Let’s face it: starting school at 7:45 a.m. every day isn’t ideal for most students. The school year has many ups and downs but Wednesdays will always stand out because we feel better when school doesn’t start until 9 a.m. Late start days give us more time to sleep, eat breakfast, and leisurely get ready.

Later starts benefit us both academically and emotionally, with a growing body of evidence from the American Psychological Association supporting the conclusion that they correlate with more sleep, better academic performance and many benefits to students’ mental and physical health. It’s time we consider making that change every day.

The science behind later start times is well-documented. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, teenagers need eight to 10 hours of sleep each night to perform at their best. With a 7:45 a.m. start time, many of us struggle to get anywhere close to that. Waking up at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. just isn’t realistic for most students. As a result, we spend the morning tired, distracted, and unable to focus. By shifting the start time back on a regular basis, students would have more time to rest and recover, allowing us to be ready to learn once class begins.

When late start was initially adopted on a weekly basis, there was even a community desire to make them the daily standard. 

On Wednesdays, we experience the benefits of a later start time. That extra hour and 15 minutes makes a huge difference in our ability to learn. We feel less rushed in the morning, which reduces stress, and we’re more engaged in class. The improvement in our mood and focus is noticeable. Having more sleep means we can tackle our schoolwork with more energy and efficiency, which would help us do better academically. It’s easy to see how a later start could positively impact every school day by looking at the improvement in students’ performance on Wednesdays. 

Even the concerns over later end times for extracurriculars and sports are well worth the overwhelming benefit students receive from better time management, adequate rest and improved performance in both school and after-school responsibilities.

Additionally, starting school later could have positive effects on students’ mental health. Sleep deprivation is linked to higher levels of stress and anxiety, which high school students constantly struggle with. By starting later, we could reduce some of these pressures. More sleep equals less stress and less stress equals happier students. A later start would give students the chance to take care of themselves and better manage academic and social challenges throughout the day.

In the end, the case for a later start time is hard to ignore. The simple truth is that students need more sleep to thrive, and starting school at 7:45 a.m. is a barrier to that. As the school and district consider a block schedule, start times have yet to be announced. Even outside of the ongoing debate over the block schedule itself, this major schedule change presents the perfect opportunity to make a tangible difference in one of the biggest barriers to student success.

District 203, let’s push back school start times.