I am the sibling of a student currently attending Melrose High School. I am contacting you to request that the district implement healthier start times for middle and high school students attending Melrose Public Schools. Currently, Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School and Melrose High School have a start time of 7:45 a.m. Studies show there should be a delay in morning classes until 8:30 a.m. or later. Doing this will maximize the intellectual potential of the students in our district. Are you and the School Board aware that Melrose High School is apart of the 40% of U.S. schools that start before 8 a.m.? Are you aware that this early start time is harming the students at Melrose High School? After countless studies, sleep experts have determined a shift in adolescent sleep cycles. For a typical adolescent, their sleep cycle begins round 11 p.m. and continues through 8 a.m. With the early start times in place; adolescents are getting a 5 or 6 a.m. wake up call to get to school without being tardy. This only allows students to get 6 or 7 hours of sleep every night. During the time of adolescence, student’s brains …show more content…
Students are being woken up in the middle of a deep sleep. Being an alumnus of Melrose High School, I also remember the exhaustion I felt during the week. This can be detrimental to not only the learning but also their health. Sleep deprivation increases risk taking behavior, substance abuse, and impedes judgment and decision making ability. Many districts have taken part in this time shift. Teachers have reported academic improvements, better attendance, and students that are less moody and less likely to fall asleep in class, and I know you care for each student in the district and want the best for each individual. A simple change in the school schedule can decrease these risks and result in successful
Mary A. Carskadon, investigated what would happen to sleep rhythms in a group of teenagers for the transition from middle school to senior high, the starting time from the late 8:25 am to very early 7:20 am. The students went about their usual schedules, wore monitors on their wrists, and kept diaries of activities two consecutive weeks. Carskadon found that the 10th grade group woke up significantly earlier for school. These students recorded that they felt tired and groggy throughout the school day. In addition they also received substantially lower test averages than the previous year.
Also according to the National Sleep Foundation, when you are sleep deprived, you are as impaired as driving with a blood alcohol level of .08%, which is illegal for drivers in many states. That is like having a bunch of drunk people walk around a classroom trying to figure out a new concept. Pushing back the start time of school would allow students to have an extra thirty minutes or even an hour of sleep. The National Sleep Foundation says being sleep deprived limits your ability to learn, listen,
starting times begin at 7 A.M in the morning, making teenagers wake up around 5:00 A.M to 6:30 A.M. causing teenagers that stayed up last night weary and fatigued when they arrive at school. Sleep is an enormous part of growth, health, and prevention of stress, think about what happens when you lack sleep. Almost anybody that is exhausted will have lack of focus throughout the day. 28% of tired students tend to fall asleep in their first class causing a harmful grade. Some sleepy students do not even bother to show up to school, contributing to drop out rates and damaging grades to rise.
Later School Start Times “‘I’ve gained an hour of sleep,’ she said. ‘I definitely feel a lot better. I find myself waking up around 7:30 without an alarm because it’s a natural time. It’s a great, great feeling.’” Says Lily Grey Rudges, a high school student in Seattle(At these schools, later start times get an A-plus for youths needing more sleep).
Rising at the crack of dawn also causes too many students to fall asleep in school because of their lack of sleep. Although early start times give all people more time after school, they are causing those people to be underprepared. Because of the lack of sleep, teenagers are getting more and more sleep deprived. What they do not know is
Some parents in Seattle did not agree with the start times because of personal issues. Experts say that getting more sleep over night and going to school at a later time is better than going to school early in the morning and getting a couple hours of sleep the night before. “Some parents of younger children objected when bus schedules were flipped and their kids were put on an earlier schedule for next year” (Associated Press). This quote is stating that some parents are not very happy with the change in start times because bus schedules are getting changed around. I feel that if Beaumont High School adopted a later start time,
Students, have you ever woke up later or could not get enough sleep at night for school? Well, a change in school start times could fix that. School start times should be changed to a later time in the day, because students don 't get enough sleep, would improve classroom performance, and could give students time to eat breakfast. Most might agree that these are some important facts that a later school time change would help. Sleep, it is a big deal and most people are deprived of it because they are forced to wake up early for school.
The early start times of middle and high schools nationwide affect each and every student immensely, affecting academic performance and overall wellness. Students attend first period feeling unfocused and not ready to learn, causing information to fly right past them. Sleep deprived students also often feel stressed and anxious, lacking rest and free time. We should care about this issue because successful students bring forth a successful future. Sleep deprived students have a more difficult time learning, which can cause even the most
Many students have a hard time getting up in the morning, due to the extreme times that school starts at. High school start times do not align with the students’ normal sleep clock, causing students to be severely sleep deprived. Most schools start much before 8:15 am causing students to be substantially sleep deprived (Tonn para. 10). High school start times do not align with students’ normal sleep clock, causing students to be severely sleep deprived.
The way that school is mercilessly scheduled affects students mental and physical health, in turn giving reason to support its adaptability to each individual student. As exemplified in the bell schedule, copious schools have an immensely restricting schedule, with this particular school forcing students to spend six hours and forty-five minutes in eight back-to-back classes with four minutes to get to each class. For my case in particular, my school starts at 7:30 a.m., with my bus arriving by 6:40 a.m. at my house for pickup, and in result my reason as to why I am up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready and walk to the bus stop. This inflexible schedule, due to my own personal experiences and scientific studies, leaves no room for the brain or body to rest, realign, or be creative, at the least. As stated by UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, “ Teens can throw off their body clocks by often staying up late at night...
Quarter 1 Assessment: Annotated Bibliography Thesis Statement: Due to adolescent sleep patterns, school needs to start at 10:00AM Source 1: The UCLA Health website tells how teenage sleep patterns differ from adults, due to changing bodies, and internal sleep clocks. This informational database is based on college research. The title of this page is “Sleep and Teens”.
What if I told you that student academic performance can be greatly influenced by the time school starts? This fact has been greatly debated for decades since the 1980s and has been proven with scientific evidence, but still, there are those who deny students the best conditions to learn. Teenagers are still growing, both mentally and physically, this means that what happens during these few maturing years is very crucial. An article from the National Sleep Foundation has said that in order for a teenagers mind to be in its best condition, schools need to start at 8:30 or later. This means that before this time, a student is not at their best, mentally until after.
High School Start Time According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 86% of public schools start before 8:30 am, making it very difficult for teenagers to get the recommended minimum of eight hours of sleep. The average public school start time is 7:59 am (NCES), but many teachers, parents, and scientist believe that it would be more beneficial for high schools to have a later start time. Although there may be some initial issues with transportation and adapting to a new schedule, the health benefits and academic improvements caused by starting high school at a later time would be worth the switch. There is a range of how much sleep is enough to perform at your best.
Schools should not shift their start time back to where they start their school later in the morning and end later in the day. If students are missing class or coming in late to school because they are tired, it’s their fault when their grades are dropping. In 2001 studies showed that school administrators cited extracurricular activities as a major reason why high school campuses would rather start earlier in the day (http://classroom.synonym.com/). Here are three reasons why this helps.
BUZZ!! BUZZ!! It’s 5:00 am on a school day, you hit the snooze button, and go back to sleep. Twenty minutes later your alarm goes off again. You finally have the urge to get up and get ready for school.