Perhaps no one dreads setting their alarm clocks to rise for the start of the new school year more than teenagers.
The nation鈥檚 average public high school is 8:07 a.m.; nearly 10 percent begin before 7:30 a.m. Either start time likely requires teens to rise by at least 7:00 am鈥攁 time identified by health experts as part of adolescents鈥� peak sleepy hours. That鈥檚 thanks largely to a natural change in teens鈥� circadian rhythm鈥攖he 鈥溾�濃�攚hich results in later sleep onset and wake times. The result is a significant mismatch between this demographic鈥檚 preferred sleep time and social demands: namely, school.
This is not breaking news. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a recommending that school districts push start times to 8:30 a.m. or later for middle and high schools in an effort to help adolescents achieve the recommended eight-and-a-half to 10 hours of sleep per night鈥攁 goal that approximately three-quarters of teenage students fall short of on school nights.
Chronic sleep deprivation is bad for teens. It鈥檚 been to a number of physical and mental health risks, lowered academic performance, and overall poorer quality of life. And while plenty of factors contribute to teens鈥� insufficient sleep, researchers have pinpointed early school start times as a key, and modifiable, contributor to the problem. But despite the well-documented and publicized research in favor of later school start times for adolescents and teens, countless districts resist the change鈥攐ften citing barriers such as existing bus and sports schedules and before- and after-school daycare disruptions for younger students.
Challenging the status quo
Phyllis Payne, a public health educator and advocate for healthy sleep among teens, has heard all of these excuses and more.
Some of them stand out for their seeming absurdity. 鈥淪chool officials have told us, 鈥榃e have too many waterways鈥� and 鈥極ur schools are at too many altitudes,鈥欌�� said Payne, implementation director at , a nonprofit organization that has helped hundreds of school districts nationwide change to later start times. 鈥淚 tell them it can be done.鈥�
Payne should know. As a co-founder of the advocacy group in Fairfax, Va., Payne supported Fairfax County school system, one of the nation鈥檚 largest districts, as it undertook the initiative to move its high school start times about an hour later, to either 8:00 or 8:10 am. Even with 1,600 buses transporting about 170,000 students to 200 different schools, the district made the change effective for the 2015-2016 academic year.
鈥淭he real challenge is that it鈥檚 different than what people are used to doing,鈥� Payne said, referring to later start times. Overcoming resistance to change is often the first step in making it happen. Beyond that, there鈥檚 no single 鈥榤agic bullet鈥� to moving to a later start time, she explained. But, say those who鈥檝e been involved in the transition, the following factors are key.
Leadership buy-in
鈥淲hen superintendents set it up [schedule change] as a must-have for the teens in the community, then their teams come together,鈥� Payne said.
Convincing superintendents that it鈥檚 a priority is simple once they take the time to learn about the science behind it, Payne explained. Simply taking a glimpse at the AAP鈥檚 long, curated list of adverse effects of chronic sleep loss in adolescents is fairly convincing, which includes increased rates of motor vehicle crashes; increased risk for anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation; cognitive deficits, especially with more complex tasks; and lower academic achievement.
鈥淥nce they become aware of how important this is they鈥檒l want to get this done,鈥� she said.
Thinking holistically
Anne Arundel County, Md., schools, with 85,000 students, discussed for years the possibility of moving to a later start time for high school students, said spokesperson Bob Mosier.
That discussion evolved over the years from one that focused exclusively on high school start times to one that instead referenced what they began to term 鈥渉ealthier school start and dismissal times.鈥�
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just pick up and change your high school times in isolation,鈥� said Mosier, whose district in 2022-2023 instituted a new high school start time of 8:30 a.m., about an hour later than previous years. Every division is affected, as evidenced by his district鈥檚 need to ramp up after-school child care offerings to families with younger children once the new schedule was put in place.
With the previous, earlier high school dismissal time, high school students could be available to babysit younger siblings. In some instances, parents鈥� work schedules had to shift to accommodate the schedule changes.
鈥淲e had plenty of families who needed child care after the change who hadn鈥檛 before,鈥� Mosier said.
To help address the issue, the district organized and held a childcare fair for parents.
Payne acknowledged similarly detailed planning in supporting Fairfax County鈥檚 move to later high school start times. 鈥淲e examined all kinds of minutia,鈥� said Payne. It involved everything from analyzing traffic patterns to involving the local police department to plan for changes to crossing guard schedules.
Strong communication
Working through the details of a forthcoming schedule change is part of the solution. Communicating these details to stakeholders is as critical, Mosier explained. Anne Arundel County schools spent months preparing families for the pending change. They used multiple avenues of messaging: phone, email, text, and websites in both English and Spanish that explained the pending schedule change, why it was happening, and how families would be affected. In addition, each of the district鈥檚 board members created a short video explaining the rationale behind the new start time and invoking the sleep science supporting it.
鈥淓veryone knew it was happening,鈥� Mosier said. 鈥淣o one was surprised.鈥�
