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FCCPTA 2008 School Start Time Survey
"General" Comments Submitted for Question 13

Comments Submitted by Survey Takers Who Took the
Survey from May 30 to June 4, 2008

10:15 AM Friday, May 30, 2008

Tell the School Board to make this happen as soon as possible. This change will be a big improvement over the current schedule.

10:46 AM Friday, May 30, 2008

because Bailey's ES has students like mine who live farther away, I beg you not to start too early. I would likely have to drive my kids to school every day because the bus would need to make the rounds so early to get there in time (we currently drive our kids to the bus stop).

11:26 AM Friday, May 30, 2008

I definatly feel that the schools start way to early for our children. We wonder why our children are tired and grumpy

12:38 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

If they move middle school to a later time, what will happen to the after school activities?

01:19 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

WE've seen the studies and examples from other school districts. Let's quit sticking our head in the sand and figure out a way to get this done. Move high school start times later!

01:37 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Starting at 0920 does not allow working parents an opportunity to see there middle students off to school. The late evening also does not work with after school activities such as homework, dinner and organizedd sports; and yet allow for adequate bed time. 8:30 - 3:15 is the most preferred time.

01:48 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

My senior is not in sports but has 4 AP classes NHS, Tri-M and Spanish Honor soc iety the amount of school work she does is about 4 hours or more a night

01:56 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I would welcome a later school start time. Mornings are not easy. With all the homework and sports activities, our children are not getting enough rest. This would limit students being late as well for over sleeping.

02:03 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

If there were fewer bus stops or if students were required to walk further to bus stops (especially at middle and high school levels) that might make buses run more quickly? Also save gas? I would definitely favor this since my son needs more exercise anyway.

02:22 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Solid research indicates that adolescents' circadian rhythms require that MS and HS students need the early morning sleep that is cut short by the current FCPS school start. The proposed later start time will benefit all students, including ES students. Furthermore it will not hurt sports and other extracurricular pro grams.

02:38 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I STRONGLY support a later start time for middle & high school students!!!!!!!!! !!!! best at 7:00 in the morning: it's unrealistic to expect that of high school students!!!!!

02:54 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Middle School students are beginning their formative years and need supervision. The current school schedule provides them with too much unsupervised free time before their parents arrive home. Switching the starting time for middle schools and high school would allow the growing teenagers to get more sleep and have less unsupervised time. Elementary school children would also benefit since the y tend to be early risers and would not have so much time to wait before getting up in the morning and starting their academic day.

03:17 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Family members who used to live on a farm and had farm chores growing up (eg, milk cows, collect eggs) have commented that they rose early, did their chores, an d then went to school. School start times are less of an issue than families' activities and whether the family emphasizes the need for their child to get adequate sleep. But, I grew up in a very small town, and so the high school day could start at 8:30, because there weren't so many schools depending on a limited pool of busses to deliver the kids. I'm going to sound totally country, but I walked to elementary, middle, and high school. I definitely don't want my future high schooler to have to get up at 5:30 to be at the school bus stop at 6. But, we know that it's a big county, and we have to share the transportation resources. Anyway--thanks for asking and good luck in figuring all this out.

03:50 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

TJ has a late start & I think that start time pushes the limit for those who participate in afterschool activities (even for students who live close by). I understand teenagers need more sleep, but the proposed start time is too late, they need time to chill after activities before they start homework. Starting that late does not allow for that.

03:53 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I definitely support later start times. Kids are more alert in class and learn better when they've had a good night's sleep. You're not going to get teenagers to go to bed at 8:00 on a school night. I know later release times make it difficult when scheduling sports, jobs, etc., but feel sleep and learning is more important. I see high school kids waiting for the bus before 6:30 AM, which is ridiculous. I know someone who home schooled primarily because of school start times.

03:55 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I think that having kids get on the bus at 6am or earlier in the AM is not acceptable, especially in the winter when weather is more inclement and it's dark.

04:37 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I applaud your efforts to modify school start times! Even when my middle-schoole r is in bed at a reasonable hour, he can't fall asleep. A modified schedule in w hich he can be home to see my younger son off to school will also fit much better into my husband's and my work schedule.

04:40 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I think studies and research support the need for middle and high schools to start later and for elementary schools to start early. It matches the circadian rhythms of the child better.

05:10 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Starting school earlier, in my opinion is a great idea, mostly because I want my children home earlier so they have time for homework and for playing and relaxing and being together as a family. The current schedule means that we only have about 2-3 hours before we must begin dinner and bedtime rituals. I think this change would support families.

05:15 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT LATER START TIMES FOR HIGH SCHOOLs AND MIDDLE SCHOOLs. age groups; however, since some age group must have the late start times of 9-9: 30AM, I believe MIDDLE SCHOOLS are the best to place in th last tier. The reduction in the unsupervised hours for ALL STUDENTS (not just those in the "official " middle school after school programs) between the end of a school day and when parents arrive home is the primary reason and very compelling. e benefits of later start times are worth the adjustments necessary in sports pr actices, use of school facilities by other schools/teams and community groups, and adjustments to day care arrangement,etc. Everyone must keep in mind that eve y family currently has to deal with changing schedules as their children move from elementary, middle, and high school now. Everyone adjusts now and they will also adjust to the new schedule, even though it will take some adjustment.

06:17 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Great that school system is aware of fact that teens/children need more rest and great that change is seriosly being considered. Hope this change happens before my son gets out of high school. (Next year his 1st year in HS.) We struggle every morning and I'm sure he is very groggy until at least 11:00 am every day!

06:20 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

high school start times are ridiculously early, and then the buses drop them of f 30 minutes or more before school starts. that's insane. that's why we drive in the am.

09:22 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

High schoolers are at a critical time for their college education and careers. We need to let them get adequate rest, according to their internal clocks, to be successful academically without constant medication (i.e., caffiene) to get through their challenging days.

09:37 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

I think starting school later for high schoolers is an excellent and sound idea but prefer to leave start times for elementary and middle schoolers as is. It sounds as if that is not possible, however.

09:51 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Making high school students (and their parents!) get up so early is crazy. It is also unsafe because of when it's dark outside that early in the morning.

10:13 PM Friday, May 30, 2008

Our school schedules is ideal with classes that start at 8:45 AM and bus dropping off at 4 PM. This allows me time to get my children ready for school including a breakfast at home and still get to work by 9 AM. A 4 PM pickup is convenient for my wife as well as she can be at work by 7 AM and still be there to pick u p our children. What we really hate is the 1/2 days every monday.

02:36 AM Saturday, May 31, 2008

You cannot have elementary students starting/going to the bus before it is light outside. It is irresponsible and ignorant.

05:52 AM Saturday, May 31, 2008

if the neighboring clusters shared the buses, the start times of elem/middle/high within a cluster could be closer together; provided, the neighboring cluster, was scheduled opposit. Further more, many students could be picked up and dropped off simultaneously if research was done to figure this out... for instance... how many middle student homes do I pass by on my elementary route? So when I drop at the elementary school, I already have some middle school students loaded, g o pick up some more, then drop at the middle school. This works well also because you'll have some middle school students at the bus stop with the elementary k ids. when I am admid my elem/middle school pick up, my neighboring cluster help s me with my middle school pick up and high does my high school pickup. After my middle school is done, I begin my neighboring cluster's neighboring elementary/ mid, they come back and help and their high school. With traffic being as it i s, 40 buses can pick up kids in less time than 20 and get the kids to school faster. It may mean more gas expended in a time when gas is more expensive, but they will be traveling less distance 4x per day instead of more distance 2x per day. it's 6 or one- half dozen of the other. If you I am not explaining this wel

12:37 PM Saturday, May 31, 2008

I would welcome a change in start times for my older children!!!The adjustment made for my elementary age child would be fine and my older children would be muc h happier.

06:12 PM Saturday, May 31, 2008

I was very surprised to see that some buses pick up children before 6 am for school. My opinion is that this is MUCH too early for any age child.

07:24 AM Sunday, June 01, 2008

I would very much appreciate a later start time for our older children. It is much easier for our younger children to get up early than our older children.

08:25 AM Sunday, June 01, 2008

I do not believe this topic is worth the school boards time and money to spend. Our precious tax dollars allocated to the school should be spend on improving cl assroom instruction and providing a better teacher/student ratio.

08:59 AM Sunday, June 01, 2008

Due to work schedules and after school care, I do not support an earlier start. I would have to find someone to watch them before AND after school and finances do not support that change.

08:59 AM Sunday, June 01, 2008

Due to work schedules and after school care, I do not support an earlier start. I would have to find someone to watch them before AND after school and finances do not support that change.

07:02 PM Sunday, June 01, 2008

my children are dismissed at 3:20pm If they ride the bus (which they seldom do) they arrive home at 4:00pm (40 Min Bus ride) If they start school at 9:30 I am guessing they would be dismissed around 4:20 and if they take the bus that would put them home at 5pm - with day light savings that would be to dark for little kids to walk home plus they would be walking home with rush hour traffic and the y walk into dinner - homework - bath - where is the play time? I think Ele School kids should not dismiss any later than 3:30 pm.

07:55 PM Sunday, June 01, 2008

Firstly, I think the fact that high school kids starting early is good as it better prepares them for the responsibilities of getting up early when they go off to colleges and into the professional world. Whether we like it or not, the pressures of the business world will force them to have to get up and get to work early. It's life in America. Elementary school children are in need of the most sleep and should be getting at least 10 hours of sleep to be able to make it through the school day. I believe that as kids get older the need for sleep decfont-weight: normal; lines. Adults should be getting at least 8 hours of sleep for healthier living. I thin k the campaign needs to be redirected to call for longer periods between homework assignments and more classwork for high schoolers with greater amounts of quiz zing and testing in-class. This will enable high schoolers to have more rest time as the brain needs to truly exercise and process while doing other activities. This also better prepares them for colleges and universities and the learning structures. earlier with a healthy breakfast would suffice. Early to bed, early to rise...

11:17 PM Sunday, June 01, 2008

It is long overdue for FCPS to provide reasonable start times for high school students. The current ones are absurd and abusive. These kids need more sleep and less stress so they can be their best academically and socially.

11:53 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

High school should start later because high school students need the most sleep to fuction properly.

12:04 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

It would be better to have them start a little later. They could really use more sleep, however most high schoolers do have other things going on in their lives and getting out too late would just make them go to bed even later.

09:15 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

Think it is a great idea to start everything later, however, does not make sense to start the younger kids earlier. Expect this would have a very bad result.

09:16 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

I would approve of a later start time for elementary children (who generally get up early anyway). I would however prefer that the SACC schedule remain the same or start a little earlier (say 7:00am)

09:19 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

Way too early now...it also impacts lunch time which occurs at 10:30 and throws off the entire food schedule.

09:33 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

High school definately starts too early. Middle school start times are not as big a problem.

09:40 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

It would be so good for the kids if high school started later. I know many time s my kids are up really late working on homework. This way, they could sleep in a little in the morning and not be so tired for the day.

10:03 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

Generally, young children are active in the morning, so pushing school times lat er than 9 seems to waste precious learning time. In the afternoon, many kids ex perience a natural ebb and that should be recognized by ending school around 3is h, particularly for younger kids. For older kids, the extra time is the morning is more beneficial b/c it's harder to control sleep schedules and more time for sleep in the morning is likely to be helpful to lots of kids. Also, some will choose to do extracurricular physical activity in the morning, which would be a great way to get ready for the day.

10:13 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

As noted above, keep pyramid school start/end times and bus schedules within the same time frame.

10:15 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

My husband and I have both endorsed later days for adolescents. I teach middle s chool and know how tired they are when we start the day at 7:30. When I took Ado lescent Psychology years ago, I remember being quite struck by how much sleep ad olescents need. I've never forgotten it & have long thought that the school begi nning-time schedule makes no sense given adolescent sleep needs.

10:28 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

once again. the 7:20 start time for high school is much too early. i would be m ost grateful for a later start time.

10:45 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

I think Elementary students need more free time in the afternoon - so I support earlier start time for them, so they have more free time before 6:00 dinner time .

10:48 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

HS starts to early the kids are tired, can't really focus, are not getting prope r nutrition and at risk for a car accident.

10:50 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

Not only are high school & middle school start times to early, these students ar e bused to school 30 to 40 minutes BEFORE school begins so transportation can ma ke other runs - no wonder these kids want to drive or be driven to school.

10:54 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

I have seen the studies about the impact of such early start times on student ac hievement and I have also seen in my own home the impact of a sleep deprived tee n aged child. It is imperative that the early start times be changed for the go od of the students- both academically and for their health. Elementary school c hildren are wired to get up earlier if necessary and their homework load/stress is much less so an earlier start time for them makes more sense. The very early high school start times are alarming and moving them later should be a top prio rity.

10:58 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

This is a delicate issue very much dependant of each child, as there are two typ es, the morning person and the evening person. But ultimately the current schedu le is fine, if any, I would suggest to reduce the sport practice schedule. We be lieve that, all things considered, there balance between academics and sports is biased in favor of the later i.e., sports.

11:06 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

The later the better for high school. There is too much homework for them to ge t to bed at a decent hour. My son gets run down and then gets sick - that leads to missed and late assignments. What he lacks the most is enough time to reall y eat breakfast and sleep enough to keep his immune system happy. It just isn't good to be exhausted from lack of sleep and stress. It seems we're setting the m up for failure.

11:32 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

High school start times have been forcibly moved earlier and earlier because of transportation requirements. This is a major stressor for our high school stude nts, and the Task Force's recommendations is a well-thought out solution.

11:36 AM Monday, June 02, 2008

I would LOVE to see earlier start times, but am concerned about any budgetary im pacts, as well as impacts on extra curricular activities, including kids' work s chedules. However, being awake in school is the most important.

12:10 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

This absolutelty NEEDS to be done! I believe it will improve academic performanc e and possibly even prevent teenage depression from being chronically overired.

05:50 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

There are many activities other than sports that would be impacted. Those shoul d be considered as well.

05:50 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Our family would not be happy with a later start time for the high school and mi ddle school children. After school activities would greatly be impacted!

06:01 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

While my children would welcome a later start, the added time at the end of the day would be problematic for after-school sports, classes and homework time. So my preference is to keep the hours as they are.

06:15 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Starting schools later would interfere with sports practices, and would make the m go later, which means children wouldn't get home later, which gives them a lat er start on homework, and causes them to stay up late just to get it done, and i n the end they probably would lose the sleep that this program tries to give the m back.

06:21 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE change the start of high school time! My child has a 13 m inute walk to the bus and in the winter, having my child walk alone in the dark is a scary thougth. hange made!

06:21 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

When my daughters became teenagers their sleep pattern changed. They cannot fal l asleep at night even though they have been tired throughout the day. It is ex tremely hard to wake up after only six hours of sleep yet that is what they aver age per night. It is a known fact that at this phase of their lives, they have a different sleep cycle. Lack of sleep can really distort judgement and reflexe s. This is especially alarming when you realize that during this time our teens , with lack of sleep, are learning and beginning to drive. This puts everyone a t risk. In high school many students fall asleep during class from sheer exhaus tion. I think changing the starting time would only benefit and support them. Peer presure, demands of acedemics and changing bodies is hard enough without th e added burden of lack of sleep.

04:07 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think getting enough sleep is crucial to how a teenager does in school. I woul d love to see the high schools start later and appreciate all your doing to look into the matter.

04:08 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

There is no solution that will make everyone happy. I think if parents could co ntrol the schedules of their children better and not allow them to over-commit t o so many outside activities, then they would have enough time to get all the ho mework done and still allow for them get the required rest. Kids in high school better get used to adapting to the situation before they get to college where t hey have a lot of other commitments to balance.

04:08 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Before my kids started school, I would have voted for a 9am start time over our current 8am. Now that we're used to it - and since my older daughter naturally wakes up early unless she's sick or overtired - it's not so bad but 8:30 wouldn' t be so bad either. I'll have to wake the younger one up next year, most likely , since she tends to wake up around when the AM bus comes at 7:45 (she's in PM K G and takes the midday KG bus).

12:24 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

This is a tough one as I will have elementary, middle and HS students next year. I am OK with the early start for HS if sports are directly after school This ye ar we had a team that didn't pratice until 4:45-7:15 Which meant she would come home, eam then I'd have to drive her & teammates back to school then pick up aga in at 715. She wouldn't eat dinner until late, then showe and homework didn't st art until almost 9. My concern with moving start time back is that would move pr actices bak too.

12:28 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

You didn't ask about high school kids who hang out after school and get in troub le. Too many of them. Later school start times will help with this issue. Many s ports practices rely on working coaches who can't get there until later in the d ay, so kids are stuck with an hour and a half of free time that they hardly ever y use for homework. They deserve to relax and get a snack, but a half hour is en ough. Limiting sports practices will help balance academics with the too-rabid f ocus on competitive sports. If ALL sports had a limit, NO team would have an "a dvantage." Also, on days when we have to go to work, my son can stay home to mak e sure my youngest gets to school before he has to leave. Parents also must have information and support on making sure teens get to bed and don't use a later s tart time to stay up later.

12:30 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The more sleep they can get the better. AND -- the later they can get out the b etter..thus, less latch key kids. Better ALL around.

12:44 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The survey would not allow me to click and hold Kilmer, as our middle daughter's school nor Wolftrap as our youngest daughter's school. e work you are doing to hopefully get this changed to allow high schoolers more sleep in the morning. ;-)

12:51 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

It would be nice to see High School start a little later, however, with after sc hool schedules that a lot of children do, that would mean later practices and co ming home much later in the evening. Therefore, homework would occur late into t he night.

01:06 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Younger children are up at the crack of dawn - let them go to school first thing in the morning when they are the most alert. Consequently by mid afternoon the y are exhausted and a 3:40 school end is just too long a day for most young kids . Whereas Teenagers don't really wake up until later in the morning - until the n they cannot focus. Give them the later morning hours and later end time. In my neighborhood the elem. school starts at 9am - I see the young kids out playin g at least an hour before school starts whereas the teenagers are barely draggin g themselves out the door.

01:12 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I highly support this proposal. While my elementary school child enjoys sleepin g in, he gets home tired and too late to do much before it's dinner time. There is very little time with him during the week. Although my children won't ride a bus until high school, I think the later bus pick-ups is also attractive.

01:12 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Starting HS after 8:15 or 8:30 cuts into after-school activities and work schedu les. Starting it at 7:20 or 7:30 is a bit too early. Why not start at 8?

01:19 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I strongly support a change that would allow high school & middle school student s to start later. I especially like the idea of keeping the middle schoolers la test to help keep them out of trouble!

01:22 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I am convinced that if my son were to be able to get up an hour or so later on w eekdays and start high school in the 8:30am to 9:00am time frame that his GPA wo uld be a half-grade higher or even better. He is simply not a morning person an d suffers academically because of the early start time of high school. I am con vinced that he would excel academically if start time were in the 8:30am half ho ur period. Please, PLEASE ¡¡PLEASE!! change the start time to the 8:30am half h our period for high school students!!!!

01:34 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

There have been too many studies showing the physical incapability of teenageers to get to sleep before a certain hour. I don't feel that we can keep ignoring this very important issue for our children. It has never made sense to me to ha ve elementary school children, who usually tend to wake up much earlier, start s chool later.

01:40 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Please note, I could not answer "no" to q4 because the answers overlapped q4a. my response to q4 should be 'no' (I think this is because of my internet softwa re--Firefox.

01:40 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

as a mother of an elementary school child, I truly believe HS kids need more sle ep -- all studies point to that need and I support it even if it means that my c hildren will need to start school earlier.

01:59 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

My children are always exhausted from too much homework and too little time to s leep. They will function better at school if they are allowed to sleep longer i n the morning.

02:12 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Starting elementary school kids so early makes no sense at all. They aren't anyw here near as responsible as high school or middle school aged children and they take a lot more time to get fed and get out the door. That extra hour in the mor ning will make all the difference in the world and I don think it should be chan ged.

02:19 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

For working parents moving the elementary school day to end earlier can be a rea l issue.

02:28 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The older my children get, the more I realize that the research about teens need ing more sleep must be true. I strongly support the proposed changes!

02:30 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

would more sac openings be available to working parents if Elem got out before 3 15pm?

02:33 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I think starting MS and HS later would solve many problems, number one problem i s lack of sleep

03:04 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

the perfect start time for elementary schools should be between 8:30 and 9:00 an ything else is too early.

03:11 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

RECENTLY MY SON HAD TO TAKE AN AP HISTORY REVIEW COURSE WHICH MET BEFORE THE STA RT OF SCHOOL, SO HE HAD TO BE IN SCHOOL AT THE INSANE HOUR OF 6:00! THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!

03:33 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

For the working parent, starting school later is a real problem. My daughter is in Pre-K and I can't drop her off until 9:00 so my work hours are 9:30 - 6:00. O ur dinner time is all messed up because of it as well. I prefer (and my high sch ool student prefers) the earlier start time. Kids should go to bed early, and ge t up early. I don't let my son sleep past 9:00 or 9:30 on weekends becuase I thi nk it's sleeping the day away and I don't think it's a good habit to get into. G etting up early makes for a more productive day!

03:34 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

We would prefer the current start times, as they coincide with area Preschool st art times, which are nearly all 9:00. It is a much smoother morning when these t imes coincide, as opposed to having to make multiple departures with small and i nfant children.

03:59 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

If High school starts too late, then parents do not see the child get on the bus due to work schedules. If school does start later, how many students would slee p in and skip school because their parent went to work before the bus came and t he student went back to sleep.

04:24 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I see no reason for these kids to get up in the morning and start school at 7:20 ; while the time that some kids have to get on the bus is ridiculously early, I see that as more of a boundary issue, not the school start time

04:33 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The school start times have been this way for over the 30 years I have lived in this school district (first as a student, now as a parent). LEAVE START TIMES A LONE. Parents need to monitor their childrens' behavior and if necessary not si gn them up for so many extra-curricular activites. The balance necessary for a student to excel comes from the limits a parent is willing to put on a child and teach them that they can't 'have it all' nor should they want to. Being select ive in activities is a part of life. Being able to manage your time (including homework and outside school commitments) is also a part of life.

04:35 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Prefer it the way it is - i like the time between school and practice to do home work - i am afraid schoolwork would not get done if it had to be done in evenein g.

05:33 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Why the obsession with sports? My child is deeply involved in another extracur ricular activity, as important to her as sports are to student athletes, so why doesn't your questionnaire incorporate non-sports activities?

05:36 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Even though my son goes to bed at a reasonable hour and seems to sleep, there ar e still mornings that he has a very hard time waking up.

06:49 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Later school starts affects after school activities participation(clubs, rehersa ls, sports). Students still need time for homework and family times in the even ing and the later dismissal will affect after school participation.

06:53 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

My children feel that the present start times are appropriate and work best for them. They would like to keep the situation as it currently is set up. They bo th helped and participated in the filling out of this survey, by the way.

07:18 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Our elementary school starts at 8;20, which works well for my family and neighbo rs. The secondary school starts at 7:20 -- very early for the kids, very dark o n winter mornings...an 8:00 start time would make a huge difference to my daught er, who is exhausted by Friday.

07:35 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The older children generally stay up later and should be able to sleep in later. It is very weird that my fifth grader can stay up an hour past my 8th grader.

07:52 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The current high school schedule is fine. Far too much time and energy has been wasted on this topic. Once again, a small group of parents have generated an iss ue for the whole county to get in an uproar about.

07:58 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Most elementary kids are early risers: mine weren't and about 8:30/9:00 was a pe rfect time for them to start school. Because of extra homework,band, sports, etc . in high school I think they need even more sleep and 7:20 is much too early: I 'd say 8:30/9:00 is perfect for them too!

07:58 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Most elementary kids are early risers: mine weren't and about 8:30/9:00 was a pe rfect time for them to start school. Because of extra homework,band, sports, etc . in high school I think they need even more sleep and 7:20 is much too early: I 'd say 8:30/9:00 is perfect for them too!

08:12 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

The middle and high schools start too early. My children are always sleep depri ved. My oldest has to sleep in late on the weekend to catch up and then getting to bed on time on Sunday night is impossible which only adds to the sleep depri vation.

08:24 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Do NOT change current high school schedule!!!!! High school students are in trai ning for the work world, which adheres to an early work day. High school student s are coddled way too much thus making them feel very self-important and entitle d to almost anything they desire once in the work world.

08:32 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Thank you for considering this! This is long overdue! It's a fact that teenagers need LOTS of sleep. I think this would be a positive change.

08:37 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Don't let the 'sports' parents derail this effort. Sports can start later after school... I wholeheartedly support the FCCPTA and parents getting this going. IT'S ABOUT TIME!:)

08:45 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

the current system needs to be adjusted to be effectively more in sync with teen ager sleep cycles.

08:56 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Teenagers are not discipfont-weight: normal; lined when it comes to getting sleep- college and the wo rkforce are real eye openers. Regardless of start time, teens will still not go to bed to get adequate sleep! We all survived! Don't these parents remember b eing kids! I've had three kids on this schedule- 1 and 3 did/do fine, went to b ed late, got up early, personal choice, 2 is nocturnal no matter what but manage s 7:30am college classes to this day! Gotta do what you gotta do- sleep deprive d or not!

08:59 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I think students should go to the school nearest to them and no keep rezoning th e county and making them change schools and be separate from their siblings. Th ere 2 buses coming to the same stop going to 2 different schools that is a waste of money and time especially with gases prices being so high. My child should of been able to attend the same high with his sister and saved the county and us lots of money and time.

09:09 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I think it's very wise to have the elementary schools start early -- those child ren tend to get up earlier, and they need supervision from working parents. I l ike that middle schoolers start the latest, too, since high schoolers' activitie s are even more significant and they also will have jobs. However, the middle s chool activity vs. homework question could be a problem.

09:10 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

You are answering our prayers! Our teens have a hard time falling asleep even t hough they go to bed early, so a later start time would give them an extra hour or so of much needed sleep

09:17 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I think that a shift of about 10 minutes would work well for the high school kid s, if it was a start time of 7:30 and end at 2:30

09:44 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

School start times are working well in our family of four children...2 high scho ol, 1 middle, 1 elementary. High School bus too-oo-oo early!!!

09:57 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

music and theater activities should also be addressed as well as school sports. They take as much time if not more.

10:05 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Later start times have been discussed for the past 6 years. Let's spend more ti me on actual education and not time spent on starting school later so teenagers can sleep more. The human body will adapt to the schedule chosen. If school st arts later, students will still be tired because they will now be going to sleep later. Where does it end? What are we doing to help them become responsible a dults?

10:09 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I appreciate the county taking the time to take this survey; I will be intereste d to know the outcome

10:11 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Our biggest concern is how well the time is used when they are at school. I fre quently hear comments about kids falling asleep in class, including my own.

10:12 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

FCPS encourages high school students to take as many AP or IB classes as possibl e. Doing college-level work on a high school schedule is insane! These kids are dead tired much of the time. Our older child graduated last year and seems much healthier since she enrolled at Virginia Tech and now only has five classes at a time instead of seven, and she gets a whole lot more sleep. We talk about healt hy lifestyles but expect our kids to be at school just after 7 a.m. on no sleep, to do a full day of back-to-back classes, stay after for extracurriculars, and then spend 5 or 6 or more hours on homework. Many of our kids who get into top c olleges are not sleeping much at all.

10:14 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I hope FCPS can change to later start times for HS kids. It's a proven scientif ic fact that they do better when they can sleep in the mornings. Plus, having k ids "loose" in the afternoons (latch-key kids) leads to mischief. If they have "free" time in the mornings, they SLEEP.

10:21 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Related to start time, my son's current lunch time is ridiculously early and he is famished by the time school is over. I would hope more reasonable lunch sche dules will be part of the consideration.

10:22 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

I would like to see a flex schedule. some early classes for those that want to e nd school early and later for those children that don't do well learning early i nn the morning. parents would have to provide transportation for this to work

10:24 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

This would be the best thing the school could do for our children. All the stud ies show that teenagers clocks are biologically different. It would also cut do wn on so much free afternoon time for kids to get in trouble.

10:37 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Middle schools starts on ideal time but bus pick up time is too early. secondary starts at 7.20 a.m. but bus pick up time is 6.40 a.m.which is too ear ly for my daughter. My suggest is start Hayfield secondary between 8.35 and 8.5 5

11:06 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

Question number 9 only refers to sports. My son participates in theater, which usually takes 3-4 hours each day after school. Please use this information to c ount my answer for number 9, if possible. In addition, I think it makes A LOT of sense to start the elementary schools first, the high schools second, and the middle schools third, due to after school jobs and activities. Otherwise, high schoolers would have difficulty getting to jobs, etc. I believe that the propo sal would work well for all the students. I'm ALL FOR IT!!!!

11:44 PM Monday, June 02, 2008

We live very close to all our three schools so our bus rides aren't as long as o thers. Plus I can drive them without too much of a hassle when they want to get up later. I'm happy with the start times of the ES and MS, but really think HS start time should be later or else reduce the homework load! My highschooler alw ays seems to be sick and I attribute it to too much stress and lack of sleep. Ev en if I do drive her, it still isn't enough sleep.

05:43 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I recommend keeping Waynewood ES start time at 9:00. Changing the tiem has a tr ickle down effect on area pre-schools when school bus is not an option and a par ent has to drive ES student to Waynewood.

06:51 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

7:20 a.m. simply does not contribute to a successful start of the academic day. The kids are unable to focus and totally unmotivated to work because of the fat igue factor. The bell schedule really needs to change to better focus on the he alth and wellbeing of teenagers to ensure their success in school.

07:04 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I do think that the early start times for high school have had a negative effect on my child's education. She is always tired, often times falling asleep in th e afternoon. While we encourage her to try to fall asleep earlier at night, she simply can't. We moved here when she started high school. I regret that scho ols here start so early as I do think she would have had a better high school ex perience had she simply been able to get more sleep. I will give more thought t o school start times the next time I pick a school district for one of my girls.

07:19 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think a later start time for high school students and earlier time for element ary is a good thing. I struggle like crazy to get my daughter up every morning.

07:55 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The other point that needs to be balanced with a later start time, particularly for those in sports and other afterschool activities is the amount of homework t hat is assigned.

07:59 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The high school pick up at ~6:35 is way too early for a school that is less than a mile away. First pick up is the reason for the 25+ minute ride.

07:59 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My son is so tired by Friday I fear for his mental health. I have even discussed it with his doctor because I am concerned. Most nights he is not in bed at 2 a .m. He is so tired every morning and by Friday night looks like a zombie. On some Saturdays, he sleeps until 3 in the afternoon because he is so exhausted f rom the week. My daughter also is sleep deprived but her day is not as long. B oth of them routinely take naps before dinner because they are so exhausted. Ac cording to my doctor, their bodies physically are not tuned to sleep at 10 pm. I welcome a change in the school schedule. I think it is long overdue. I also think that high school kids and middle school kids who don't participate in spor ts do not need to be home in empty houses at 2:30 in the afternoon.

08:05 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

High schools should start later and end earlier. Sports should not be a conside ration. Sports are voluntary and optional. Learning is much more important.

08:17 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Child doesn't currently work but may be working soon. only focus on sports activities. However, I know that the band students (be it Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Tri-M, etc.) have practices, football g ames, competitions, concerts, private lessons, and activities numerous days eith er after school, evenings or weekends continuously/throughout the school year. I 'm sure there must be other activities similar to this. The school start/end ti me change may have a great impact on the students (and parent's) availability to participate in these activities as well. Extending school time extends activity times which extends students homework times, job work hours, down time and bed times. I know my kid would stay up even later thinking they could sleep later. It happens today. Schedule times are what you make them. It applies to both stu dents and working adults. If you start school or work at a certain time, you nee d to plan your schedule around that time. Whether school starts at 07:20 or 08: 35, I think kids still may not get enough sleep during the week. I feel it would also impact a parents ability to monitor/control students bed time as the worki ng parents may require an earlier bed time than the students. It currently does

08:24 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My concern is fitting in after school activities in HS with the later start time s. I am quite happy with the current hours. It also has been easier to schedule doctor and orthodontist appts starting at 2:30 so the student doesn't have to mi ss school. What has been the biggest hardship for us is finding good childcare f or the short Mondays in elementary school. I don't see that problem being addres sed here at all! Most parents do not work a short Monday and other hours the res t of the week.

08:50 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

As a working parent, I prefer the earlier/current start times for middle and hig h school students. I can get my child off to the bus stop as I am leaving for w ork and then get to work downtown DC by 8am. While she was in elementary school , I could not get to work before 9:30am.

08:55 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think this would be a lot harder on parents with kids that need to be in other places/activies after school. That means they would practice later and less ti me for homework. Dinner would be later along with less sleep. If you set time up that pushes everything up. I know some of the South County parents they don' t like it.

08:56 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Except in rare cases, I don't think any child should need to leave for school be fore 7:00 am. This issue should be very high priority. Children cannot learn if they're falling asleep.

09:16 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Lifestyle issues are always debatable, i.e., if school started at 8, students w ould stay up later. If school started at 6, students would go to bed earlier (d efinitely not advocating starting at 6). age children, that the late arrival days do not appear to affect lesson plans, and noting the achievement of block scheduled classes versus classes that meet e very day (the every day classes appear to be at or ahead of the lesson plan) -ev ery class meeting every day for 45 minutes would be my suggestion. [The P.E. an d fine arts/elective classes would block schedule]. Thus, with time for changin g classes, MS, HS students would be in school approx. 6.5 hours. Start time 8, end time 2:30. Part-time job students and sports/activities would be minimally impacted (maybe). s and could start at 7:20 (the faculty may disagree).

09:27 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It is ridiculous that my high school student has already put in one hour of scho ol before I even have to leave my home for work. Start times are way too early for this age bracket. And, not being eligible for the bus, means my child must eithre walk (in the dark) or I have to drive, or they get a ride with a neighbor /friend.

09:43 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I'm really glad someone is finally tackling this issue. Our kids are suffering from lack of sleep!

09:48 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

In addition to this survey, ask all first period HS teachers how many of their k ids are struggling to A) stay awake in class and/or B) satisfactorily focus on t heir in-class work.

09:48 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

On a number of occasions, I have proposed, to our school as well as to the Board , the following. (This assumes that all elementary schools have the early Monda y schedule like Lane does.) l ending time, thus adding about 2 1/2 hours to the Monday school day for elemen tary kids. Start elementary school half an hour later each day, which could the n allow middle and high schools to start half an hour later, too. I'm not sure this is workable, but it's a start. asses by as little as 5 minutes per class could help shorten the school ending t ime, too. nd elementary school starting times is feasible. Although the younger kids may indeed be easier to awaken, they need more sleep; having THEM start too early ma y well preclude them from participating in after-school activities, assuming the y need at least 10 hours sleep. for middle/high school kids. At present, they are set up for failure.

10:01 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Younger kids wake up eariler and older kids wake up later, so scool should refle ct those hours also.

10:06 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I have two children who have already graduated form FCPS and I believe that it w ould have been much better for them if high school had started later!

10:06 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

While at first I disliked the middle/high schoolers going to school so early, th ey love their afternoons.

10:14 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I believe that a later start time for High School would improve overall attendan ce, attention, participation and student health. I would support making this ch ange as soon as possible.

10:15 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Thank you for looking into this important issue and the associated transportatio n complexities!

10:17 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My main concern is for my child who will be in Middle School next year. I work f ull time, and am uncomfortable with her standing at the bus stop, with no one ho me.

10:28 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

You can't please everyone, but I like the hours the way they are. Kids get up w hen mom and dad get up to go to work. With later hours, it could be hard to mak e sure high school students get up and out the door since most parents may alrea dy be gone for work.

10:54 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

This change is necessary for our students' overall health and academic performan ce.

10:58 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I definitely believe high schools should start later but I hate to see middle sc hool start as late as 9:40. When my family lived within bus boundaries for our e lementary school, my son rode the bus (chose to because he liked it) to the scho ol about THREE blocks away! I think we should look at how many buses are being u sed for distances that are extremely close to the school. Perhaps those could be eliminated or somehow consolidated.

11:09 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I understand the dilemma over time schedules but my children are in the spanish immersion program and this schedule change would not allow for me to have after school activities.

11:20 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I is amazing to me that this change has not ALREADY taken place. Study after st udy has shown that teenages NEED more sleep. The elementary school students are usually up and it would not be a problem for them to start school at an earlier time!!

11:37 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

In General, most high schoolers are usually always tired, no matter what time th ey have to wake up. Is there any research or counties in this country that have tried this proposed schedule? I would need to see the evidence that this change would improve the academic levels and health of these children.Part of the prepa ration for life is conditioning ourselves to be able to get up on time for our j obs. It's very important that as our children get closer to adulthood, they lear n and/or maintain good sleep habits. Most ohter countries already feel that Ame ricans are lazy. By upsetting the whole order of things, would further reveal o nce again, that Americans are pampered and malcontent. Furthmore, I know that F airfax county spent millions of dollars to find out that our transportation syst em is running as smoothly as it possibly can. If this change were to cost tax pa yers one more cent with out enhancement of Fairfax County's budget then, I can't believe that anyone would even consider this proposal. I can not imagine how th is plan can take place without effecting the county budget in an adverse way. D isruppting the whole system to enable high schoolers approximately an extra hour of sleep in the morning is NOT a good idea.

11:42 AM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I am in complete favor of the revised school start times. My children are in a school district where the MS is joined with the HS so starting in 7th grade they have 6 years to have to wake up at 5:30am to catch a 6:15am bus. Which mean as parents, we have 9 yrs of having to take turns waking up at 5:30am. My son has b een making the adjustment this year ok but by the end of the week we are all exh austed and have trouble staying up past 8:30 pm on Friday nights. My daughter w ill have terrible time adjusting in 2 yrs if there is not a change to the times. She is a "night owl" so I am considering changing her to a different, closer M S so I can drive her and she can sleep later. PLEASE MAKE THESE CHANGES ASAP AN D INCL ROBINSON SS IN THE PROTO-TYPE SCHOOL.

12:16 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My oldest is a rising 8th grader but I still have an opinion on the above. She c urrently has sports practice 6-10 hours per week with 4-6 games on the weekend.

12:25 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Same as above. I think high school should have latest start time, not the middl e schools

12:25 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Question 3, needs revision. The operative word is "impact"--the options should be "no impact"--"significant impact"--"neither" or "no opinion". On a separate issue. The survey "targets" the students--rightly so. But, the stress generat ed by trying to get the Teen up so early is spread throughout the family. Tryin g to get the "Teen" ready for the bus innevitably wakes up the younger ones--aff ecting their precious sleep. The parent gets stressed out by asking the Teen to get up, and so on. Changing the time for the Teens will be a healthy move for t he Teen, the Parents, the Siblings, and the Teachers. It is common sense. It i s nothing new. Many other States have already changed their times and the SATs, sports program, attendance, have improved! What are we waiting for?

12:33 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

8:00 seems to be a good time for High School. If they start too late, there is too much lax time before school actually starts. In the elementary sector, I be lieve you're gonna gave trouble regarding daycare times and when parents go to w ork.

12:40 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

If you have kids going to school until 4:30/getting home about 5:00 what does th at do about homework

12:43 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My daughter never gets enough sleep because of the early start times coupled wit h her homework from a difficult academic schedule and sports and other extracurr icular activities. All of these things are important for college acceptance for all High School Students and can't be eliminated. A later start time would be ex tremely helpful in allowing HS students to get more sleep resulting in much impr oved performance in all areas.

12:49 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Middle School and High School students would me more productive in school if the y are better rested.

01:02 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Due to homework load, my son sometimes goes to bed as late as 11:30pm and has to get up by 6:00am. A later start for the school day would allow him to sleep for at least another half hour and would make a difference in his performance throu ghout the day.

01:06 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Thank you for doing this survey. The research literature supports this change i n practice, and it will help the students to function better when they are reste d.

01:07 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The later the better for ALL schools, regardless of elementary, middle, or high school.

01:30 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It can be tough to juggle with kids in different levels, with radically differen t school start times.

01:35 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It seems the most beneficial effect would be on high school students. This is a time of physical growth coupled with an inability to fall asleep at "normal" be dtimes. Arlington, VA has tried this schedule change with much success, I belie ve.

01:48 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

If moving elementary school start times later, there needs to be more accessibil ity to before school care. This area has a heavy percentage of dual income famil ies who need to be at work at reasonable times in the morning. 's as black and white as better or worse, but it seems odd that middle school st udents would start so late relative to either elementary or high school students . Perhaps there should be a review of this based on relative distance from scho ols...the schools in our area have pickups around 6:45 for middle/high school.Pe rhaps other portions of the county have longer distances to travel and earlier s tart times warranting changes. I'll note that while 6:45 is early, that's certa inly the same time frame I rode the buses as a kid, participated in sports pract ices and excelled academically. At the elementary and middle school ages, if sl eep is an issue, families need to play a more active role in sleep schedules.

01:52 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The surevey is a good idea. But, you muist balance later starts with the need f or working parents who must deal with rush hour traffic.

02:28 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

E.S. kids do very well getting up quite early in the morning so it makes the mos t sense for THEM to be on the earliest schedule.

02:36 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It is urgent and imperative that high schools start later. When my children wer e in elementary school, they were able to go to sleep early because they had lit tle homework and also were just naturally incfont-weight: normal; lined to wake up early, around 6 mo st of the time, the same time that they now have to drag themselves out of bed i n order to get to school on time.

03:02 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think getting home after 4:30 for any of the students is WAY too late.Especial ly for elem. students. There wouldn't be any time for them to decompress before doing their homework.

03:35 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think ANY level school should start no earlier than 7:45 am and end no later t han 3:30 pm. Getting home after 4 pm is too late.

03:36 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It is very important that children get sufficient sleep. It is great that an eff ort is being made towards that.

03:39 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My son is always very tired because he has to get up too early (at 5:30AM) to ca tch a 6:20AM bus. I am sure this has negatively affected his performance and beh avior at school. I would welcome any change that would allow him to sleep later in the morning.

03:39 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think the system works just fine. If you start changing the highschool schedu le, what happens to all of the after school activities???? How late do they sta rt and then go until???? How much time do the kids with after school activities have to do their homework now that everything goes much later everyday. Does t his now give the kids another excuse to stay up longer because they don't get to start their homework until late afternoon/evening every day because of their ad ditional activities? What about the kids who work after school because they nee d the money?

03:39 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I would hate to see a change. The after school activities would run much later and then they would be up later doing homework anyway. The current system works for my family. I don't want to see this change.

03:40 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Skewing school start-times later will only skew the too-little sleep that some s tudents get. The problem is a matter of time management.

03:43 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I just want to thank you for asking the questions and taking the parent's opinio ns into consideration.

03:45 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I would love to see high school start later but middle and elementary stay as th ey are. (Although I believe the late elementary schools are too late.)

03:48 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I can't even imagine high school students being at a bus stop at 6am. How many o f them drive just to sleep in? I think a later start time suits their physiologi cal needs far better.

03:48 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I like the idea of high school starting later, more sleep and less time for trou ble in the afternoons (I remember what I did when I was in high school).

03:51 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I realize something has to give--some start early and some start late--due to bu s schedules, but I think school ending at 4:30 is really too late.

03:52 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The school start time for high school is unrealistic given how their bodies func tion. A later start time would be welcome!

03:55 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

What would this change do to students in Thomas Jefferson? Would this means Thom as Jefferson would start later than 8:30 ?

03:55 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Later start times would be nice, but goodness gracious, even with an early start the high school days don't end till SO late. Can't imagine what it would be li ke if practices & stuff started later. Would mean no family time at night and w e don't want to give that up. Fortunately our high schoolers have decided to ge t to bed at a decent hour.

03:57 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Before school activities (such as swimming and LDS seminary would greatly benefi t from a later high school start time. Also, I don't like high school kids driv ing before daylight.

06:21 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Late opening ES schools end so late that kids miss start times of activities. Th ey need to play afterschool but in winter have almost no time to be outside afte r school because it is dark.

06:26 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

High School and Middle school are way too early. I think the proposed schedule w ould work a lot better for our teens.

06:27 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The middle and high school start times before 8 at present is a punishment for c hildren that enjoy learning at home and study hard. The "good" students lack of sleep leads to medical problems. It is essential that the new proposed later s tart times for middle and high schools become effective as soon as possible. I love Fairfax County Public school system and would like to keep my child in the system. My child loves learning and is a great student entering honors program in middle school next year. She spends about 8 hours researching and learning o n school nights and goes to sleep late. If the middle school start time (before 8 AM) remains in effect, my child would get less than 6 hours of sleep. This w ould not be fair or healthy. Please! please! have the proposed later school time s for middle and high schools become effective as soon as possible. Thanks in a dvance.

06:37 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Getting up at 5:30 am for Middle School has been extremely difficult for my son, who has trouble going to sleep in order to get enough sleep.

06:55 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Part of the reason that my child did poorly in part of 8th, 9th and 10th grade i s that she could not get enough sleep -- too sleepy in school, falling asleep in class, which in turn caused stress related problems.

04:11 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Any way the older kids can go later is better than the current system. Homework often keeps the high school kids up past midnight 4 or 5 nights a week.

04:20 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I don't see any problems with the start times being from 8am-3pm like they were when I went to school. Even if the kids get to bed at 11pm they are still getti ng in a good 8 hours of sleep. The transportation department needs to start comb ining and filling up the buse, especially with the cost of gas. The kids may hav e a longer bus ride but I think you have to do something to make the bus routes more efficent. We have two ES buses come through are neighborhood within 10 inu tes of each other andthey go to the same ES. I just think that is a total waste of time and resources.

04:20 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Adult work hours on average are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - so why don't our teenage rs have the same hours. Research shows that teenagers need more sleep and also better sleeping habits. Puberty affects them a lot. I understand the concern a bout sports and after school activities but in the end shouldn't it be more abou t the well being our children. All the other activities while important should be an afterthought. School is required by law. After school activities are no t. Let's prioritize what is important and that is building upon a future genera tion of healthy and well-educated individuals.

04:30 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The elementary school start & dismissal times are fine, but the middle/high scho ol start time is much too early. My 7th grader is exhausted all of the time. H is "body clock" makes it hard to fall asleep early enough to get up early in the morning. He drags himself out of bed every morning, tired before his day even starts. He doesn't want to eat breakfast during the week although he always eat s it on the weekends. He is constantly tired, and wastes half of his weekend tr ying to catch up on sleep when he should be out playing and having fun. We woul d welcome a later start time.

04:31 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think it is ridiculous to think of changing high school start times when no on e has bothered to study the impact on elementary age children at well.

04:32 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It seems that high school students go to bed latest in the evening so should be given the opportunity to wake up latest. They can also take care of themselves in the morning so working parents can leave for work on time. go to bed earliest and usually wake up earliest so it makes sense for them to s tart earlier. This would also allow working parents to see them off to school a nd leave for work on time. ep.

04:33 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My children fall asleep after 12AM (midnight) on weekends. The survey says "Afte r 12PM" but I selected that because I assume its a mistake. My 2nd child goes t o Kilmer MS. I selected that but it doesn't show up. On sports - limit to 1-2 ho urs day, and limit to 3 days a week. Sports currently take up way too much time with 5 - 6 days a week of practice. Our kids have other interests and responsi bilities.

04:33 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

If the change of a late start and end for middle school students is made, they w ill not have time for after-school activities, like sports teams, with the more difficult and time-consuming homework of middle school.

04:34 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The younger the child typically it is easier to get them to bed earlier and up e arlier. If middle school went until 4:30, they better not come home with much h omework.

04:37 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

All school times should start later, including elementary schools. Elementary a ged children need the most sleep, and should start school after 8:30am. It is e asier to pick-up MS & HS students that have sports after-school, if the school s tart times were later. This way a parent can pick them up after the parent gets home from work. I.E. school gets out at 4:30, sports pick-up would not need to be until 6:30. With current High School schedules it is difficult to pick-up H igh School Students when they have after-school activities, because they are rea dy by 5:00pm, and many parents work 9-5pm and cannot arrive there at 5pm.

04:38 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I appreciate what you are trying to do to adjust highschool start times. I feel that it is VERY important to our youth!! I would rather elementary school go e arlier. I have an easier time controlling what time my elementary student goes to bed at night. I'm not crazy about a middle schooler getting home at 4:30 but if I have to choose an age backet to get home that late it would be the middle s choolers. Even though I don't currently have a student participating in high sc hool sports, I will next year. I don't want my student practicing more than 2 h ours a day on weekdays.

04:44 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I completely support a change in the school times especially switching highscho ol/elementary times

04:51 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Overall, high school start times need to be later. I think all schools should s tart as close to 8:00 as possible.

04:52 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I remember starting school at 7:00 in high school, and I would fall asleep most days in at least one class.

04:54 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

As long as SACC is still open until 6:15pm, I would have no problem with an earl ier start/end time for Elementary students.

04:56 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It's about time the schools were timed to be more in sync with a teen's sleep pa tterns! Hooray!

04:56 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Young children are typically less opposed to getting up early in the morning tha n older (teen & pre-teen) children are. I support the change

05:13 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Great idea to change start times supported by rigorous research on sleep pattern s of young adults. Thx.

05:18 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I welcome the later start time for high school. My son just CAN NOT fall asleep before 11 or 12 and having to get up at 6 just doesn't give him enough sleep. I do not think you should take into account high school students babysitting for elementary students. My child should not suffer because other parents choose t o work and use the cheapest means to take care of their children.

05:20 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My kids are still young, and i don't like the idea of getting them up earlier fo r selfish reasons, but my kids would adjust fine. I think making sure high scho ol kids are awake/alert is most important.

05:35 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I am most concerned about high school start and end times. As a high school tea cher, I believe students would prefer to start later, however, many have sports practice and after-school activities immediately following school. By the time they are finished (later than the current schedule), they will be up even later completing homework assignments.

05:40 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I know this is a very difficult topic and I don't envy the "powers that be" in m aking changes, however, I am delighted you've asked for our input and hope that many families take the time to give their input as well. Thank you!

05:43 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

A later start time would be much better for their general health in my opinion. I went to school in the 70s and we started at 8:00.

05:55 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I do not wish to see school start times change. My children are involved in afte r-school activities which they would not be able to do if school started and end ed later. My daughter (middle school) now can both stay after school for one hou r, go on to swim practice for 2 hours, and still get all homework completed and get to bed by 8:30pm. I do not believe that a later start to the day for high sc hool students would give them more sleep. I believe thay would stay up later, ge t up later and wind up with the same number of hours of sleep. The problem is no t the early start time, it is the time the student is going to bed.

05:59 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think high school students should not be waiting for a school bus before 6am. That is too early!

06:04 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Changing start times would seriously impact high school sports because practice would just have to start later. It would also adversely affect community sports because of issues of field availability. Youth sports have an overwhelming aff ect on everything from self-image to criminality and reduce teenage pregnancy, t ruancy, gang activity, substance abuse and all sorts of bad things. Personally, changing the start times will mean that I will have to stop coaching little lea gue and other youth sports because my non-home responsibilities will start later .

07:12 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think the times for High School should not change. Yes they can sleep later,bu t they will have to stay up later to finish all their homework especially if the y have practice after school. I also think it is not in the elementary school ch ildren best interest to be standing at the bus stop in the dark during the winte r months. Please keep the schedule as it is right now.

07:24 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I am a pediatrician and though my kids seem to be lucky to have inherited my abi lity to sleep well and get up early, many of my patients suffer with early high school start times. They get 5-6 hrs of sleep a night and have more headaches, s tomache issues and mood issues. I would support making high school start later f or them. I have heard Dr Emsellem speak and am impressed with her work.

07:38 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

if you change the hours it will effect the kids from getting jobs. They will sle ep in and stay up later. they will go straight to work then come home do their h omework which will keep them up later than now. they will not have a break at al l. right now kids go to school maybe have an hour or two before going to work to relax or stay after for help with teachers. with later hours if the child has t o stay after then they will not be able to work and it will cut into the time fo r eating and mess up their health.

07:40 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It's critical for our children's health and well being that the school start tim es change to reflect their natural sleep cycles - please make a change as propos ed above, or something similar.

07:51 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Thank you for looking into this urgent problem. Currently middle and high school students suffer from sleep depravation, and it is impossible to send them to be d early and they don't get enough sleep and their academics reflect that. Please change the start time for HS and MS as soon as possible.

08:09 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

School bus pick up in our neighborhood for high school is 6:10 am - then a 50 mi nute ride; WAY too early and too long. We drive our son to high school so he c an get a little more sleep; still not enough and too early a start. It is burden some to have to drive (both parents work); we pay high taxes and more should go to school transportation without question. buy more buses/hire more drivers

08:15 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

High schoolers need more sleep than younger kids and with homework, often go to bed later than younger kids.....I think later start times would allow them to pe rform better in school because they would be more alert, have more time to eat, and not be so stressed

08:16 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

This is a fantastic initiative and long overdue. Later start times would benefi t all 4 of my children. EVERY PARENT I have spoken with (working and non-workin g) supports this change in start times. GREAT JOB. Excellent survey.

08:24 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

As a health professional in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, I believe thi s is an excellent proposal. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation in children and ado lescents has gone unoticed in our public school systems far too long. There is p lenty of evidence in the scientific literature to support the fact that sleep d eprivation has a negative impact on cognive function. I'm glad to see that Fairf ax County is considering making these important changes. Hopefully, other will f oloow.

08:26 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My middle schoolers would LOVE a later start time, and I'happy and grateful you' re looking into this.

08:32 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think that asking children of any age to meet the school bus before 7:30 am is unhealthy to minds, hearts, and bodies. Likewise, I think that having children arrive home after 4:30 is unreasonable. Perhaps there is some other kind of so lution for this long-term problem. a most well known to me) children ride the regular public transit system to scho ol -- extra buses are needed at school start and dismissal times, but they are t hen also available for use at peak hour for commuters. ly neighborhood schools are accessible to children who walk or bike -- good for fitness and convenient for your transit problems. Maybe having fewer bus stops would streamfont-weight: normal; line bus routes and allow the bus route to carry more children more efficiently, and give even bus riders a chance to stretch their legs after being stuck in a seat all day. s a teenager and young adult, I slept about 10 hours a night. I ran on the trac k team, which practiced after school for about two hours every day. I was a dil igent student and had homework every night. I was certainly busy, but having ti me to sleep was absolutely critical to my well-being during the stressful teenag

08:33 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The high school start times are way too early. I have two children who attended high school, and the bus picked up so early. I felt I had to drive them, which h as become a problem with my work schedule. Teenagers need sleep to perform well.

08:43 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

If the school starts later than now, it will make working parents' schedule hard er than now.

09:12 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I have no idea how much it would cost to have more buses, but perhaps instead of having all the current buses alternate running the three different school level s, maybe more buses could be added so that the middle and high schools start at the same time. As far as elementary schools, our school time works great - 8:15 - 2:55.

09:13 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I understand that scheduling is limited by multiple factors, including bus avail ability. Even though my child is not in high school, I feel very strongly that the current schedule for high school is unhealthy for students.

09:13 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

As a sleep physician, it makes a lot of sense to take advantage of teenagers' de layed sleep cycles to help them get the most out of school times rather than hav ing them be asleep during the first half. our goal is their education and intel lectual stimulation after all.

09:44 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

We do not support any changes in the school schedule and are VERY satisfied with the current schedule.

10:05 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I would really like to see high school and middle school start times move to a l ater start time. As children get older, they go to sleep later and also wake up later. It would be healthier for the older kids to have later start times.

10:06 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Please do NOT make it so they (ES) get out of school after 4:00pm. We feel they don't have enough time for homework, downtime, activities and sports before the ir early bedtimes. Thanks!

10:16 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

6am bus for middle schoolers at GT centers is crazy. In addition, only 2 stops p er development seems senseless especially when the kids live near other bus stop s that are utilized for the other schools, but aren't permitted to be used for t he GT bus. I do not want my child on the bus one hour in the morning due to sche dule issues then he waits at school.

10:18 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I think the most important move is to start high school later. I would prefer el ementary be set at the early times.

10:24 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Despite the appearance of start times being like Daylight Savings (where the net effect on sleep is 0), high school students will NOT go to bed early enough to have a good night's sleep and be able to learn well the next day. A later start time is essential.

10:24 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I never knew the importance of this issue until I became the mother of a teenage r. I use to think it- absurd- but now I realize how crucial it is for older chi ldren to have more sleep. They can't think very well early in the mornings and i t's frightening to think that teeneagers are driving cars when they are so tired in the mornings. I know my children do not do very well in their first period c lass because it's just too early! ur children. I think some people just don't understand what life is like once c hildren become teenagers. Thanks for all your hard work on the endeavour.

10:26 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

High school is WAY too early. It has been proven that physically teenagers are i n different biorythyms that they can not help!! Also, sleeping in classes would become less a problem. PLEASE CHANGE TIMES to benifit what is natural to the age group. FCPS is falling behind on many bandwagons.

10:34 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My kids do not play school sports, but two of them play travel sports spending 4 .5 hr practice time + travel time during week days. Current elementary school ho urs work well, but my middle school student is not getting enough sleep, waking up at 6 am to arrive school by 7:05 am. Then he needs leave enough time to get t o the locker to leave everything in it and go to class. They're not allowed to b ring backpacks to class. I hope for middle school to begin around 8:45 am.

10:54 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Our Elementary school has one of the later times which makes it hard to schedule after school activities such as dance classes and soccer practices. The younge r children seem to have more classes and practices between 3:30-4:30 and when yo ur child doesn't get home off the bus until nearly 4:30, it's quite difficult an d hard on the child to rush off.

11:16 PM Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Start times for high schoolers needs to be later, but the system currently used cannot continue even with adjusted times. My son is picked up by his school bus at 6:15, gets to school by 6:50, and then waits for 30 minutes for the school d ay to start at 7:20. I'm sure this is so the bus can get to its next run, but i t means that he loses 30+ minutes of sleep needlessly. If the schedules are red one this should not continue.

06:08 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The earlier kids get out, the better, as it leaves more time for extracurricular enrichment activities, as well as family time in the afternoon/evenings.

06:17 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Studies show that high school students stay up later and therefore need to sleep later and should start school later.

06:52 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you for assessing the opinions of parents. Thank you for hearing the sleep isues. Kaz Natal

07:14 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

By getting up very early and working at school also, the students never have the energy required to do their homeworks in the evenings. If implemented this wou ld be a welcome change.

07:16 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Present school homework loads, sports practices and daily schedule create crazy family routines and disruptions more than providing the family with educational services.

07:38 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE IMMEDIATELY! The lengthy analysis means no impact on my c urrent high school student which is why I didn't answer questions for him. Othe r school systems in the country are just as big with as many financial pressures and seem to make this work in a reasonable manner. Why do we have to reinvent the wheel? Take a look at other working solutions around the area/country.

07:52 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Please make the change to the proposed schedule. It aligns with how children sl eep naturally as they grow up.

08:03 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Some students need therapy and other kind of support, which will be messed up by the changes you are considering. You are also not taking into account the limit ations of some families to take care of elementary school kids if you delay the entry time--for us single parents that is a killer!!!!

08:20 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I would like to have a later start time than our 8am with 6:45 bus pick-up time. However, I want to be sure my child avoids rush hour traffic, as a longer bus t ime would be AWFUL for him. As it is, he must go up rt. 7 or 267 to attend. For schools in the general neighborhoods, not requiring a long busing, this later op tion would be SUPER. But, for special needs students with bus routes at more alt ernative placements, such as a Kilmer Center placement, the rush hour avoidance factor is CRUCIAL.

08:22 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My high school daughter (and most of her friends) are so sleep deprived. The t ransportation/start time coupled with the heavy courseload and afterschool activ ities is putting to much stress on our kids. I feel no child should have to end ure this type of schedule while he/she is still growing. Many kids returning fr om college the first Thanksgiving state how much more rested they are in college than while at WTW. My son (gr.7) is currently homeschooled but will be atte nding Frost next fall. Start times and getting him up for school is going to be a big problem now that his teen body is growing so fast and needing more sleep. I am already dreading the battles this early bus/start time is going to cause.

08:31 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I believe the goal is to give the kids more time to sleep. The current high sch ool and middle school start times are quite early, but by going to a later start time, you are also extending the day in the afternoon which means if your child participates in afterschool activities or school sports that also goes later. So instead of picking my child up from soccer practice at 5pm, it would be close r to 6-6:30PM. He still has to eat dinner, shower and do homework. I don't see how the kids gain anymore time than they have now. You're just shifting the sam e time allotment. The only way to address that issue is to shorten the school d ay, but that means you're sacrificing academics to accomodate extracurricular a ctivities. Not acceptable! The bottom font-weight: normal; line is that the kids need to be better at time management and the parents have to be proactive with that as well in ord er to get the work done in a reasonable amount of time and go to bed earlier. T o implement a school schedule change in a year where the FCPS budget is decrease d is impractical.

08:33 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I attended the school baord meeting. Many of the High Scool presenters advocati ng for a later start voiced a rational based on they stay up too late and they s tart their homework after dinner. Parents should consider reducing the number o f after school activities and encouraging their young adults to start their home work earlier. I think it is sending the wrong message to our young adults that becuase they are not managing their time everyone else will be flexible for them . Soon they will be entering the working world. They need to be responsible fo r their decisions.

08:33 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Neither of my children get the amount of sleep they need. to fall asleep faster and gets a bit more. But because they both always have at least 2-4 hours of homework, it is impossible for them to wind down and fall a sleep at a reasonable hour. My oldest, who cannot fall asleep much before midnig ht, has been operating on 6 hours of sleep a night for two years. The fact tha t they have to wake up at 6:15 seems a bit silly. Their school day (an early wak ening and hours of homework each evening) is longer than most adults work days.

08:36 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I am so glad that this issue is being explored, and I know a lot of work and res earch has gone into it already. Best case, when would changes go through?

08:39 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I strongly urge the change in school start and end times. Middle and High schoo l children are not getting enough sleep! As I'm sure you are aware, not enough sleep is the route to many other health issues, including obesity which has beco me an epidemic in our children's generation. Children are being stricken with d iseases that they shouldn't be getting until much older and it is alarming! I t hink if we change thier sleep patterns to the way they should be, we will see an improvement in many other health issues with our children. Thank you.

08:41 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Our major concern with later start times for high school and middle school kids is that they have less time to complete homework if they have after-school activ ities like sports and music. Our kids will not only participate in after-school activities at school, but also in the community. With the amount of daily home work that we have experienced in the past couple years, losing an hour in the af ternoon would be difficult for us. But I like the idea to allow middle school a nd high school kids to get extra sleep that they need. We would make it work.

08:43 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I definitely think the times should be changed so that middle and high schoolers can get more sleep! Young children get up earlier anyway. Thanks for working on this!!

08:45 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I would welcome the earlier elementary start time and the later middle and high school start times.

08:46 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I have seen a dramatic drop in my son's energy level, concentration level and he alth (eating habits) due to the ridiculous early start time. There have been st udies done all around the country that prove pre-teens and teens need more sleep and cannot fall asleep early enough at night to get a good night's sleep, as th ey need to wake up so early in the morning. Studies also prove that work situa tions in relation to students that have to work were not adversely affected with later start times. ADditinally, many schools around the country have made the switch from early to late start times with no adverse affect. e bus issue should also be looked at again relative to the GT Center bussing of students. There are a minimum of 2 GT buses (full sized buses) that ride up my street daily with no more than a dozen students on the bus. That is ridiculous. The "hub" idea that was presented to the school board about parents driving st udents to a "hub" if there is already a GT center in their school should be seri ously considered. Perhaps this will free up more buses to allow buses for HS st udents. students--but most importantly the students. Their study habits, eating habits,

08:49 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

For ES the bell schedule has been excellent. From what I know of the current Ra chel Carson bell schedule, it is good as well.

08:52 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

While most high school students would love to start school later, they also want to continue to get out of school at their current time. Parents need to be mor e responsible in getting their children to keep to a regular schedule which woul d avoid some of these problems. Moving high school start times later would resu lt in extracurricular activities moved to before school, and students would stil l go to school until 3 pm. An overwhelming number of students I've talked to (i ncluding classmates of my oldest child who graduated in 2003) do not want to hav e a later dismissal time.

08:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I don't think that children should be picked up before 6AM. That is too early fo r a restful night's sleep.

09:11 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We would absolutely encourage ANY changes necessary to get Fairfax schools to st art later as we think it is outrageous that teens have to get up so early.

09:11 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I have heard about this issue and am in favor of the high school students starti ng later.

09:11 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I support the later styart time for high schools. We are doing a grave disservic e to our hs kids by sending to school at such an early hour

09:16 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Elementary School Students have less homework, thus more time for after-school a ctivities. If they get out late, it is hard to get into any activities. Little r children tend to get up earlier, so I support earlier elementary school starts .

09:20 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Definitely in favor of later high school start times, collaboration day made a H UGE difference this year. I like the way Loudon County staggers their school sta rt times.

09:23 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My son has been unable to participate in high school sports because by the time he would get home from practice, it would be too late to start homework and stil l get to bed in time to ge a decent night's sleep. He gets 9 hours of sleep mos t nights but I believe he is unusual -- he tells me that many of his classmates sleep through first period.

09:24 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Large numbers of parents need to leave for work around 8 a.m., so very late star t times are not good. However, it is also difficult for middle or high school c hildren to have very early start times. Bus pickups should be around 8 a.m. for all students.

09:26 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My child will be starting middle school in Fall 2008. She does not function wel l before 7:00 a.m., but her bus will pick her up at 6:00 a.m. This is way too e arly!!!

09:32 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

most adults start work at 830 or 9am. and its hard enought to get audlts to work , i strongly suggest that our children be able to start school later in the morn ing, today both parents work and we spend a good deal of time in traffic, most f amily get home about 6pm, with about a 30 min time frame to change clothes and g et settled, you then have dinner till 745, and its time for home work, again its best if the children are allowed to start school later in the day.

09:41 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think it is important to let the high schoolers sleep later in the morning. E lementary schoolers, usually, are more alert and ready to get up earlier.

09:51 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

To split the middle and high school start times by so much would be difficult fo r us because it would mean that I would have to supply transportation for the mi ddle schooler (we live just 3 houses away from the bus font-weight: normal; line which makes it almos t a 2 mile walk to school, therefore we often drive). More importantly, my bigg est problem with changing the start times is that many kids not only fill their evenings with homework (a good thing) they then spend a lot of time texting, pla ying video games, watching movies etc... For kids who work, it's going to be ha rd to adjust the schedule to help them. I basically think it's more a disciplin e yourself problem than the need to allow more time to sleep. I would rather se e kids go to bed earlier rather than build in their time for sleep in the am.

09:52 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you for taking on this project - I support it for many reasons. With more dual incomes necessary, younger children can't be left alone in the morning to get to the bus, while older (middle and high school) can. My youngest is always up and ready to go early in the morning, and it is harder to get the older one to bed early for the early wake-up call. Less homework for younger kids allows them time to get to bed for early wake-up.

09:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think starting late for High Schools would be great for students for health an d safety reasons. Especially winter time, moring is too dark and too cold.

09:58 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think the impact on extra-curricular activities needs to be taken into account , mostly at the high school level, as this is an important factor in a student's success.

10:16 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The change to this particular, dynamic and complex county infrastructure is too expensive to accomodate the sleep issue. Families need to adjust, not the over- taxed school system as it now operates. Put the money used to research this sup erfluous question to better use.

10:18 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I personally think student productivity would greatly improve if there was a lat er start date. My son naps when he arrives home from school and is up half the night. Teenagers need more sleep! The current time schedule is idiotic and I h ear both of my son's tell me that they usually sleep through 1st period.

10:19 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I volunteer extensively at my sons' high school, and often see and hear about st udents sleeping, and barely awake, during the early class periods. My own high s chool started at 9:15 am, and no one was asleep in class in the morning.

10:32 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Our current Orange Hunt elementary school start time works well. Please don't c hange it.

10:32 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I like the schedule now. It allows the high schoolers to get home at a really go od time to either work, do homework or just play. My child has practice too and getting out at 2:05 allows him to have his 3 hour practice but still get home a t a good time to do his homework or projects and we still feel like we have an e vening together. If it was later I'd feel like he is rushing from one thing to the other then straight to bed. I like early dismissal and I feel it would be m uch more costly to buy more busses since the schedules would overlap too closely if the high schoolers schedule would probably overlap with the lower schools if it was changes. Big cost to tax payers (me). Getting up early is part of life . They should get used to it now so they are ready for it in College and at wor k later on.

10:36 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My HS daughter gets up at 530 every morning to be ready to catch the 630 bus. Sh e takes a 3 HOUR nap EVERY afternoon, which I think is crazy.

10:44 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Children need sleep. But parents need to be the boss, and make them study earli er in the evening -- and not "chillax" from 2:30 until 8 or 9 before they start their homework. To say that teens have a circadian rhythm that requires that th ey sleep until 8AM is somewhat disingenous. If that were true, they could never cross time zones. They "need" to sleep until 8am because parents allowed them to stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning. When kids get out of school at 2:30 in the afternoon, they need to take advantage of that time. There's time to play, but there is also time to study.

10:45 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think high school kids need to learn to adjust to an early schedule. It's not easy, but will be beneficial for them in the long run. I have found in our fam ily, that if they get up early, they go to bed earlier.

10:45 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Because my high school student graduates this year, I did not complete this sect ion. However, it was my observation that it would have been better to have a la ter start time for high school during his four years. There are numerous studie s that have indicated that teenagers are not incfont-weight: normal; lined to be at their best in the morning, regardless of how diligently they work on going to sleep at night. I would also prefer to have teenagers in school later into the afternoon, as they frequently end up unsupervised at home or in the community because many have bot h parents working outside the home. By contrast, my elementary school-aged stud ent is rearing to go every morning, and it would be easier on all concered if he were in school earlier in the day.

10:46 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I completely support later start times for middle and high school students. I a lso support earlier start times for elementary school students.

10:47 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The 7:20 start time has been a disaster for my daughter. Her grades and perform ance would have been much better over the years if she had had adequate sleep. For four years we have been sleep deprived in our family! I substitute teach an d by afternoon there are always kids sleeping; sometimes during morning classes as well. A change certainly won't benefit our family as my daughter is a senior , but it would certainly benefit others. Please consider changing the high scho ol start time--we owe it to our developing teens.

10:47 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I have experience this with even college level children and these children need more sleep. There are way too many stresses in their lives and lack of sleep add s to these stresses!!!!!!!!!!!

10:49 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you for moving forward with this. I think high school students need more s leep and I think a more rational (eg later) start time will improve morale, test scores, and attendance.

10:50 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

You have failed to include a question on other "after school"(but school related )activities that a child may participate in. i.e: Play rehersals, Orchestra prac tices, band practice, etc.

10:50 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

High school starts ridiculously early. How many people do you know who start wo rk at 7 am?? I don't know many. Most adults would hate this schedule, yet we fo ist it on teenagers whose biological rhythms have been shown to work better when they sleep later in the mornings. The research supports later start times for teens. Let's quit all the stalling and change HS start times. (My child attends Madison HS--tab above doesn't seem to work)

10:52 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

As a pediatric nurse, it's about time that we followed the research on adolescen t sleep requirements! Students will thrive with a later sleep time. 6am is the m iddle of a teenager's nighttime sleep. Look at the research or ask any parent ho w hard it is to wake up a teenager at 6am!

10:52 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Due to work, sports and daycare issues I am not sure a later start time is reall y going to help. I think kids these days just have too much to do in 24 hours a nd it will just shift everything later, including the "new" time they will go to bed.

10:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Practice includes travel times, which is significant for crew teams. When we mov ed here, the early middle school times were a shock, but now in high school it h elps in keeping discipfont-weight: normal; line. One child has coped by becoming a good napper - a tw o hour nap before dinner or after during sports seasons.

10:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

FCPS is risking students health and decreasing their ability to learn by startin g school so early for adolescents. Science supports the decision to start schoo l later. Students must sleep in early morning hours to consolidate their learni ng and lay down networks for proper memory function. It is irresponsible to ign ore the mounting data. Any effort to delay school start time is healthy and app ropriate.

10:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Starting High school and middle school later would allow students to perform bet ter AND have fewer hours unsupervised in the after school hours. As much as I a ppreciate school sports and what they do for my boys, they should not be allowed to dictate the schedule for the school system.

10:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Even 45 minutes later start would be great. High schoolers do need the afternoon s for activities/sports, but a bell time of 8 am would be much more accomodating to midnight bedtimes which are typical of HS students, and that should still al low for ample afternoon practice time.

10:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I responded to the sports question because my son's "sport" is band, which requi res practices after school and in the evenings over the entire school year. Don 't forget this important activity as you compile your inforamtion. Not all stud ents with required activities are in sports! Your survey results will be skewed unless other parents like me respond just as I did.

10:54 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you for looking into this. I believe school children need more sleep and later start times should help academic performance.

10:55 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Yes, my son can not get up in the morning. If you started later it would help t remdenously.

10:56 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter quit sports because she had no time for homework and sports and to g et to bed early enough to get up early enough to catch a 6:30 bus. Her bus trip took easily 45 minutes. We are more than a mile from school, which qualifies he r for the bus, but to do that, she has to get up at 5a.m. get out of the house b y 6:15, to get to the bus stop in the dark to catch the bus at 6:30. I don't th ink this is okay at all. Thanks so much for researching and looking into the ch ange. It will be EXTREMELY WELCOME! :)

10:56 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We all know that elementary students retire early to bed and are early raisers. They also don't have the demand of homework and tests and for some jobs as do h ighschoolers. This change should have been implemented years ago. This is the way it was when I attended school. I am now 55. I am all for late start of jun ior and high school students.

10:56 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter attended Oakton Elem which starts at 9:15 am which is TOO LATE. Some of the FCPS elementary schools already start later. That doesn't benefit us an yway as to the High school start times. LET'S GET THE HS START TIMES CHANGED !! !

10:57 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Flipping the schedule makes a lot of sense as Montgomery County has done. Also, most kids live closer to base school elementary, so early bus routes won't be a s long. Thoreau bus routes are very early on Oakton side for example.

10:58 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think the start times for school is a non-issue. If the highschools start lat er, then the teenagers will go to bed later. Getting up early is an important p art of being an adult, and we want to encuorage our children to become more resp onsible as they get older. I don't see how changing the time schedule will help that.

11:00 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter is a competitive swimmer and swims before school--she likes the idea of being done earlier so she canhave more time for homework, school projects an d after school activities---plus she would not be able to make afternoon swim pr actises

11:01 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My child has absolutely no problem with the present system. I think that the pro blem is with POOR PARENTING when children are allowed to stay up late and get in that habit. Her MOM and Dad are in bed at 9:30 as well, so we can be fresh for our jobs. This whole business is a waste of time and effort.

11:02 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Making high school kids show up at 7:20 am, assuming they are ready to learn, is just silly. It puts form over substance. Numerous studies show teenagers have bioclocks that operate on a later schedule. In addition, getting out at 2:20 g ives them a lot of time to get in trouble before working parents get home.

11:02 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

everyone knows what is best for the teenagers. why are we wasting time on a dec ision? JUST MOVE THE START TIME NOW!

11:03 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If the start time for high school students moves to 8:30, they will stay up late r at night. This makes it more difficult for parents who need to wake up at 5:3 0 or 6:00 for their work day.

11:03 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We have driven our son to school for most of his middle school and high school b efore he got his liscense so he could get the extra sleep needed because the bus came so early. Doing this gave him an additional 45 minutes of much needed sle ep

11:04 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If high schools start later, after school sports will end later, which will make doing homework more of a hassle. Getting them up early is not easy but, a lot o f things are getting accomplished between when the bell rings and the lights go out. I think giving them an 45 minutes extra to sleep will not teach them time m anagement.

11:04 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

As a working parent I would readily welcome a later start time and later finish time.

11:04 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I talked to my children and agree with their opinion. They believe it would be nice for high school to start around 8, but definitely were opposed to a later s tart time. They don't want to be in school too late in the afternoon. Messes u p work start times, athletics and moves homework into the later evening and nigh t time frame. The proposal also may be punitive to middle school kids who, it a ppears, would have to go in on an earlier schedule. That may be a difficult tra nsition from a late start elementary to an early start middle school. Things sh ould stay as they are. High school kids are almost adults and should learn to m anage their time better. Further, mid to late-afternoon are also times the body slows down and gets tired, I'm not sure being in classes this late in the day w ould be particularly beneficial academically.

12:11 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

When my daughter was in elementary school, she wouldn't have minded getting up a t 5:30. Now that she is in high school, it is impossible for her (and me) to ge t to bed early enough to get 8 hours of sleep and still get up at 5:30am. The s chedule is completely backwords. The youngest children should start the earlies t and the oldest the latest.

12:12 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My high school child isn't awake at 7 a.m.! Not surprisingly, her lowest grades are in her first and second period classes.

12:14 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

This change is long called for. With the amount of homework (often too much) Jak e has to stay up to late and get up early now. He is literally sleep deprived.

02:05 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

One student has been in crew and had a job. The other student has been in band which is equally demanding as a sport requiring hours after school time. Both a ctivities need parental fund raising.

02:07 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

At the moment it is an early start at High School but the day ends early, leavin g time for extracurricular activities or work. My student has been known to tak e a nap after school. The early finish also allows a lot of time to complete ho mework and study. I have been involved in a school system that did start later in the morning - one school at 8.30am and one at 8.55am. The day seems longer a nd the sleep issue was the same. But the kids were doing their homework much lat er into the evening and were struggling to concentrate on it. The early start is preferable in my opinion.

05:33 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

High School and Middle School start times definitely need to be later - research shows that students at these grade levels do not function as well as they could early in the AM.

05:44 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The current middle and high school start times are HORRIBLE and I beg you to mak e the change.

10:55 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The current schedule is absurd based on all scientific studies for the needs of high school students and when they get to sleep. Start time MUST be later than i t is now.

10:56 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

As much as I'd prefer my middle school child to have a later start time, not at the expense of my elementary school aged children. I depend on my MS child to b e home for my ES age children in the afternoon when I substitute teach for FCPS until I get home.

11:05 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Middle schools ending at 4-4:30 is too late. Both of my middle schoolers have a 40 - 60 min bus ride.

11:05 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

You could reduce the costs of the schedule change by asking how many high school students intend to ride the bus. Most in our neighborhood carpool and the buse s run a little empty. Consolidating bus routes based on actual ridership might save costs.

11:06 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If sports practices are moved to the morning because of the time shift, that wil l completely defeat the purpose of the change.

11:06 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My grade schooler started at 9:15 but was awake every morning by 6:30. It is cr azy to have late hours for younger children who are awake earlier and make teena gers whose bodies are changing so rapidly and need sleep go at 7:15. They sleep through the first two periods! I wholeheartedly support changing start times e ven tho my boys may not benefit.

11:07 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We moved from Loudoun. 2 of my kids are in private school currently so my child ren range in age from 17-7. This later high school schedule worked great there! !

11:07 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

You have no idea how appreciative we are for your consideration in changing star t times. our oldest two high school students have STRUGGLED for years (ever sin ce 7th grade) with the extremely start times. We truly believe they have existe d through their teenage years ENTIRELY sleep-deprived. It would be a tremendous blessing for our youngest child, and all the others that are approaching middle school, if schools start times change! THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS!

11:08 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I am more concerned with the needs of working parents who need to get to work in the morning and can't afford to stay home with middle school students until the bus comes than I am with high school students wanting more sleep. The proposed schedule would be very difficult on working parents of middle school students w ho are too old for SACC. Please take this into consideration. The latest start times should be given to those either young enough for SACC (elementary) or old enough to stay home alone (high school), not to middle school students.

11:09 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My child frequently naps in the afternoon before starting homework & then is not tired at our preferred bedtime. A later morning start would alleviate this situ ation.

11:10 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I support later start times but the cost has to be considered. We are anticipat ing increased class sizes, particularly in honors/AP classes next year due to bu dget cuts. Education is not improved if the children can sleep an extra hour bu t have 35 students in a math class. Class sizes for science labs are limited fo r safety reasons, so students may have difficulty getting into these courses or having a curriculum that maximizes lab opportunities.

11:11 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Too early makes it impossible for kids to get proper sleep and breakfast to star t the day. to get to work in a timely manner.

11:13 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My child has been tired throughout middle school. She can't wind down until la te at night. With the early start time of middle school, she can't possibly get the 10 hours of sleep she personally needs. Her chronic sleep deficit unquesti onably compromises her intellectually and academically. I see how difficult it is for her to concentrate on homework when she is near dozing off; how can she p ossibly function optimally at school when she's so tired? school started much later, she got the sleep she needed, she was alert, and she loved school. Now she is cranky much of the school week and totally exhausted by Friday afternoon. Between sleeping in and taking naps, she loses a lot of ti me on weekends, but at least she's a delightful child again by Sunday evening. Then the dismal cycle starts again. She has begged me to homeschool her so she could start later in the morning and get enough sleep. By the end of seventh gr ade, my husband was also in favor of homeschooling so he could have a rested, pl easant child. they need!

11:16 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The current schedule has had a severe impact on my child, who has always been a late riser, is ADD, and has medical sleep issues. He has failed classes in no s mall measure because of the County's tardy/absence policies. We have been to cou rt over attendance issues. A later start time would help immensely.

11:16 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I like starting later if sports could start right away. Right now there is a 1 h our delay between school and sports

11:18 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Classes start too early for high school and middle school. My son goes to bed r elatively early, but it is often difficult to fall asleep at 9. He gets up at 6 , but is so tired that he finds it difficult to get out the door on time. He is not on a bus route (is a walker) - but backpacks and weather mean that he usual ly gets a ride to and from school. Afterschool sports (community), lessons, and orchestra rehearsals added to homework make for a very long and busy week.

11:23 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

7:20 is too early of a start for high school and middle school. and it is not J UST the start times...some kids, including my own, are catching buses an hour be fore that in the pitch dark. not healthy, not safe.

11:23 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I work at an elementary school. From this point of view and as a parent of a hig h school student I think later hs start times and earlier es start times make gr eat sense.

11:25 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Later start times for elementary school create a daycare burden for parents gett ing out of the house for work. Earlier the better - my children are up early an yway.

11:25 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My children function best and are more alert between 8 and 2. If we are to have later start times, it makes longer days. If kids need more sleep they should try going to bed at night, or provide a nap time (not joking) during the day. Also, the red day black day business is not condusive to optimum learning. Forty five minutes is long enough for one subject beyond that its just noise.

11:29 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I will be great if high schools start one hour later with one hour later for bus pick up to give the kids an extra hour of sleep.

11:31 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

HS start time should be no earlier than 8:00. This is what college will be like . HS should be preparing students for college.

11:37 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think that students would do better in school and be in better moods if the sc hool started later in the day.

11:39 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Changing school start times would have a deleterious affect on both afternoon sp orts activities in season, and more importantly take time needed to address the tremendous load of homework that my kids bring home every night. Losing 2 hours of homework time would keep them up well past midnight on a consistent basis. This would not be a good change.

11:40 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The school start times should be shifted at least 1/2 hour later for the high sc hool and middle school students. After school sports practices and activities s hould be limited to 2 hour max! With homework and wind down time after school f or my teenagers, it has become quite difficult for them to time manage and get t heir practices time in, come home, eat, (they are usually famished and very hung ry) then they unwind and start homework and continue with their homework until d innertime, then go back to complete their homework, daily chores and go to bed. The later time shift would also help with inclement weather days and making deci sions about closing schools and delays. It would give the road crews a better s tart to clear up the problems. Also, it would be lighter outside in the morning when going to school. 6 AM to 7 AM is too early for any student to catch a bus for school especially in the winter time!

11:41 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I like them to get up and get out. My kids are busy after school, they need and want that time. If they're tired they'll come home and take a nap. We have a bud get crunch as it is, the early start times aren't a problem for us, rotate buses as needed.

11:43 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Elementary school students are better at getting up early. High school students really need a lot more sleep and would do better to have a later day.

11:47 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We actually pulled our older children (we have 4) out of public high school in p art because of how sleep deprived they were. They play athletics and were so ex hausted they didn't want to stay in their honors courses. It was an uphill batt le. They were getting home at 7:30pm wiped out, hungry. By the time they showe red and ate, it was 8:30 and they'd have 3-4 hours of hard homework. Then up at 5:30am to catch the 6am bus. They were miserable. My younger children wake up early and would be ready to go to school before my high schoolers. I would be so grateful if the County changed the bell system for the older children. It wo uld be more humane, and it would help them have the energy for what they are in school for -- their academics. We all encourage them to push themselves so we n eed to provide the right environment for them to do that. This is a very good p roposal.

11:49 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I also think that later start times for HS may give school sports times to pract ice in the morning rather than after school and allow more time for homework aft er school rather than running from school to practice to homework.

11:49 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

With the kids in high school we have a neighborhood carpool in the mornings, bec ause otherwise the kids must catch the bus at 6:15 am; with the carpool we can l eave at 6:55 am and the kids are still early for the 7:20 start time. That 40 mi nutes is huge for these kids, and their parents. When they were in elementary sc hool they didn't leave until 8:40 am and didn't get home until 4:30 pm. That le ft them NO daylight outdoor playtime for the entire winter. When we have a majo r problem with childhood obesity and are trying to get young kids in the habit o f playing outdoors for exercise, I found that to be ridiculous.

11:50 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you for conducting this survey. I believe our children do need more time t o sleep in order to have the energy to last their study throughout the day. My d aughter will have several AP courses next year and she doesn't want to give up h er dance practice and other extracurricula activities. I know that will make it impossible for her to have enough hours to sleep. And teenagers tend to go to be d late anyway. Our family will definitely vote for the later start of school for high school students.

11:55 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

KIds are not awake enough at 5:45 and 6am and they are catching buses in the dar k at 6:45 am! I live on a busy street with no street lights or headlights, it's very dangerous! The start time of 7:20 is INSANE and we hate it! Our family c hild DR. told us that pre-teens and teens need 9-11 hours of sleep a night,and t hey just are not getting it! Plus, my son plays sports for high school. The pr actices daily are 2-3 hours long which is insane! On school nights! Games....l onger..on school nights! These kids are dead beat tired and extremly overwhlemed ! We need to change this and soon! Sport practices should be 1 to 1 1/2 hrs we ekdays..period! And middle and high schools should not start before 8:15 am per iod! What an improvment the county would see in these students and the sol's wi th a later start time! Our kids are overwhelmed and exhausted! Help!

11:57 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Later start times make sense to me. I chose my profession based on the hours I w ant to work, based on my own sleeping habits. Needless, to say the business is v ery succesful. The mentality that work can only be done during certain hours is ridiculous; especially, during the age of technology when you can reach anyone a round the world at anytime. I would also like to comment that I am a single moth er with two kids. As long as there is SACC (and SACC for special needs children) provided by the county there should be no issues with later start times.

11:57 AM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

On the issue related to the limit on weekday high school sports. Please do not forget that some practices are off school property. If you are going to limit t he lenght of practice, travel time should not be included or, at least, it shoul d be considered if a limit is set.

12:02 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think the real question is whether or not there is any empirical evidence rega rding the impact of a later starting school day on a child's ability to perform, including both during school and in terms of arriving on time. From my experien ce, I believe that an equal part of the equation is the child's attitude towards school. While starting later may have helped my son to some extent, I believe t hat he still would have slept in during his later high school years because of h is negative attitude towards school. For that reason, I do not think the impact of later start times on the availability of school athletic facilities and other rooms is worth the effort. I would rather put more energy and funds into connec ting ALL students with the school and their personal responsibility with respect to school than coddle them with a later start time that ultimately just shifts the battle over waking up from 7AM to 8AM - and we parents need to get out of th e house and off to work ourselves. So let's go ahead and have the battle early. More importantly, let's find a way to reach the kids psychologically, i.e., get them committed to waking up. My son woke up every Sunday morning early for two y ears (on his own) to get to work on time because he was committed to do so. Our

12:03 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Why is this even still being debated? It seems that research supports it and th e excuse that transportation can't afford it doesn't hold water. By the time th is gets worked out, my children will have graduated. That is if my senior doesn 't ahve to repeat due to his late arrivals.

12:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My children started at Louise Archer which has a very late start time - I always hated the fact that they had very little free time or time to pursue other inte rests after school. My 7th grade son currently attends Thoreau Middle and actua lly has time to play outside after school. My daughter is part of the band at J ames Madison and they practice 4 days/week during marching season until 5 or 6pm . I would hate for that to be any later. kids would get out of moving high school start times an hour later. Would an ext ra hour of sleep justify the expense and major adjustments that will have to be made for this change to take place? hat the county should limit practice times for sports and other activities. Som e of these kids are competing for scholarships - they want the practice time. M ost kids have a real sense of pride in their teams and want to be the best. As teenagers, the kids are not babies - they make their own choices about involveme nt in sports, outside activities, etc. They are learning to manage their time - it's an important lesson.

12:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Getting up early has been a struggle in our household especially for the boys (a ll four); homework load is too heavy and not finished until after midnight most nights.

12:14 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The school times to me are just to early for middle and high schools. When you have to get up at 5:45 just to get ready and get to the bus stop by 6:30, it is way to early for kids. Most parents are not even at work until 7:00 or 8:00am. Our kids are going to school before most adults. I don't believe that is right .

12:15 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

As I stated above, I am concerned about the impact the change in the bell schedu les at the middle and high school level will have on younger (elementary) childr en. Madison HS attempted this a few years ago and a large number of elementary school parents were upset with the recommended bell schedule for the elementary schools in that pryamid, particularly the impact on those elementary schools wit h a higher number of economically disadvantaged students/families. In order this to work for all concerned you need more buses and you need more money and right now you don't have either. Thank you for the survey.

12:15 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

What bothers me the most aren't necessarily the hours of school but the hours th ese coaches ask of our time and the kids time. Weekend practices are ridiculous !!!!! 1 .5 hours a night is enough. It is very rare if 5 to 10 students out of every high school goes somewhere with their sport. The coaches need to calm do wn a bit and let the students have some fun!

12:16 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We feel between a rock and a hard place. Madison has a weird 50 minute time per iod after school before sports practices start. This is mostly useless time for our daughter and prevents her from getting home as early as we would like. She also is unable to take the late bus because practice is not over by the time th e bus leaves. So starting up to 45 minutes later in the morning would be a bett er use of time, but we do NOT want her to come home any later as she has a bus r ide of significant time.

12:19 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I know students and parents in Loudoun where high schools start at 9 a.m., thier kids just go to bed later...

12:20 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Very much in favor of later HS and MS start times, but not such a late MS start time. I work and would have to make arrangements before school, which I think w ould be difficult.

12:21 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

This is a biased survey that fails to take into account many other issues. It i s unthinkable to contemplate putting high school students on the road during rus h hour, for example. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current system.

12:24 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Although High School kids start too early, if school is delayed then sports prac tices get delayed and homework is started too late in the evening. Our daughter gets on the bus at its last stop so it isn't a proble for us. For kids that dr ive, starting later in the morning would mean that they would caught in rush hou rs traffic - a problem at Oakton because it so close to I-66 and the subway.

12:25 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I have described the current high school start time as inhumane for these young people. I get up at 5:00 every morning to be sure they get up (I have to drive 20 miles round trip to Oakton if the bus is missed) and to be sure they have had something to eat. A change would be appreciated. Middle School getting home so late on the revised schedule would have an impact on extracurricular activities but there has to be a compromise somewhere and it is only two years. They could also do homework/practice before school in Middle School under the revised sche dule.

12:27 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Sleep is essential for integrating learning (of any kind, not just school). I feel strongly that our children need to get more sleep at times that are consist ent with their sleep cycle.

12:29 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If high school times start later, there will be less available daylight for aft er school physical activites, both school and community based. This would create even more completion for the limited number of local fields, and reduce physic al activities further in an era of concern for obesity.

12:29 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter needs to go to sleep around 7:30 in order to wake up in the morning to catch her bus at 7:50. As for parents both working, the family time in the e vening is too short since we are too busy feeding them and do homework then righ t off to bed. It would be nice to have some leisure time in the evening to spen d some time as family.

12:31 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

In general, Middle and High school schedules between 8:15 - 3:15 seem to work be st, allowing for a balance between a good sleep schedule and still allowing suff icient time for homework and activities in the afternoon.

12:31 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Due to the highly competitive academic environment late nights due to studying a re consistent events that cause interruptions in sleep schedule. Additionally, after school events, sports practices and normal homework give my kids very litt le time to relax during the school week. Starting the school day later may not help with this but reducing sports and extracurricular events would help since h omework is not likely to go down. Sport events running after 9pm, other events after 9pm should be limited to weekends or Friday.

12:32 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I see that the big limiting factor is school bus availability, I wold be curiou s how empty the HS buses are vs. the number they are provided for. My HS rode t he bus her freshman and soph year, but drives as a jr, so my freshman rides with her.

12:32 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We (as a family with children ranging from age 11 to age 18) are VERY MUCH in fa vor of a later school start time for high schoolers. The phsysioligical changes teenagers go thru are very real in terms of their need for more sleep!!!!

12:32 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Naps are healthy. o.

12:34 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Having had two children who have graduated from Fairfax County school and one ch ild who currently attends high school , I feel high school starting times are to o early. My children always had sleep deprevation. All three are excellent stude nts and varsity tennis players. By the time, they came home from sports and did their homework caused them to go to bed between 11:30- 12:00 most nights. If sch ool started even an hour later, this would have helped them physically and to be less tired. All three children slept the mornings away on weekends.

12:35 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank goodness this issue is being given the attention it deserves. My children suffer mentally, physically and to some extent scholastically because of the sle ep shortfall. With the amount of homework (as in multiple hours) on top of their school day they need some time to unwind and invariably they do not get that ti me unless they "borrow" it from their sleep time. Why do they need time to unwin d? Because their lives are way too stressful as it is and they are, after all, s till children with growing minds and bodies. So not only do they need more sleep time than they are getting now but they do need time for wakeful unwinding with out the stress of trying to squeeze productivity out of every wakeful moment. I believe the proposal for later high school start/end times will help alleviate t his problem. After all, with more sleep providing rested minds and bodies will c ome higher scores and grades which are the building blocks for a strong foundati on with successful collegiate and working careers just around the corner.

12:35 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My older child would clearly benefit from a later starting time. However, I was unimpressed with the 300+ page report by the large committee that recommended e arlier school start time. The work was not carefully done. The concerns raised by the minority and Trans. staff were valid ones.

12:36 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Later start times would be great. My kids would be more rested in general and n ot feel the need to sleep really late on weekends(time permitting.

12:36 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think it is absolutely unconscionable that kids have to be at the bus stop bef ore 6am for school. I also think it is dangerous to have high school and middle school children dismissed from school in the early afternoon.

12:38 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The scientific studies are available and clearly indicate better academic and pe rsonal performance as well as better overall mental and physical health when hig h schools start later. When these factors are considered, it really shouldn't ma tter what traffic patterns are like, or who is inconvienced because high schoole rs are less available after school. The mental and physical health of our teenag ers is MOST IMPORTANT, followed closely by their academic performance.

12:42 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The current high school start time is much too early, especially for our 2 teena ge boys. It is very difficult getting them up in the morning. The school bus c omes so early it is not a real option. I hope you are successful in pushing bac k the start time of the high school day to 9:00 am. Teens are not programmed to fall asleep early and get up early. We sometimes need to take extreme measures to get them out of bed (such as pouring water on them). This is a constant stru ggle. They are not hungry for breakfast. They stumble into school and sometime s sleep in first period class.

12:43 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter does not now drive but may start due to the fact that she will be ab le to sleep in longer. I have heard from teachers both last year and this year that she falls asleep in class, particularly during her first period of the day. She lives in the Fox Mill area however and will have a long drive. I would wo rry about her being awake enough to drive to school with just getting a little b it of extra sleep. Right now, a lot of the kids are sleeping on the bus. The b us picks her up at 6:15 and gets her to school much too early. It's bad enough that school starts so early, but if the bus came a half hour later, she would st ill be at school in plenty of time. That half hour isn't much extra sleep, but it too would be better than nothing! I have talked to parents from Loudoun Coun ty with high school kids who start around 9 and they love their schedule. My da ughter tries to go to bed earlier so that she isn't comatose in the moring, but I just don't think her body is wired for it! On a really good night, she gets a round six hours of sleep and that just isn't enough for her. She even fell asle ep during two of her SOLs this year!

12:43 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

In general, I support later start times for high/middle school, it would benefit our children. My only hesitation is the impact of rush hour traffic, student s afety has to be considered. For example, more patrols and limits on right-on-re d turns have to be considered.

12:44 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Start classes for middle & high school between 8:00 & 9:00, nearer 8:00 lementary classes between 7:30 & 9:30

12:45 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I believe that school does start to early for most high schools and the kids go to bed later at that age. By Thursday, they are exhausted. I also believe a lot of kids do poorly in the 1st period classes because they are barely awake and c annot concentrate.

12:46 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

A delayed high school start time (either as proposed or high school starting aft er middle school) will allow better use of the whole day by my child. After sch ool activities are limited now primarily because she is too tired to do anything other than her homework.

12:49 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think it's very important to make a change to later times. These students nee d more sleep at times suited to their natural biorhythms.

12:50 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

A delayed school start will not guarantee more sleep for the students; many will simply go to sleep later. If you delay the end of the school day this delay , i n turn, will delay the time the student arrives home from sporting events/practi ces or other extra-curricular activities. Dinner still needs to be eaten and hom ework completed, thus the student will go to bed later without any gain in addit ional sleep. Another negative of the delayed start is the impact on work schedul es. My son works 3 pm -6 pm in Falls Church on Fridays. The delayed start would make it impractical to get him to Falls Church to work only 1 3/4 to 2 hours, es pecially with the high price of gas.I recommend that you leave the start schedul e "as is". NOTE: The question that asks "when does your child usually fall asle ep on the weekends" should read "after 12:00 AM" and not "PM". I had to select " after 12 pm" to represent "after midnight" since you stated the time incorrectly . Perhaps next time, you should state "after midnight" if there is confusion reg arding 12:00 AM versus PM.

12:53 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If high school starts later than 8:00 then maybe some activities can occur befor e school starts, because there'll be less time for band/sports after school - Bu t then transportation could be a problem

12:55 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We followed the proposed schedule while living in Florida and loved it. We had kids in all three schools then, too.

12:55 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My child is begging for a car next year so she can drive and sleep that extra 45 minutes she misses out on. She arrives at HS 30 minutes before the bell, and a s the first stop on the route in the morning and last in the afternoon, it's lo ng ride.

12:55 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter and I just did a comprehensive study on this very subject for an Eng lish class project. We found that many school systems nationwide have switched elementary school schedules with high school schedules. All of the schools that have done this have reported less tardies, better attendance overall, and bette r grades. We further found studies showing that teens need more sleep than any other age group but, because of early high school schedules and then afternoon/e vening sports, other family/misc. activities, and homework (including a biologic al clock that also works against them), they are the group getting less sleep th an any other. To make matters worse, this is the same group of children that of ten chooses to drive to and from school. With early high school schedules, thes e teens drive in a.m. darkness for much of the school year and at times when the re is still dew and/or ice on the road. It is a well known fact that most accid ents happen when driving in the dark, let alone wet or icy conditions. Wouldn't it also make sense, then, to put the more experienced drivers (bus drivers) on the road during this more dangerous time, and let teens get the additional sleep their bodies need in the early morning? Younger children get up earlier, natur

12:57 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

thank you for doing this...my daughter wanted to go earlier in elementary school , and later in middle and high school. kids her age need more sleep.

12:58 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Scientific studies seem to show that teenagers need more sleep, and their sleep shifts later. I support later starts.

01:00 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It is unacceptable expecting teenagers to get to school by 7:20 and therefore ha ve to awaken very early in the morning. They have trouble getting to sleep earl y enough to give them the sleep they need to have to be alert in the morning. I have heard many accounts of students falling asleep in early morning classes (f rom students and teachers alike). It is time for FCPS to make the right decisio n and let high school students start school at a later time. Other school distr icts in the country have done it and we can do it too.

01:02 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My high school-age son tries to go to sleep between 9-9:30PM. Even still, it's r eally hard for BOTH of us to get up at 5:30AM. His first period class is the har dest for him as he's usually half asleep.

01:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My youngest daughter has attended Luther Jackson Middle School. The school is s o far away she has basically has a morning commute. It is ridiculous to send a c hild so far from home for school. Especially when there is another middle school much closer.

01:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter functions much better later in the day than she does first thing in the morning. A later start time makes sense, based on all the research that has been done regarding the sleep cycles of teens.

01:05 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My high schooler already gets home later than we'd like with the after school ac tivities he engages in daily (band). Today, my son comes home, unwinds, eats d inner and then starts his homework. Having him get home an hour later would mak e the afternoon much more hectic.

01:07 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My teenagers really have very limited time to do their homework, especially on t he days that they have more than one activity/sport. my son is also helps him have less asthma attack. ater school bell schedule will be great.

01:11 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The high school start times are too early and make it difficult for the kids to get homework and practice times in. I fully support moving the high school sche dule back.

01:13 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think teenagers typically stay up later as they get older. My experience with my kids when they were in elementary school, they went to be earlier and were up and ready way before school started. I think high school kids going to school later would improve their work at school, be more attentive and not as grumpy!

01:13 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think it would be hard for high school students to end the school day later, e sp when they are in sports after school (it would also be even harder for the co aches to find a playing field. As it is now, my son plays JV sports and waits un til 4 to start his practice since the older students have the fields first). It would then make it difficult to get homework done and to hold a job if needed. I also rely on my son to take care of younger siblings at times when needed and if he got home later that would not be an option.

01:14 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Our school (Oakton HS) started this year with a one hour delay on Wednesdays. W E LOVE THAT DAY! Everyone seems to be in a better mood!

01:15 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

A later school start would give students a little more time to sleep in (maybe o nly a half hour or so, though). While I am all for my kids getting more sleep, I am concerned about the cost to the school system of revising all the bus schedu les - scheduling all the bus routes is a huge undertaking, and paying for the bu ses is a huge cost. If changing the hours to give my kid only a half hour or so more sleep is very costly, I'm not sure it's worth it. I should just send them t o bed a half hour earlier. Also, I know they like getting out earlier in the af ternoon and probably wouldn't want to trade that in for a later start time.

01:21 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It's about time to implement a change in favor of teenage sleep needs and academ ic performance that we have known about for years.

01:22 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I wish this would have been in effect with my older child. There would have bee n no issues getting her to school prior to the first bell.

01:23 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The junior & high schools start too early but I'm not sure if that's changed how that would effect the HS sports. During most of the year my high schooler sta ys at school until 6PM. An earlier start probably wouldn't hurt the elementary schools.

01:24 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

In my opinion, starting school later doesn't equate to more sleep. Starting lat er means staying up later to get work done. My kids have multiple activities (b oth school ie band & orchestra & private) during the week and practice musical i nstruments every day. They have very little spare time between the homework and other activities (both school & non-school). Having them stay up later means I end up with less sleep.

01:25 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I feel that having the younger kids starting earlier makes sense. The older kid s have activities and homework that force them to be up later sometimes. They n eed as much if not more rest than the younger children.

01:25 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

When my children were in elementary school it started too late. My high school students are running out to get to school while the younger kids in the neighbor hood are already up.

01:26 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think our children's schedules are more rigorous than when we were children. In any given day there is very little free time; however, I do think the early s tart time is very grueling for these kids. An extra 30-60 minutes could really make a difference in their day.

01:28 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Before starting high school my oldest children felt the start time was too early but now they are happy with the schedule and feel strongly that a change to a l ater start time would actually adversely impact both their school work and extra curricula activities.

01:30 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Our son attends early morning seminary every week day before school. It would b e helpful to start later, so he could sleep a bit longer.

01:31 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My daughter's High School starts at 7:20, which is simply too early. Even modes t adjustments to that time would be welcomed and appropriate.

01:32 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Middle School, since it is only for two years can be the "worst" start time. Th is last HS start time is deadly to our kids! Thank you for working on this issu e!

01:38 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

when you add the commute for certain sports the early start time, while very ear ly, tends to support that and allow for homework and a relatively early bed time

01:38 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If the high school schedule starts later, then athletes will be at the schools l ater and that affects the time they have to study. Morning practices are unacce ptable.

01:39 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

At Oakton wednesday colloboration day schedule allowed for an hour longer of sle ep which made a huge difference. Start High School at 8:20

01:43 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

High school starts too early...also the bus comes too early..we live 1.5 miles f rom the school and are the last stop before school. The original schedule had t he bus arriving at our stop at 6:50 which is 1/2 hour before school starts. But the bus shows up at 6:40am due to varying drivers and the fact that they have mi ddle school and elementary school routes to follow. So catching a bus at 6:40 w ith a 5 minute ride when school start at 7:20 is too early. If there were adequ ate sidewalks I would have her walk..she could leave later.

01:50 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Could some sports or activities be scheduled BEFORE school begins at the High Sc hool level? If not, why not?

01:51 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

There is no indication on the schedule how Secondary Schools like Robinson would work, i.e. treated like a High School?? I hope it would be the HS schedule for the entire school, i.e. 8:35-8:50 & 3:15-3:45!!!!!

01:54 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Later start times just make sense. Our children get too little sleep as it is. My high schooler leaves just after 6 am to get to the bus and is not well reste d for learning.

01:56 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think that 08:35 to 08:55 is too late for high school to start. I would recom mend that high school start at 0750 to 0820, and that middle and elementary star t later than high school. High schoolers have after school activities and jobs and the proposed times would have them getting home too late to get to job sites and no time in between to do homework or to have downtime. I also worry that ma king the later start would put responsibility for my child to get up on her own and to catch the school bus after I leave for work.

01:58 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I work in a middle school and have kids who are in middle school and elementary. I see the benefits but think HS kids would stay up later just because they thi nk they are able to. I would leave teaching in middle school if I were expected to work until 430 since I need to get home for child care reasons.

02:01 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My middle school student works some weekdays from 3:30-6:30. Virginia law prohib its 14 and 15 year olds from working after 7pm, so if middle school students and high school freshman get home later, it might impact jobs unless the state asse mbly would also consider modifying child labor rules.

02:02 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I very strongly believe that the schedule should stay the way it is. I believe we would loose good teachers if we changed the schedule because they would not w ant to fight the rush hour traffic. After school activities would run too late if the high school students got out later and kids would get to bed even later b ecause they would get a later start on their homework. I would be very upset if a change is made.

02:03 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Starting at 8:30 at least will give her an extra hour, which will greatly help h er. She says many students fall asleep in classes due to lack of sleep, includin g herself sometimes.

02:03 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think the start times are fine. High school students will just stay up later and still have a hard time getting up if the school day starts later - just look at college students who think a 9 am class is too early. With after school spo rts, practices end before dinner now, and that wouldn't be the case with a later school day. This way they get home, have dinner, then do HW.

02:03 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

In my humble opinion, later school starting times are not a substitute for lack of personal discipfont-weight: normal; line on the part of students or poor parenting skills on the p art of parents. I think human nature is that if high school starting times are changed to later times, many, and perhaps most, students will stay up later than they do now, because they will know they don't have to get up early. From a pu rely selfish perspective of a parent of high school students who have attended a nd will be attending early morning scripture study classes that take place every schoolday morning at our church in Oakton, a later high school starting time wo uld create real problems for that scripture study class program; those classes h ave to begin early -- they have started at 6 am for years -- because the teacher s of those classes are lay teachers who have jobs they must get to in the mornin g. Having later high school starting times would likely create a substantial ti me gap between when the scripture study classes end (6:50 am) and when school wo uld start, which would pose transportation, logistical and other problems for st udents who attend the scripture study program and their parents. My unscientifi c observation of the many high school students I have seen attend the early morn

02:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

High schools start too early. Kids that participate in sports and then have to do homework suffer with lack of sleep. The Wednesday collab has been a blessing ......that extra hour of sleep makes the world of diffference with not only the student, but parents that have to get up with the kids.

02:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My child never gets more than 6 hours of sleep a night because of sports and hom ework. A later start time would improve her health, disposition and grades.

02:08 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I truly believe that high school students need more sleep, less homework!! This county is way too crazy. Our student are not benefitting by any of it, based o n college entrace opportunities....if anything our students are getting the shor t end of the stick all the way around........

02:10 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The system works very well as is, allowing time for students to unwind after sch ool, do homework, or work. Moving the time to later only rewards those families who are unable to control their childrens' bedtime.

02:13 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Please do this...my daughter is in 9th grade and literally falls apart by the en d of the week because of waking at 5:30am every day. She is miserable all week l ong because she is so exhausted. It is a shame that this is how she could spend her high school career in FFX County. We continue to discuss how much better thi ngs will be when she goes to college and will be able to sleep until 7:30 or so for an 8am class! She has said that it is very hard to be a teenager at OHS bec ause she is so tired all the time. Please help us!

02:13 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

don't think this will solve the problem of sleep deprivation. it will only shift the hours. my daughter is up late doing homework, not goofing off. school end s at 2:10 but sports/theater doesn't start until 3:15--why the wasted hour?--hom e at 5:30 or 6:00, dinner, shower, then homework until she goes to bed. if high school ends at 3:15 and extracurricular activities started immediately, i would definitely support the later start time. if coaches stick with the delay betwe en the end of school and the start of practice, later start times won't make a d ifference to my teen. she would still get only six hours of sleep each night.

02:16 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It is time for Fairfax Co. to change school start times like many other counties and States have done for the benefit of teens. Sleep deprevation takes a serio us toll on our children, who all have such busy schedules. I would fully suppor t a change to have school start times begin later for middle and high school stu dents.

02:27 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Every study I have ever seen, and my own experience with teenagers (I have an ol der son) has demonstrated that HS students need at least 8 hours of sleep a nigh t and also that they are, as a group, not early risers...it makes no sense at al l to have the most difficult and challenging grade levels adversly impacted by s uch early bus pick-up and class start times!! Further, it is a safety hazard for my 15 year old daughter to be standing in the dark most mornings waiting for he r bus. Thank you for trying to do something about this important issue.

02:31 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I really appreciate you doing this survey and I can totally appreciate from a bu siness perspective the transportation issues and costs. Good luck!

02:31 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We have been at South County for 3 years. The last two years, the middle school had a late start - everyone hates it. The kids don't get home until 4:30pm and they can't get to their activities because they all start at 5:00pm.

02:33 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The problem isn't that school starts early, the problem is long bus rides based on bad planning or long distance. My middle school girl rides the bus 45-50 min each direction. That's bad and totally the schoolday becomes longer. want ES school to start before MS and HS. As it is now I can put all my three ki ds to bed at the same time which is perfect and the youngest can sleep in every morning. Perfect. I pretty much like our situation. The older kids leave home 6. 25. The oldest is home 2.35 pm and the middle is home 3.15 (this is late due to the distance to school). My yougest leave 8.30 and arrives 4.15 pm. The only cha nge that might be valuable would be to let the yougest start litte earlier and f inish little earlier.

02:35 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If children get out of school after 4 p.m. that is going to cause major problems with other activities, day care, etc. I HATE THE IDEA!

02:39 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

School sports shouldnt be allowed to practice after 8 pm!!! Getting hjome at 10 pm is nuts!!

02:43 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

This survey did not account for "rising" seventh graders. I would have liked to answer some of the questions, but since my child is still in 6th grade, I could not. Sports and after school activities are not as important as academic success. Ac ademic success has been proven in other school districts to be related to a late r start time. If kids are interested in these extra curricular activities, then they should either meet prior to school, or later after school. Fairfax County - in general is a fairly wealthy school district and we should be able to come up with any extra costs associated with additional bus runs. ot believe that academics are the only measure of a child's success, however, wh en sleep deprivation has been proven to be a cause of problems, then we should a ddress the issue.

02:46 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

School start times should not be altered because after school sports and activit ies would run way too late--as it is, practices that start at 4p.m. go until 7. Then homework, etc, has to get done.

02:53 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Latch-key children are a problem. Much more than their lack of sleep, I am troub led by my kids being home alone in the afternoon before I get home from work. Th ey have to stay indoors becuase I'm not there and they can't go on the Internet to do homework until I get home.

02:53 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think it's a great idea to give middle school students more sleep and keep the m in school longer in the afternoon. They would do better in school and have les s free time in the late afternoon for mischief.

02:56 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Just getting up 1 hour later on collaboration Wednesdays where we drove to high school made her feel better and act happier.

03:33 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Even a start time at 8 or shortly after for the high school/middle school would be a great improvement. More scrutiny needs to be given to existing bus schedul es. You have buses picking up for OHS at 6:15 and dropping the kids at school by /before 6:45....and classes begin at 7:20. Does this make sense?

03:41 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Support for working parents who have kids in sports in the form of more and late r late busses would be a great help

03:46 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It really seems that younger children are on an earlier schedule naturally and i t is just wasted time having them sit around for a late start to school. Meanwhi le, middle and high school students are impossible to get up and out in the morn ing because they are so very tired. They generally have after school activities or larger amounts of homework that require them to stay up later than they shoul d to make a 6:15 a.m. bus. The older students are shortchanged on sleep which af fects their demeanor and their learning ability. I truly hope you can adjust the schedule SOON (within a year??) to accommodate the older students' sleep needs. Thank you for really taking this issue seriously and moving forward with a chan ge as soon as possible.

03:56 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My children have all struggled with the early start times. For kids who are ver y active in sports like all mine were they never got enough sleep. If the day s tarted even a half hour later they would benefit. Oakton High School has collab oration Wednesdays where the kids get an extra hour of sleep during the day and the difference is remarkable.

04:01 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you so much for initiating this survey. I truly believe high school stude nts need the opportunity for more sleep given their sports and academic time com mittment

04:05 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Elementary school start times would be less of an issue if Fairfax County provid ed before school SACC to 100% of requesting families. The multiple year (we wer e told 5 years) wait list is absurd, and there are only a couple of other option s for Waples Mill students. Arlington County provides SACC to all families who sign up by a certain date. That is much more family friendly.

04:07 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It is hard to have late endings to the school day when you want to fit in sports and other extracurriculars, but the current start time is much too early. I tr uly don't know how our family will get our 9th grader to school on time next yea r because he is impossible to get out of bed before 7-7:15AM

04:16 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My son has been struggling with the early starts since 7th grade, 4 years, his s chool work and sports have been been affected.

04:19 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

This is an absolute necessity. I believe that the early start time has contribu ted to family tension, poor performance in 1st period classes, unnecessary unexc used tardies from walking in just after the bell. The 6:15 a.m. wake up time fo r a high school team is just WRONG!!!!!!! Even an hour later time would make an enormous difference in their performance. Arlington school not only benefit fr om a later start time, but also a grade system that allows them to have better G PAs. I believe immediate action should be taken.

04:40 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Although I like the idea of a later start time for high schoolers I know that th ose that work or play sports could be affected negatively. I know mine would not prefer to have before school practices.

04:59 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We need more school hours instead of keep switching time to accomodate the numbe r of Buses we have. Children's education should come first.

05:09 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I like the idea of MS & HS starting later, but for many working families it does n't make sense to have ES students arriving home before older siblings. Would n eed a larger SACC program to support the change.

06:10 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Think it is clear that too early start times are hard on our youths health,,ment ally and phsyical

06:12 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

8:00 am is the very earliest elementary should begin. Beginning at 930 seems ve ry late. I'd prefer elementary to start somewhere between 815 and 845, ideally.

06:29 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think all schools should start around approximately 8:00-9:00. I'm sure this i s hard to accomplish with all the school buses, but it's best for all students. Children in Elementary school go to school very late in my opinion, and it's not healthy for them to be in school that long. They often have after-school activi ties and homework, and I think they should be able to relax for a while. This a lso causes them to go to bed later, and a child needs his/her sleep.

06:49 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

High school kids stay up too late, get up too early and eat junk all day...it is a shame.

07:20 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I am a high school teacher and I would like to see a later start time for high s choolers. I believe they would be more productive that way. It is worth trying t o see if it makes a difference in grades and productivity. It would even be wort h asking the students for their opinions on the matter.

07:28 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

It would definitely be nice if kids were not on the corner waiting for the bus a t 6:15 am.....

07:39 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I coach youth sports - baseball (10 to 12 year olds); Basketball (12 to 13 year olds). 2 hrs/day is plenty of practice time for this age group. Geting home late r than 4:00 pm for any school kid is too late IMO - not b/c of sports, b/c of te h homework. Many have 1 to 2 hours a night. Kids need time to be kids (unstructi ured time) - I'd be in favor of allowing enough hours in teh day for tat to happ en.

07:40 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Our family likes the current schedule. How are we going to prepare these childr en for the work force. The later schedule will conflict with sports and clubs an d they look forward to that after school. FCPS has one of the best ratings in t he country. Why mess with the current time schedule.

07:42 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

PLEASE make the necessary change to school schedules to provide a healthy, safe environment for our children. Change the grading scale too. I've lived here for 48 years but if I were chosing a school district today - I would not chose FFX C ty based on the early start times, the grading scale that's out of alignment wit h the mainstream, and the dilapidated state of Edison High School. Too bad - co unty had great advantages and still has great teachers and family support. Pleas e don't let it detoriorate any further.

07:49 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think having students in school until 4:00 or later, is too late. I believe m any of us use this hour or so for medical appointments or other necessary appoin tments. In addition, sports teams would be getting home even later - dinner hour is already tough to juggle to have a "family dinner". Instead of a complete sha ke-up of the schedules, what about a later shift of as little as 30 minutes. Ha ving a child get the bus at 6:30 is early, but much better than 6:00 am.

07:50 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I am a Grandmother guardian. Senior citizens need the sleep,,, Thanks ent is autistic.

08:12 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I strongly, strongly, strongly support a change in schedules that is more insync with high schooler's body chemistry. My son has a hard time falling asleep at night even when he tries and thus has a hard time getting up in the morning. I think it's utterly ridiculous to have kids waking up at 5:30 a.m., much earlier than most adults get up for work. We need to do whatever it takes to make their schedules more sensible. They cannot function at their best with sleep depriva tion.

08:22 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I have lived in Fairfax County for 20 years but would not chose FCPS today based on the early start times, punitive grading scale and dilapidated state of Ediso n High School. I will no longer recommend that others go to Fairfax County High Schools. I am so angry at Fairfax County.

08:31 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We like the new plan. Anyone that has raised a child knows the little ones go t o bed early and get up early. The teens are the opposite as I can tell you from actually once being a teen.

08:35 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We are currently attending an elementary school that starts at 9:05 which is fin e. However, our middle and high school start too early. I will drive my child w hen we get to that grade.

08:44 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

You truly MUST make the middle and high school start times later for childrens' health and ability to learn. My oldest daughter has had to miss school complete ly a few days this year due to sheer exhaustion - she can never get enough sleep and then gets headaches. Neither sports nor bus schedules should drive this de cision - it should be based on academics and health. The proposal to delay star t times truly is what's best for the majority of students, I urge FCPS to move QUICKLY on this decision and not delay. (FYI most parents believe that the dist rict will just continue to study this issue over and over in hopes that it simpl y goes away, but I have more faith in the school district!) Please take action - you can't even imagine how much this move would help the well being of my fami ly! Thank you!

09:15 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think HS start times are too early, these kids need more time to sleep. Most o f them are not early risers at this age and would benefit by not having to be at school until a little later in the morning.

09:16 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Working parents need students to depart for school at times that correlate with routine work hours. Since elementary schools offer before and after school SACC programs to assist working parents in bridging the gap, I believe that the focu s on analyzing schedules should be on middle and high school students -- have th em picked up from bus stops in the 7 - 7:30 timeframe to allow for proper sleep while also providing parents the opportunity to see their children off to school . Elementary schools could start later as working parents rely on SACC to cover scheduling issues.

09:22 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Thank you for looking into changing start times and for asking the opinion of pa rents. So much data I have read affirms the benefits of later start times for h igh schoolers who require more sleep. Friends in areas with later start times c omment on the positive affects of late start times.

09:26 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Both parents work in our household. Getting kids to the bus NO LATER than 0800 is optimal vis-a-vis our work schedules. Starting school at 9:20 would be disas terous for us. FYI, our kids get 9-10 hours of sleep every school night.

09:51 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

If my son's elementary school started earlier than 9am, he would be late every d ay. I am a single mom with no options other than to drive my son to school and I can not change my work schedule. Additionally, my son has special needs and we need that time in the morning to ensure he is set for the day.

10:00 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Please please please make the change to later start times for high school. The current system is inhumane and leads to abuse. My daughter tells me the kids ju st fall asleep in class. Thank you for your consideration!

10:02 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

While some shift in high school bell schedules would be good, the middle schools coming home in the dark is not a good trade. I also tend to think that the bel l schedule shift would to some degree just shift the problem but not correct it; high school students would likely just stay up that much later.

10:03 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I believe my teens would benefit from later start times. Fatigue affects the qu ality of their homework and their overall morale and outlook. I strongly suppor t the proposal to make start times later in the morning.

10:04 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I wonder how much later we'll allow our kids to go to bed if we give them anothe r hour of sleep in the morning.

10:22 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I THINK STARTING LATE WOULD BE A DISASTER FOR MY KIDS AND MYSELF, I LEAVE OUT TH E HOUSE BY 705AM AND TRAVEL AT LEAST 45 MIN. TO WORK. I RATHER KEEP THE CURRENT SCHEDULE, WORK BEST FOR ME KNOWING THAT MY CHILDREN ARE OUT THE HOUSE AND ON TH E BUS . I WOULD BE EVEN HARDER FOR THEM TO WAKE UP IN THE MORNING CAUSE I AM NOT THERE TO WAKE THEM UP. IT WOULD BE MORE LAZY FOR THEM, I WOULDN'T BE THERE TO KNOW IF THEY GET ON THE BUS OR NOT. IT DOESN'T GIVE ENOUGH GAP TIME FOR THEM TO DO HOMEWORK BECAUSE THEY JUST GET HOME FROM SCHOOL AROUND 430 AND DINNER, ETC. I DO NOT SUPPORT THESE CHANGES. I LIKE TO TEACH MY CHILDREN TO BE AN EARLY MORN ING PERSON NOT LATE PERSON. THIS EFFECT WOULD BE A BIG MESS FOR US. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE CURRENT SCHEDULE. IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU CHANGE IT, IT COMES FROM THE FAMILY RAISING THEIR CHILDREN TO BE RESPONSIBLE AND WAKE UP IN THE MORN ING. I DON'T LIKE THE CHANGES AND WILL NOT SUPPORT IT !! THANKS.

10:32 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Very against a late start time for high school. Kids have jobs, pressure is on hs kids to do 50 hours community service, kids have sports practice... taking al l that in, if they end later, when are they supposed to do their homework? ALs o, I see no reason for you to know my family's race/ethnicity.

10:35 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

In this day of academic accountability and excessive pressure for testing (SOL's and No Child Left Behind) it seems obvious that delaying high school start time s would be a low-cost way to boost test scores among high school students. This is particularly true given the research that shows high school students have a later "biological clock" influencing sleeping patterns.

11:20 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

There is too much pressure to do volunteer work and with later start times these requirements would make it too difficult to work and do extracurracular acttivi ties

11:33 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Because my two oldest go to a secondary school, they start at the same time and drive together in the morning to school. we tend to stay up late and like to sl eep in more, so we would like a later start time.

11:51 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2008

I think it will cost a lot and the county is already strapped for cash. Kids can go to bed earlier, take naps when they come home from school, and sleep late on the weekend.