TO:
Diana Schlesinger, School Director
Laurie Baum, Middle School Director
Greene Hill School
FROM:
Rachael Burton
RE:
Middle School Starting Time
DATE:
February 14, 2015
Greene Hill School opened a middle school in September 2014 with the first class of
6th graders. The school day for middle school students is 8:30 am. A decision was
made to start the school day for 6th graders 20 minutes earlier than the school day
for 4th and 5th graders and 30 minutes earlier than the day for the youngest
students.
My understanding is, as a parent of a child in that class, and as an administrator at
the school, that this decision was made for several reasons including the need for
more academic time to allow in-depth study and additional travel time to facilitate
the expanded ArtsLab program.
The one thing that may not have been fully taken into account, however, was the
sleep needs of the adolescent and pre-adolescent students. The American Academy
of Pediatrics addresses this problem directly:
“Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common –
and easily fixable – public health issues in the U.S. today,” said pediatrician
Judith Owens, MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement, “School Start
Times for Adolescents,” published in the September 2014 issue of
Pediatrics.”i
And,
“The research is clear that adolescents who get enough sleep have a reduced
risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved
in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test
scores and an overall better quality of life,” Dr. Owens said. “Studies have
shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help
adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn.’ “ii
At first, this would seem to be a parental problem, not a problem to be addressed by
a school. If pre-teens need more sleep, they should go to bed earlier and that is
clearly within the purview of family control. It is not, however, that simple. Preteens and teenagers seem experience a change in sleeping rhythms that leave them
awake later and thus needing to sleep longer into the morning.
Frontline producer Sarah Spinks published a wonderful summary online of a
program called “Inside the Teenage Brain” on sleep and adolescents. Spinks refers
often to the work of two scientists, Mary Carskaden and Bill Dement. These
researchers found something in adolescent and pre-adolescent sleep patterns that
should greatly trouble both parents and educators. Spinks notes that
“The researchers found that the biological clock opposed the sleepwakefulness cycle at certain points of the day and at certain ages. It kept
people awake when they were very tired. Just before puberty, that internal
clock helped teens stay alert at night when they should have been falling
asleep. The researchers called this a "phase-delay."iii
And,
“Until the age of 10, many children wake up fresh and energetic to start the
day. In contrast, the biological clock of pre-teens shifts forward, creating a
"forbidden" zone for sleep around 9 or 10 p.m. It is propping them up just as
they should be feeling sleepy.”iv
The problem is more complex than just students needing more sleep. It seems
apparent from the research that pre-adolescents and teenagers need both more
hours asleep than they are getting and those hours need to start later at night and
consequently end later in the morning. If students at this age cannot fall asleep
easily until 10 pm and they need 9.25 hours of sleep,v it would be logical for middle
and high schools to change their start times to 9:00 am (or even 9:30 am) to
accommodate sleep and travel time.
I understand that this will not be a simple problem to solve and is more complicated
than simply starting school later for middle and high schools. School days are
actually composed of interlocking parts. Administrators need to take into account
many things: the needs of students traveling by school bus, parents who have
children in both elementary and middle/high school, sports teams that need
daylight for practice and many more conflicting needs.
Given the complexity of scheduling for a pre-k through eight grade school, I
appreciate you taking the time to consider this problem. I would be delighted to
continue this research and work with others on a team to find possible solutions.
American Association of Pediatrics, Press Release, August 25, 2014.
www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Let-Them-Sleep-AAPRecommends-Delaying-Start-Times-of-Middle-and-High-Schools-to-Combat-TeenSleep-Deprivation.aspx
ii American Association of Pediatrics, Press Release, August 25, 2014.
www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Let-Them-Sleep-AAPi
Recommends-Delaying-Start-Times-of-Middle-and-High-Schools-to-Combat-TeenSleep-Deprivation.aspx
iii Spinks, Sarah. Adolescents and Sleep. Online summary of a PBS Documentary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html
iv Spinks, Sarah. Adolescents and Sleep. Online summary of a PBS Documentary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html
Spinks, Sarah. Adolescents and Sleep. Online summary of a PBS Documentary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html
v