Throughout the different grade levels you have been through, you have most likely been through a lot of different start times and ending times for school.

In elementary school, it started a lot later, meaning you would get out later as well. But for middle school and high school, you would start a lot earlier and end earlier.

As of fall, 2019 though, SPPS has decided to change the start time for high, and middle, schools to 8:30 a.m. because of studies that have shown that teens wake up later naturally.

In these studies, it basically showed that students were having trouble with sleep schedules because typically, they would sleep later. I know that with me being a senior, I can say that I struggle with waking up early because I either can’t sleep at a reasonable time or else I am up doing homework. I know that a lot of students do this too. This can just have students not be able to focus in class and feel sleepy all day. With this later start, students will get the chance to sleep in a little longer.

So, you maybe thinking, “Would that cause after school activities to run later?” and yes, it would, because of the later ending time.

But at the end of the day, students are getting the chance to sleep longer, which will hopefully increase a better performance in school. Students will feel more energized and ready to learn. At the end of the day, this change will hopefully see an improvement in students.