TO:Diana Schlesinger, School Director

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. Pre-teens 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 sleep-wakefulness 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.

[i] American Association of Pediatrics, Press Release, August 25, 2014.

[ii] American Association of Pediatrics, Press Release, August 25, 2014.

[iii] Spinks, Sarah. Adolescents and Sleep. Online summary of a PBS Documentary

[iv]Spinks, Sarah. Adolescents and Sleep. Online summary of a PBS Documentary

[v] Spinks, Sarah. Adolescents and Sleep. Online summary of a PBS Documentary