Should NH consider later high school starts?
By: LFDA Editor
As of fall 2010, Windham High School students were given an extra 24 minutes to get to class in the morning.
The reason? This will give them more time to sleep. It's been a national topic, and it's gaining some traction in New Hampshire.
The National Sleep Foundation says it bluntly: "Teens' natural sleep cycle puts them in conflict with school start times."
"If teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep to do their best and naturally go to sleep around 11:00 pm, one way to get more sleep is to start school later," advises the foundation in a statement.
The Windham School Board voted to push back the start time for high schoolers 24 minutes -- from 7:28 a.m. to 7:52 a.m.
However, later start times have downsides. A later school start may cut into the afternoon responsibilities of students, such as part-time jobs or babysitting younger siblings. Start times also impact after school extra-curricular activities, such as sports.
Anthony Pastelis, a member of the Rochester School Board, has also
argued that early high school start times better train students for adult life.