School & District Management

Starting High School Later Shows ‘Big Impact’

By Alyson Klein — February 25, 2020 3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Brian Harris has a lot of physicians living in his affluent suburban Chicago district. And for years, they have told him that the district’s high school start time at around 7:20 a.m. was way too early for bleary-eyed teenagers.

So, as part of a districtwide push to make better, evidence-based use of time, the superintendent of the Barrington 220 district in Barrington, Ill., got to work pushing back high school start times to 8:30 a.m. That’s the earliest recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Middle schoolers, who some experts suggest may need the extra shut-eye even more than their high school counterparts, now start at 9 a.m. And rise-and-shine elementary students, who learn best first thing in the morning, begin class at 8 a.m.

The district’s decision was supported by an avalanche of research, dozens of experts, and even parents, especially those in the health-care profession.

Starting high school later has been shown to reduce teenage depression and car accidents, and contribute to higher test scores. That’s partly because teenagers get their most productive, rapid-eye-movement sleep in the early-morning hours.

Hard to Change

Early start times mean “truncating dream sleep” for higher schoolers, said Dr. Daniel Lewin, the associate director of sleep medicine at Children’s National Hospital in Washington. “The general take-home message is that when kids sleep longer and have more sleep time in the morning, they have better emotion and regulation, better attention on the highways and in class.”

But all that evidence doesn’t mean the change was easy. In fact, it took Harris and his team two years—and a lot of outreach—to implement.

“It was a big shift in our community, big impact,” Harris said. The change affected parents, teachers, and students and also local businesses, day-care providers, and more. Shifting start times even transformed traffic patterns on busy roads.

Organizations like dance studios had to change their business hours, so that they could be open when children were available. “We had to get them on board with what we were doing,” Harris said.

The general take-home message is that when kids sleep longer and have more sleep time in the morning, they have better emotion and regulation, better attention on the highways and in class.

Another group that had to adjust: day-care providers. Elementary school students are now dismissed at 2:45 p.m., when many parents are still working. And their older siblings are no longer able to watch them after school because they are still in class. “We had to really ramp up the after-school options at the elementary level,” Harris said.

At the other end of the spectrum, local fast-food joints and grocery stores who hire teenagers had to wrap their minds around the shift. “All of a sudden, they weren’t available to be at work at 3 o’clock,” the superintendent said. “Now, they couldn’t get there ‘til 4.”

And, of course, there were other changes to district operations. Bus routes needed to be rethought. So did after-school activities. Teachers’ own schedules changed.

To help smooth the process, Harris convened an “advisory group” of about 40 to 50 parents, educators, representatives from the chamber of commerce, and local government officials. They studied school start times for about six months and then made a recommendation to the board of education. “They helped explain to the rest of the community the importance of it,” Harris said.

Was it worth it? The data seem to suggest it was. Before the change was implemented 2½ years ago, academic grades in every student’s first-period class—no matter what it was—were one standard deviation below the rest of the periods of the day. But now, there’s no difference between student grades for their earlier and later classes, Harris said.

A version of this article appeared in the February 26, 2020 edition of Education Week as Later Start Times: ‘Big Shift, Big Impact’

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Spark Minds, Reignite Students & Teachers: STEM’s Role in Supporting Presence and Engagement
Is your district struggling with chronic absenteeism? Discover how STEM can reignite students' and teachers' passion for learning.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2025 Survey Results: The Outlook for Recruitment and Retention
See exclusive findings from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of K-12 job seekers and district HR professionals on recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction. 
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion 3 Mistakes New Leaders Should Avoid
Districts are searching for aspiring leaders. What does it take to succeed in the role?
4 min read
Screen Shot 2025 01 16 at 5.28.27 PM
Canva
School & District Management 3 Big Challenges School Lunch Programs Face as They Feed Students
School nutrition directors report problems with costs, supply shortages, and staffing.
4 min read
Students wrap up their lunch break at Lowell Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Aug. 22, 2023.
Students wrap up their lunch break at Lowell Elementary School in Albuquerque, N.M., on Aug. 22, 2023. Rising costs and staff shortages are squeezing school nutrition programs.
Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
School & District Management Superintendents Say Public Schools Can Compete With School Choice. Here's How
The four finalists for the National Superintendent said schools have to get creative to attract students.
4 min read
011425 SOY Finalists BS
The four finalists for the 2025 National Superintendent of the Year speak at a Jan. 9 panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington. From left to right: Debbie Jones, Walter B. Gonsoulin Jr., Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, and David K. Moore
Courtesy of AASA
School & District Management Classroom Interruptions Add Up Quickly to Lost Learning Time
During a typical school year, teachers contend with potentially thousands of interruptions to classroom time.
3 min read
Image of a clock on supplies.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva<br/>