to schools across the country. The timing couldn't be better. With over 37 states now passing or proposing phone-free school legislation, demand for a proven enforcement solution has never been higher.
Schools that previously relied on honor systems, phone caddies, or Yondr pouches are reaching out after hearing about the LA results. Districts that need to demonstrate compliance with new state mandates are looking for technology that provides the documented proof regulators require.
LockedIn is actively onboarding new pilot schools nationwide — from public districts navigating state mandates to private institutions seeking a modern approach to digital wellness. The pipeline is growing every week.
What Comes Next
The LA pilot program proved what LockedIn set out to demonstrate: that a software-based, hardware-free phone-free campus solution can work at scale, across different types of schools, without creating more work for teachers or compromising student safety.
As LockedIn expands to more schools, the company is also investing in deeper compliance reporting, expanded platform capabilities, and additional tools to help schools make the most of the phone-free environment. The goal isn't just to lock phones — it's to help schools reclaim the classroom.
Bring a LockedIn pilot to your school
LockedIn is actively launching pilot programs at schools across the country. If your school or district is ready to go phone-free, we'd love to talk.
Request a pilot →