John Cooper School tries later start to day
The John Cooper School is experimenting for the first time with later start times for its high school students this fall.
In the spring, the board, administrators and department heads at the John Cooper School unanimously agreed to enact a once-a-week late start time for the start of the 2015-16 school year. Now on every Wednesday, upper school students file into their first class at 8:30 a.m., a short reprieve from their regular 7:45 a.m. days.
“We try to be mindful of the whole child experience, and sleep is a huge part of children’s development,” said Gillian Crane, dean of students at the John Cooper School. “There have been many discussions across the country about shifting start times and paying attention to the teenage brain. A pioneer in the field, Mary Crskadon, said, ‘Waking a teen in time for school at eight o’clock is like waking an adult at 3 a.m.’ The issue is that teens’ natural biology doesn’t allow them to fall asleep earlier.” Ongoing debate
School start times have been debated in school districts across the country as parents and researchers struggle to get education policymakers to ring the school bell later.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics have both called for later middle- and high-school start times so that more adolescents can get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. In more than 40 states, at least 75 percent of public schools started before the recommended start time of 8:30 a.m., according to a CDC report that was released in August.
Because the late start times are once a week and its still early on in the school year, all the pros and cons have yet to bubble to the surface. But some visible side effects include fewer cars at the middleand upper-school car lines. Upper school teachers have even seized those extra minutes to get together, have meetings and collaborate on projects before the students shuffle into class.
“We’re going to do more in-depth and thorough feedback loops to get a sense of how students, families and teachers are feeling about this,” said Steve Popp, head of upper school at the John Cooper. “But I will say that many students have enjoyed the extra time they have. For some, because of the logistics of their own family, if their sibling gets dropped off at middle school, they still have to get here, but they’re still enjoying that extra time in the morning. ... There’s a sense that it’s a different feel in the middle of the week.” Shifting schedules
For Natalie Sos, late start times has helped her catch up on sleep midway through the week. Because she drives to school, Sos doesn’t have to worry about being dropped off with her middle-school sibling who still has to make it to school by 7:45 a.m. Instead, she enjoys the rest and rolls out of bed at 8 a.m. before heading to classes.
“I thought it was a really good idea because I like to sleep in,” Sos, a senior at John Cooper School, said. “I like to get as much extra sleep as possible, but I know some people either have extra time to finish up homework or they’ll have a nice breakfast before school starts.”
Although the bell rings later, some students still find themselves waking up on their regular, early schedule. Jacob Mani, a junior at the John Cooper School, lives 30 minutes away from school in Spring and wakes up around 6 a.m. every day. But he’s still enthusiastic about late start times. On Wednesdays, Mani uses the extra time in the morning to finish homework, study for exams and prepare for the SAT and PSAT before his cousin picks him up for school.
“I always take advantage of Tuesday night. I’m studying for the SATs, and that’s my night to really take a test or something like that because I stay up a little later. And (late start times) is a good way to recover. If I fall behind in one subject homework-wise, I can get back to that,” Mani said. More time outside class
Those extra moments will become more valuable when the winter sports season kicks off. Mani is on the soccer team, which plays competitively on Tuesday nights. He expects the extra recovery time in the morning to help him stay on top of his school commitments.
Late start times aren’t just a way to stay on top of homework and studying while catching up on much needed rest. It’s also a way for students to get ahead. While Mani is preparing to take college-entry exams, Sos is writing essays and sending applications to 11 universities.
“I’ve just been trying to get my applications done. That’s the stressful thing about senior year is you have all your homework and, on top of that, there’s always another essay you can be writing,” Sos said.
Educators are still weighing the complications for students with siblings in PreK-8 who still have an early schedule, those with off-campus extracurricular activities and parents.
“The potential for cross divisional complications was an important factor in trying out only one day instead of all days. Given that we are a Pre-K through 12 school and that we share a building with the middle school, we thought one day was more prudent,” Crane said.
Educators and administrators are keeping their ears open to feedback and expect to make a decision on the future of late start times sometime in the spring.
“I definitely hope they continue it because there were times last year I know where I was so busy. I would need to sleep in for my first period class because I wouldn’t make it through the day without that extra hour of sleep,” Sos said.
But for now, students can enjoy those extra ‘Z’s.