Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As The Effects of Sleep on the Length of the High School Day For my final form, I will most likely be creating a brochure for parents and an informational website for educators to utilize when presented with the prospect of adjusting the start time of the high school day.

Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As What’s the Problem? The school day for most high school students currently starts around 7:15 or 7:30 am Students are chronically tired and sleep through morning classes Students tend to stay up until 11 pm nightly So what is the problem? Like most of us did, current high school students start their school day around 7:15 or 7:30 in the morning. This becomes a problem when students have to travel longer distances to arrive at school on time. For example, I had to leave my house by 6:30 on days that I drove in order to beat the traffic feeding into the complex, as there was a high school, a middle school, 2 elementary schools, and the huge charlotte location for first union all using the same access road each day. Having to be up and ready by 6:30 am significantly decreased the amount of sleep I could obtain each night. Because of this early start to the day, teachers notice that students are coming to school chronically tired and typically sleep through morning classes. These same students are also consistently staying up until 11 at night.

Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As Biological Reasons Puberty – Sleep cycle for adolescents typically runs from 11 pm until 8 am Current start times prevent students from getting a full night’s sleep Consistently missing up to 2 hours of necessary sleep each week There are numerous reasons for this rising trend of tired students. During puberty, an adolescent’s body requires an average of 9 hours of sleep each night and they don’t become tired until later at night, usually around 11. This means they should ideally be waking up around 8 am. With the current start times, students are failing to meet their body’s required amount of sleep, because they wake up around 6 or 6:30, nearly 2 hours earlier than their bodies want to.

Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As Visible Effects Sleep through class Frequent absences and tardiness due to over-sleeping Inability to pay attention Increased irritability, anxiety and depression

Visual Effects – cont’d Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As Visual Effects – cont’d Decreased socialization and humor Memory Loss Hypersexuality Mental Fatigue Decreased ability to handle complex tasks Decreased creativity

Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As What’s the Solution? Change the start time 8:30 am or later Research has shown that the best solution to this increasing problem would be to adjust the start time of the school day. In order to be of the most benefit to students, the time should be pushed back to 8:30 am or later.

Minneapolis Public Schools Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As Minneapolis Public Schools Changed start time for 7 high schools 7 middle schools 71 elementary schools High school starts at 8:40 am Middle school starts at 9:40 am Elementary schools start at 7:40, 8:40 or 9:40 am Beginning in the 1997-98 school year, Minneapolis Public Schools implemented changes in the start times of schools in their district. The time was changed for 7 high schools, 7 middle schools and 71 elementary schools, effecting approximately 50,000 students. High school students now start at 8:40 am when they previously started at 7:15. Middle schoolers had the most dramatic adjustment from 7:40 to 9:40 and elementary schoolers could start at one of three times 7:40, 8:40 or 9:40.

Success in Minneapolis Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As Success in Minneapolis Greater alertness during class time, exams, and computer activities Decreased tardiness due to over-sleeping The changes in Minneapolis have proved successful. Students report feeling more alert in class and are logging less tardies due to over-sleeping. Responses to the School Sleep Habits Survey conducted in Minnesota included: “I have only fallen asleep once in school this whole year, and last year I fell asleep about three times a week.” and “I feel I pay better attention because my sleep schedule is closer to my normal sleep pattern.” The responses of these students are prime examples of the successful outcome of adjusting the start time of the school day to coordinate with the sleep needs of the students.

Problems and Objections Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As Problems and Objections After school athletics and clubs cause students to miss afternoon classes Students become restless near the end of the day Coordinating bus schedules While adjusting the time seems to have nothing but benefits for the students, there are also problems. Students who participate in sports and clubs after school are often forced to miss parts of afternoon classes due to early dismissals and students become restless near the end of the day. Administrators worry about the difficulties in creating a workable bus schedule without having to purchase additional vehicles, which can be expensive.

Sarah Umberger - ZZZs to As The End ZZZs to As: The Effects of Sleep on the Length of the High School Day That’s the basics of the problem. Any questions?