As most know, there has been plenty of research and arguments done on our school start time. I went into this piece thinking that a later school start time would benefit students, not be detrimental. As most know, waking up early is never fun, especially when you have a test first period. But is pushing to start time back really worth it? To get a new perspective, I went to our very own principal, Ms. McHale, to get her professional opinion.
“Two years ago,” she says, “I surveyed a bunch of students about starting later on block days…and most students preferred an hour lunch. I wouldn’t want to steal instructional time, and teachers would not receive this information well because of not wanting their classes shortened… It interferes with athletic time on an 8-period day. The current bell schedule took a lot of consideration; extra help, get work done, or rest.” Having experienced changing times, she had also considered moving the start time later. However, this would have a significant impact, triggering a disastrous domino effect. From angered teachers to disrupting traffic, it’s clear that making the start time later would have costly consequences.
English teacher Ms. Maiese brought more insight to the debate. “Professionally, there’s growing research that proves your physiology is better suited for a later start time because that’s how your biological clocks work. Research shows that teenagers’ brains are physically made not to go to sleep earlier. They’re being set up for failure. In my 27 years as a teacher, my 1st and 2nd periods tend to under-perform because they aren’t fully engaged.” With experience comes evidence, and Mrs. Maise isn’t the only one to notice how students tend not to reach their full potential in the early mornings. While these indeed are good points, it isn’t worth pushing the start time when HMHS is already pushing to keep it as is.
While there is, in fact, much research behind later start times, in our school’s case, it affects way too much for too little of an impact. Furthermore, students have in fact been surveyed on this, and the majority voted for the opposing; keeping it as is. Starting school later might seem like a good idea at first, but it brings several significant drawbacks that could negatively impact HMHS as a whole. For one, a delayed start can interfere with after-school activities, such as sports and clubs. Additionally, changing start times would lead to logistical challenges because HMS directly correlates with HMHS start time to make the arrival for both schools as smooth as possible. Changing this would affect the entire school community. In the end, while sleep is important, the potential consequences of starting school later outweigh the benefits.
