CASE STUDY
Paper passes made it easy for students to wander and meet up in bathrooms, and tardies lived in a Google Sheet. With digital passes and No Party Groups, Danbury cut hallway traffic and gained 2,431 hours of class time.
- 2,431hours of class time gained
- 9%fewer hall pass hours
- 403automated detentions
Danbury High School
Solutions used
THE CHALLENGE
A Turtle Pool Float for a Hall Pass
At Danbury High, one bathroom pass was a giant inflatable turtle. Paper passes made it easy for students to wander or meet up in bathrooms, and staff couldn’t tell who should be in class. Attendance and tardies were tracked by hand in a Google Sheet, which took time and was easy to get wrong.
Key problem areas:
- Paper passes gave no clear view of student movement
- Too many students out of class
- Too many bathroom meetups
- Attendance and tardies tracked by hand
- No good way to encourage positive behavior
The biggest joke was that we had a giant, inflatable, turtle pool float that was being used as a hall pass. So for students to use the bathroom, they would have to grab that turtle (that was half the size of me, and I’m a big boy), then go into the bathroom and put that thing on the bathroom floor. Then, bring it back to class, and pass it on to the next person. It was so unsanitary.”
THE SOLUTION
Digital Passes, No Party Groups, and Automated Detentions
Danbury found Minga on a visit to a school in Nebraska. Students now scan digital IDs to check in, and digital passes show on a phone or the teacher’s dashboard, so students can prove they’re allowed out.
To reduce bathroom meetups, staff add any group that keeps meeting up to a No Party Group, so those students can’t be out together. Students who overuse passes get a daily limit. Tardies trigger automatic consequences, like a two-hour detention after four tardies, alongside the school’s “Missed Out!” initiative.
What Minga offered:
- Digital hall passes and check ins
- No Party Groups that keep certain students from being out together
- Pass limits for students who overuse them
- Automated detentions and tardy tracking
- Points, polls, and challenges for positive behavior
The automation piece is crucial to success. That’s part of the reason why Minga is so valuable.”
THE OUTCOMES
Fewer Bathroom Meetups and More Time in Class
2,431 hours of class time gained
Less hallway traffic and faster returns added up to more time in class.
9% fewer hall pass hours
Live countdown timers get students back to class on time.
403 detentions, assigned automatically
Four tardies now lead to a two-hour detention, every time, and students are arriving on time more often.
Clearer conversations with parents
Pass and tardy data plus automatic notifications mean no more “he said, she said.”
More school spirit
Polls and challenges like the “Spirit Day Selfie” give students a place to connect.
Less admin work
Attendance, tardies, behavior, and hall passes now live in one place.
Hallway traffic is down. We credit that to using Minga to its fullest potential. We’re able to restrict passes. We notice a group of kids always getting together, so we add them to the No Party Group list. And then also might have a student creating a pass every 30 minutes when they don’t really need to, so we can restrict their access to 2 passes.”
See How Minga Can Reduce Bathroom Meetups at Your School
Get results like Danbury High. Schedule a 30-minute demo and see how Minga can help you reduce bathroom meetups.
