Schools around the US are finally pushing back their start times — and it's working

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February 13, 2017 3:56 PM

Over the last few years, schools have started listening to research that says teens shouldn't begin the school day before 8:30 a.m.

Have convictions, but always stay curious.

With a population of just over 11,000, Dobbs Ferry, New York is your typical sleepy town, except for one thing: When the first school bell rings, kids actually feel awake.

Prior to the 2015-2016 school year, Dobbs Ferry middle schoolers started at 8:15 a.m. and high schoolers at 7:30 a.m. Under the new policy, both schools now start approximately 30 minutes later and end 15 minutes later.

In making those changes, the Dobbs Ferry School District joined a small but growing group of middle and high schools around the US that have started pushing back their start times in an effort to combat grogginess.

The changes are bolstered by a mountain of sleep science research that says pre-teens and teenagers are some of society's most sleep-deprived people and would actually do better in school with more rest.

These forward-thinking schools are finally listening — and letting kids sleep in.

What happens when you start later?

A new study involving 30,000 high-school students across 29 schools in seven states found that graduation rates and attendance rates both went up in the two years after schools pushed start times to at least 8:30 a.m.

Dobbs Ferry Superintendent Dr. Lisa Brady tells Business Insider that the schools there have experienced tremendous benefits. Following a survey issued at the end of the 2015-2016 school year (the first full year with later start times), Brady says "it was clear from both the parents and the kids, overwhelmingly, that the mornings were just less stressful."

Many of the kids reported having more time to eat breakfast and get ready for school, while parents said they didn't have to drag kids out of bed or yell at them to hurry up. Once students got to school, they felt more alert. At night, they tended to reported going to bed at the same time, even though the new schedule freed up an extra 45 minutes.

Other schools have seen similar benefits. In Seattle, 85% of middle and high schools in the 2016-2017 school year swapped start times with the elementary schools. Now the older kids start at 8:45 while the youngsters start at 7:55.

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