High School Start Times ... Too Early? Any Changes?

<p>We started at 7:40 and were finished at 2:40 (in my old school). My bus came at 7:10. It wasn’t bad at all. However, I think it would be more beneficial to everyone to bump up to an 8:00 to 3:00 schedule. It’s just more balanced, and for those whose bus usually came at 6:30 or earlier, much early rising could be avoided.</p>

<p>westerndad: 5-6 hrs/weekday is probably the average for most high school seniors and juniors with a heavy academic load and multiple extracurricular activities. I would be very happy if my daughter got 5-6 hrs every weekday. Many days it is 4 hrs. On bad days it is less. </p>

<p>She’d get more sleep if school started at 9 am.</p>

<p>For me, my bus comes at 6:15 in the morning (and I’m not the first stop), we arrive at school around 7:55, and first period starts at 7:10. Like vicariousparents said, 5-6 hours of sleep per night would be considered good/average. For me, homework can drag into 2am in the morning.</p>

<p>I think an issue that is often forgotten is the matter of efficiency during the school day.</p>

<p>Far too much time is wasted during the day, and not just by the students. Teachers spend class time trying to quiet people down, disciplining, answering stupid questions, etc. If 45 minutes of class time was ACTUALLY spent learning (and not 10 minutes for the teacher to get ready for lecture, 15 minutes for off topic questions, and so on), teachers would actually get through the material. Class times could be shortened (which could translate to a later starting time). Maybe even a 3 day weekend?</p>

<p>Hell, if I could move at the pace I wanted in classes, I would’ve been done with the high school curriculum as a sophomore.</p>

<p>You know what’s interesting, when I was in high school getting three or fewer hours of sleep was not particularly uncommon. If I had a project or a big assignment an all nighter was not out of the question, and if I knew I was only going to get two hours of sleep I couldn’t go to bed or I wouldn’t wake up for the bus. Up until this past finals season, as a junior in college, I had not had a single all nighter in college. And the only reason it was necessary during these last finals was because of a very unfortunate course selection mistake in terms of scheduling, I didn’t know to look at the exam schedules since at my old school exams were always in class. College is ten times easier for me in large part because of this difference, I can actually sleep now. Not nearly as much busy work, not having to take 6 subjects at once, and having a little control over my schedule has made a huge difference. It’s kind of backwards, if you think about it, that high schoolers have to cope with these grueling schedules, and in college you don’t.</p>

<p>My hs did 7:20AM-2:00 with 6 periods and optional 0 and 7th periods before and after that, respectively. Since my parents had to drive me to the 6:35 bus pickup, I was up around 5:30. I work best from 10PM-2AM and was going to bed around 1AM. I slept through a lot of class time. Finally I decided to take some online dual-enrollment classes and have my day start at 9:24. That helped so much. Now that I’m in college, I don’t take classes before 11 and it’s great. People have complained about the start time in my district, but our occasional late-start program was ended because it was very confusing. Currently, high school classes have a lot of wasted time, we could probably start later and shorten the day while not jeopardizing test scores. The sun setting doesn’t affect programs that occur indoors very much and outdoor programs can take place in the mornings.</p>

<p>Orange County, FL HS times are 7:20 to 2:20 (ish). Same buses do Elementary School at 8:30 and then middle school at 9:30. Last year the school board swapped the HS and MS times to save money. (Evidently could use fewer buses). Large parent outcry – no childcare at home after school for elementary kids, less time for after school jobs and sports teams/marching bands needing lights to practice after school. HS Kids hated the switch. Middle school kids were not getting the needed sleep and HS kids were just staying up later. New school board members elected (who ran on the “we’ll swap the times back” platform) and the times were switched back. I’m sure there are lots of articles about it.</p>

<p>*correction to my last post: 7:55 should be 6:55.</p>

<p>When I was in High School, the bus came at about 6:15AM and classes started at about 7:50AM. I was usually up by 5:00AM to get a shower and breakfast, then we would have nine periods each day until 2:15PM. For people with an extended 10 period day, classes would run until 3:15PM. After school activities bus ran at 5:15PM. Coming home on the 2:15 bus would result in a return of about 3:30PM. The 3:15 bus would result in a return of around 5:30PM (due to limited busing), and the 5:15PM bus would return at about 8:00PM (even less routes than 3:15). </p>

<p>I lived in the most extreme locations, however. I would miss about 30-40 days each year due to insufficient sleep. I would eventually wake up at about 8AM and really regret that I didn’t go to school, however I wouldn’t be able to function by the time that I woke up. </p>

<p>IMO, make classes run:
Elem: 10:00AM-4:30PM
JR/SR High: 9:00AM-3:30PM</p>

<p>That way, even the farthest away of elementary school students will be home by 6:00. Everyone in school eats at noon for lunch anyway, so it fits in line with most people’s hunger cycle.</p>

<p>Freshman and sophmore year, every day started at 7.25</p>

<p>My junior, and now my senior year, all mondays are “late start” starting at 8.10 with shortened classes and I LOVE it, I get to ease into the week from the weekend.</p>

<p>DS (a junior) has a 7:00 a.m. class. He is up at 6:00 a.m. Very involved in EC’s and he plays varsity tennis. We are just constantly on top of his sleep schedule. It is 9:11 as I write this and he is at his church’s youth group. I will text him and ask him to come home in a minute. </p>

<p>Left up to him he might stay up until midnight or one a.m. Some would say I micro-manage, but my goal is to keep him healthy and focused. He is usually receptive to our reminders, so no biggie. Maybe we’re lucky.</p>

<p>Hunger cycles… lovely things, they are. I eat breakfast at 6:30AM and lunch at 1PM, every day. We don’t rotate lunches and I’m stuck with the last of four lunch periods because of band class.</p>

<p>I agree with whoever mentioned the lack of productivity in school. That poster talked more about productivity in class, but I’d like to touch on another point - productivity outside of class. I know there are schools where overachieving students don’t have a lunch period (something I oppose vehemently), but those of us who have time to eat, socialize, and generally relax can usually use that time efficiently if we’d like to. I take a few minutes when I have a free period to look over my notes and homework for classes I have later in the day. That way, I’m more prepared for class, and thus more alert in class, and then the homework for that class becomes that much easier. I’ve found that if I push myself a little bit more to pay closer attention, especially in math and science classes, studying for that class gets so much easier. Classtime isn’t just there for you to copy down formulas and take a nap; if you use it properly, you can accomplish the vast majority of your learning in class, minimizing the amount of work you have to do outside of class.</p>

<p>Also, I’ve always found it odd that students who get to school by buses or public transportation tend to complain about the amount of time they waste getting to school. You can use your commute time wisely (and yes, taking the occasional nap is wise as well) and study, read, etc on the way to and from school. You’re already there, so you might as well take advantage of it.</p>

<p>Sorry to rant/brag, but I’ve never found time management to be a problem. I leave the house at 6 AM and get home at 6 PM on an easy day and 8-9 PM when I’m doing theatre. I’m in bed by 10:30 with very few exceptions, and I still do 3-4 hours of work a day. I just get it done on the way to and from school, during homeroom, before rehearsal, etc. I still have time to socialize during the school day and spend time with friends on long weekends and vacations. I get 6.5-7 hours of sleep a night, I don’t feel the need to drink coffee to keep me awake during the day, and I NEVER fall asleep during class. Learn to use your time effectively and efficiently and everything else gets a lot easier.</p>

<p>For my freshman through junior years we started school at 7:30. Bus arrived at 6:45, had to be up at 6am everyday. During my senior year our school district tried a thing where they had high school start last, which I found confusing. I had always agreed with the early start for high school, that way we would look after our younger sibilings, but for my last year, we started school at 9:30. To be honest, it didn’t feel that different. Everything I did was just shifted back two hours. I still slept in class, I still ate, it was just pushed back two hours. Though they did change the times back right after my senior year though.</p>

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<p>You clearly don’t have motion sickness. This is completely impossible for me, and for many of my friends.</p>

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<p>Very similar situation here, although we are dealing with a freshman. If left to himself he will stay up till 1 A.M. or later, so I have to intervene in order to keep him healthy.
His school goes from 7:35 to 2:05, he needs to be up at 5:30 to catch the 6:18 bus.
I am the one having problems with the early wake up call ;)</p>

<p>Honestly, my friends fall into one of three categories:</p>

<p>1) Go to bed at a reasonable hour, few ECs.
2) Go to bed at midnight on a good day, typical overachiever ECs/courses plus procrastination. (me)
3) Go to bed at a reasonable hour, typical ECs/courses BUT they have no free time outside of ECs. I.e. This works if your ECs are your ONLY passions (or your most important passion and you’re willing to give up other pursuits). I know theater kids who still manage to get to bed at a remarkable hour, but they don’t do anything outside of theater.</p>

<p>I like my ECs a lot, both school-sponsored and outside of school, but I also have other passions and interests that are, um, too weird to enumerate here. In fact, I’d say that what matters MOST to me is not interpretable as a traditional activity with events; my traditional ECs are more a byproduct of those passions.</p>

<p>Freshman year: 8:00 AM start
Soph. - Senior year: 8:40 AM start</p>

<p>Both are too early. No noticeable change.</p>

<p>I do think kids would learn more if high schools started later. Our high school starts at 8:15 officially, but there’s a zero period at 7:15 - you can take health, and gym and the arts program has required classes then. My younger son now only has to go to school every other day at 7:15. I don’t think it takes anyone an hour to get to school though - driving in a car it’s probably a 15 minute drive maximum to the school. Of course a bus might not be as direct.</p>

<p>My son goes to bed between 10 and 11 weekdays and sleeps late on weekends.</p>

<p>For her first 3 years of high school, my daughter had to be up by 6:45 am. This year, her senior year first semester, she had a free period until 9 am on 4 out of 5 mornings and could arrive at 9 am as a senior privilege. Result: 0.88 rise in GPA and a WAY happier kid.</p>