Sleep is a priority for both physical and mental health. With the new school year starting, many students have difficulty achieving 8 hours of sleep a night, which is critical to their health.
Balancing loads of homework along with extracurricular activities makes it nearly impossible for students to get enough sleep every night. This increases rates of depression, suicidal attempts, health problems, and difficulty with learning.
The APA reports that students starting between 8:30 am and 8:59 am had longer sleep durations, more positive mood, and increased development. Along with this, during puberty, youth undergo a shift in their circadian clocks, making it harder for teens to fall asleep at night.
Many wonder why sleep is so important for our health. The truth is sleep makes the cardiovascular system and immune system stronger, and helps regulate one’s metabolism.
Science Direct did a study in 2013 showing a shortened duration of sleep by 1 hour increased feelings of hopelessness, suicidal ideations, attempted suicides, and substance abuse. The only way to make this number decrease is by increasing nightly sleep time to satisfy the body’s needs.
Totino-Grace is one of the many schools that has come up with a solution to help fix these problems.
In 2022, Totino-Grace introduced a new model to their school year. This model included late-start mornings every Wednesday. This meant school would start at 9:15 am every Wednesday.
Cheri Broadhead, who is the principal of Totino-Grace, said there were two leading factors to this change for this new model.
The first includes allowing students to get help from their teachers. Students know their teachers are available during this time, so it allows them to receive more help during their free time.
Broadhead stated she was “surprised” by the number of students that come in early, and many staff members find this time extremely “helpful”.
The second leading factor includes giving teachers time for development before school. This time allows teachers to prepare lessons, do class workshops, and have meetings with other staff members.
Staff members have found this time extremely helpful. Along with decreasing students’ anxiety because they know their teachers will be available during this time.
Besides learning, attendance on late-start Wednesdays has been excellent, with extremely few students showing up late. With this extra time in the morning, many from far distances can leave earlier and get to school on time.
However, with the many positives of late starts, there are also many negatives.
Parents who both work have a difficult time dropping off and picking up their kids at an adjusted time. Which can lead to a change in work schedule and be very difficult on families.
Along with this, all schedules would change. Later start times would mean later end times, which leads to many conflicts involving extracurricular activities. Accompanied by bussing schedule changes causing more traffic, delays, and money.
Unfortunately, in the future Totino-Grace does not see this becoming an everyday thing.
Totino-Grace’s mission is to prepare its students for college and give them the education they need. With different start times, they would lose this.
Overall, late-start Wednesdays have made a positive impact on Totino-Grace. Although it is not without its challenges, it has helped students and teachers grow positively.
