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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 June 20 to June 30, 2008

12:06 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

The early start time has been a very difficult challenge to our family life. It is literally physically impossible for my son to get up on his own for school. As a result, I must be up between 5 and 5:30 each day just to be able to get him up and going. He is tired and does not benefit from instruction in the first period, despite his motivation to learn which is great. The amount of homework he has makes it impossible to go to bed any earlier, so that is not an option. By contrast, we have an older daughter who went to TJ. The later opening time made life much easier, even though she too put in late hours with a lot of homework. A great deal of research has shown that going to bed earlier is not the issue, children this age are not wired to get up this early.

12:18 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I really do not think that school should start before 8:15. Even if they go to bed by 8:30pm, they are still very hard to wake (and they are grouchy) at 6:00/6: 30.

12:30 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

You didn't ask about other after school activities, such as drama, band, or clubs. Drama practices until after 9 PM when performances are close. If they start school later than all after school practices would have to run late. I would hate to change the hours. No one wants to just change the reason for being up early as drama and band would have to move their practices to before school and the kids would have to get up early anyway. DO NOT CHANGE HIGH SCHOOL TO LATER. IT IS A DUMB IDEA.

12:32 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I used to live in Florida Orlando and the bell schedule was same as the transportation task force had proposed my oldest son was ready for school in the morning and has time to have his breakfast. this year was very hard for him,he wakes up at 5:50 and the bus pick him up at 6:40 he doesn't have time for his breakfast and his always very cranky. my son always tells me does the most difficult period is the first period because he's very sleepy.

01:39 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Currently the school start time allows high school students who do after school activities such as Marching Band, Crew, and Football (as examples) to have a full practice (betweem 3 and 4 hours apporximately) while still getting home in time for a reasonable dinner and time to do homework while still obtaining a decent amount of sleep. It also allows the students to finish full length practices ju st before or as it gets dark outside, allowing students to drive more safely hom e from practices.

01:57 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

for high school 8:20am sounds more reasonable then 8:35am 3:15 is ridiculous

03:02 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think starting high school later is the best thing. Both of my boys and their older brothers when they were in high school, tell me that they slept on the bus in the morning or they sleep through morning announcements at school. My you nger high school son has said many times that he sleeps through some or all of h is classes when they have a movie or quiet activities. That is wrong! He is sent to bed at a proper time but does not always fall asleep right away. Starting older students later is the smartest thing Fairfax County could do. I support you.

04:04 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I like the current school start time for both my High School & Elementary School Child. Switching the Schools to a later start / release time time would cause homework /study problems for both my children as it cuts into the time currently used for these activities as well as other family activities. I would much rat her my High School student rise earlier in the morning and return home earlier i n the afternoon. Switching the schedule causing my elementary school child to r ise earlier or return home much later would cause problems for our household.

05:44 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Before changes are considered the Board needs to consider what will happen with the extracurricular activities. Current schedules accommodate a large number of activities & help from teachers after school. Shifting schedules do not only c ompress sports games & practices, but also any outside activities with the ever increasing school workloads still needing to be done. I believe that moving the start time is not the answer ... you will just push the waking hours to later t imes. In other words, if a child currently goes to bed at 10pm, gets up at 5:30 am and starts school at 7:20am, moving the start time to 8:20 will just shift th e bedtime to 11pm, the waking time to 6:30am. The child will not get more sleep , the schedules will be pushed. BUT you will squeeze the time available for aft er school help & activities that create opportunities as families will still be coming home at the same time.

06:24 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My daughter just went through 6 years of early rising since she goes to Robinson . It is awful. My son has three more years to go. We are all exhausted. I get them up every day, feed them, get them to school and am also exhausted. Parent s need rest, too.

06:31 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I highly approve of later start times. My daughter now often falls asleep in at least one class if they are slow or watching a movie. There is no way at the pre nt time she can get more than 7 hours of sleep. This contributes to early mornin g migraines for her. Because of this, she often misses her first period class.

06:35 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I woudl suggest a slightly later start time - at the latest 8:00... allow a long er breakfast time and offer better food, end the day at 3:00 and limit afterscho ol sports practices to 2 hours daily so that homework and rest can be balanced a long with sports

06:39 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

It is a proven fact that teenagers need more sleep in the mornings. My child is being picked up at 6:30 in the morning and has to get up at 5:15 in the morning . That is a long day if she has practice after school. She comes home in the a fternoon wiped out!!! I am for a later high school start time!!!

09:02 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I have seen that the majority of the research supports later start times for middle and high school students. I have read a lot of research independently and I have seen that the school districts with later start times have better scores an d less discipfont-weight: normal; line problems. I think the problems schools have with behavior shou ld be adressed as this is part of the benefit seen with later start times.

11:11 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think school start times should not change. Although I do believe that these kids are having to meet their buses way too early in the morning, I also believe that giving them an extra hour is not going to make much of a difference. Knowing that they have that extra hour in the morning, they may choose to stay up later at night, thus not getting any extra sleep after all. Also, dismissing the middle and high schools at such late times will definitely interfere with after- school jobs, sport team practices (outside of school), and study groups/homework . It's not perfect, but I strongly believe that the current system works. I ha ve had two children go through high school on this schedule and they survived ju st fine. I also have a rising 7th grader and, although it will take some gettin g used to, he will survive, also.

11:13 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Reverse the school timings for elementary and high school that is start late for high schools and start early for elementary schools.

11:23 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Weekday sports meets are too long. My son gets back to school at 10pm on Wednes day nights for Spring Track meets and he is not allowed to go home early from a meet.

11:23 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

21 years of working with middle schoolers clearly tells me that later start times would be helpful. Students in other school systems that have later times all love it. It would be an adjustment but one well worth it.

11:27 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

9:00 WOULD BE A REASONABLE START TIME. IT WOULD ALSO LEAVE LESS TIME AFTER SCHOOL THAT THEY WOULD BE UNSUPERVISED.

11:29 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Starting high school later would be the best change FCPS has made since we've lived here (14 years). These kids are under so much stress in high school and sleep is the best resource we can give them to enable them to cope.

06:53 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I support starting high school at least 1 hour later. My daughter usually feels physically ill when she gets up at the time she now has to for school - and she pushes it to the limit because I am able to drive her. She would have to get u p 1/2 hour earlier to take the bus. It still is too early.

06:56 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

It would be such a blessing for high school students to get a good night's sleep during the week!

06:57 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Do not want elementary school to start any later than 9, preferably between 8:30 and 9.

07:02 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

While I appreciate the fact that teenagers need more sleep, I'm not sure later s chedules will do the trick. After my kids get home from school, I allow them to "chill" for about an hour before they start homework. They do homework until d inner time and then continue after, if necessary. More often than not, the high schooler must do homework after dinner as well, since he takes IB and AP course s. If he gets home later, he'll stay up later doing homework or studying. Don't forget they must watch LOST and American Idol, or whatever, as well!! I understand the rationale, but I'm not convinced this idea will achieve all the remarkable results proponents seem to believe. This new schedule will also have an imp act on activities after school and cut further into the "family dinner hour", if there is such a thing anymore. Now his sports practice will "run into" dinner even more and we will eat later and get to bed later. My older child is the one who gets up all by himself to his own alarm and has never had a problem. My younger...another story. Even if the bell schedule is later, I'll still have to pr y him out of bed. The truth of the matter: he doesn't like school and doens't want to go--for fishing, he's up bright and early!! LOL

07:13 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

all for teens getting to start later, but financially you could kill some families if those kids aren't available to provide childcare after school for younger siblings.

07:13 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think the later school start times is a good idea. My son would love to sleep later because he does not go to sleep before 12 at night.

07:18 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

High schools should not start past 8:30, in order not to affect those who need t o work.

07:32 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My HS child has tutoring activities and other clubs after school. Just doesn't do sports.

07:32 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

THis is like most things a time management issue. If school started later and got out later, kids would stay up later, has anything really been accomplished??? ?

07:32 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

We definitely need to change the starting time for the high schools. Research sh ows that teenagers need more sleep in the morning, how can we expect them to per form at their best when some have to get up at 6am in order to ride the bus and start school at 7:20. This changwe should have taken place a long time ago, my oldest who just graduated this year had a very hard time getting up so early eve ry morning. On top of it her high school basketball games ended very late causin g her to go to bed very late and then had to get up so early the next morning. P lease institute this change this year so that our children can get the needed re st thier body requires.

07:35 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

NOT JUST SPORTS. MY YOUNGEST IS ON DANCE TEAM ELDEST WAS IN THEATRE. STOP LIMITING THESE COMMENTS TO SPORTS.

07:47 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I firmly believe that High School / Middle School (For Robinson it is the same s chool) should start later. Having my child up before 6AM School Days just does n ot work for her. I don't have to get up that early for work. I will only be gett ing up to get her on the bus by 630AM.

07:52 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Again, the school board needs to remember that it's not the 1950s and moms and d ads both work full time. We do a split shift now to accomodate the school start and end times so that one parent is with the kids at both ends. It runs us all ragged.

07:53 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

We moved here last year from Ohio, where the start time was 8:35 and I have noticed a dramatic change in both our girls behavior towards getting up and ready for school with a good attitude. Prior to this year I have never had to literally intensively work to get them out of bed. They consistently have completed 3-4 hours of homework, an after school activity and then personal hygiene routine for the evening because the early start time in the morning requires showers to be t he night before. We require they are in bed by 9:30 because of such an early start time. I feel strongly that it becomes a vicious cycle and they get no time to just relax. The later start time would allow for them to still go to bed at 9:30, get an extra hour of sleep and actually perform their personal hygiene routine in the morning and allowing a little relaxing time with their family in the evening. I am thrilled to know that Fairfax schools are considering this change. Studies show that our teenagers are the most sleep deprived group in the U.S. I know in our household this would be a welcome change. Thank you.

07:54 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

have hear many, many times kids say they slept through their first class because they were so tired

07:54 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

It's hard to answer the questions without knowing how it would affect our particular schools. Too late a start time at the elementary schools make it difficult for those of us who have to work. My daughter is already on the wait list for SACC next year. Moving start times later would make that more of a necessity.

07:57 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

This is a welcome and much needeed change. It not only applies to their health b ut also safety. We have 2 girls and before the clocks change they are standing a t the bus stop in the dark. There are children that are walking in the dark.The change in schedule would aid in safety.

08:00 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

It has been a struggle to get our children to go to sleep at a decent hour & wak e up early to eat breakfast before the bus arrives, we have resorted to allowing our son to drive to school & buying breakfast at school. PLEASE CHANGE THE STA RT TIME FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

08:03 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

After years of 5:30 wake-ups, this will come as a welcome relief to both our kid s and us.

08:06 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Leave the school schedules alone. Two of my children survived the current schedu le and their grades were excellent. They both worked after school and enjoyed be ing able to get enough hours in to work and do their tremendous amounts of homew ork that FCPS teachers give on a daily basis.

08:08 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Later start times would align my high schoolers sleep patterns with start times. More sleep would improve his attention span and concentration.

08:10 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think having the older kids start later and end later, not only is better phys ically, etc but also keeps the kids in school later when they typically get into trouble and parents are not home.

08:13 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

For single parents, meshing school start and finish times with work schedules is tough. Earlier start times mean we can get out of the house and off to work, b ut the afternoon is a problem.

08:16 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Both my HS student and I like the schedule the way it is. Neither of us want it changed. He is involved in activities outside of school and is happy to get home early enough to finish homework before attending the activites and when he is s till able to focus on academics. He has ADHD and has learned that it is easier f or him to get the assignments done right after school. (He was in 3 Pre-IB class es this year, plus geometry and ended up with a 3.7 GPA). When he doesn't have a n evening activity scheduled he likes being able to get homework done early enou gh to just relax in the evening. I'm a single, working parent and knowing that h e is awake and at school (because I drop him off on my way to work) is good. Mos t of the families we know have kids involved in activites and all do not want to change the school's schedule. Doing so will interfere with extracurricular acti vities.

08:28 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

With my last child being a senior for 08-09 this is too late for us but I do bel ieve that high-schoolers need to start later. I also think it would benefit ele mentary school kids to have some one on one time with parents before the older k ids get home and need parents to drive them places etc. With many families eati ng dinner later these days, I don't think it would be too much of a problem for high-schoolers to finish extra-curriculars at 6:00 if they got later starts in t he afternoon. I know my now college junior never was ready to start homework un til 8:00 PM and was often up until midnight doing homework junior and senior yea rs at Robinson.

08:30 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I would whole-heartedly support a later start time for secondary students. Leav ing for the bus at 6 AM is not safe.

08:34 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I would welcome the change and chance for my children to get more sleep on schoo l nights!

08:37 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Please don't change the current bell schedule. These are the times I went to sc hool many years ago and I did just fine. Kids (and their parents) just need to learn to adjust their sleep times accordingly in order to function during the da y. Let's stop indulging and pampering our children and continue to prepare them for the real world!!

08:37 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think starting later would enable students to focus better as they would have gotten enough sleep. Sufficient sleep also promotes physical and mental health. There are also safety hazards particularly for parents who work with students going out in the dark to stand at a bus stop.

08:42 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Appreciate the effort to explore this topic; would strongly prefer later start t ime; most jobs do not start this early!

08:46 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Without adding any new buses, the existing resources could be adjusted to make a ll of this much more beneficial to the student. The high school kids NEED more sleep. Pick them up last.

08:48 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My concerns with later start times mostly have to do with the impact they would have on after school music ensembles (high school). My daughter participates in several, and they are a important part of her high school experience. I would not be in favor of changing start times if it they would adversely impact these programs.

08:53 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Although it is too late to have the school start times changed for my family, I support later starting times for Jr. High and High School students on behalf of all of the families who will be facing the current schedule. It is very unhealt hy for our teenagers to start school as early as the current schedule. It needs to be changed!!

09:07 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

serious changes need to be made to both the bell schedules and the grading syste m.

09:12 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

YOur survey layout is not clear - questions and answers overlap on the computer screen. I am not sure if I clicked on the correct corresponding circle for seve ral of my answers. Also, question #11 above - I assume that the answers means, for example, 4 hours total per week, and not 4 hours total per day????

09:14 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

In addition to having children of my own, I have worked/subbed in many standard and sped classrooms at several schools in all grades PK-12 in FCPS. I feel have pretty much experienced all the different start times from the family, teacher, and student POV. Unfortunately there is no one perfect situation for all, but I am sure I have seen what promotes the best learning situation and is therefore c ompatible with an objective of best for student academic achievement. Shifting c urrent schedules back so no one starts earlier than about 8:00 with elementary s chools latest and high schools earliest makes sense. Also, I honestly believe th at shortening the school day by up to a half hour - e.g. five minutes at six transitions - could be done if necessary without cutting out critical learning and "down time".

09:15 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

DO NOT CHANGE THE SCHOOL SCHEDULE. THE STUDENTS NEED THE AFTERNOON FOR ACTIVITIES

09:17 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I worry how these high school students will cope with real jobs and schedules af ter they graduate. They are still teenagers and the work force or military are n ot going to accomodate their sleep preferences. Also this is the time parents should be controlling sleep time. I believe it is easier to blame a "Natural" sleep cycle than to train your children to eat and sleep healthy. I was a product of a 7:15 start time and I believe I am better for it. I would think it would be a big burden on families that depend on a teenager for after school care. it also would limit the time businesses in the area would be able to count on these you ng adults for their business. Teenagers would never be able to have jobs a day c are centers ect. A bad Idea over all.

09:20 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Based on the sports activities that my children participate in, the current sche dule allows them to get home and complete their homework prior to sports so that they do not have to do it when they get home. Many of their practices end around 7:30-8:00 PM and that doing homewokr after that would keep them up later. A later start time would not make this better.

09:25 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

HS sports schedules really drain students....I think these practices and even the number of days per week need to be reduced

09:28 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Current high school start times are too early - our son must use a 6:23 AM bus t o get to Robinson on time. Due to that early time, as well as a long wait at Robinson, our older son drives directly to TJ rather than using the bus to Robinson followed by the bus to TJ.

09:28 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Let's start the school year earlier to give our kids a better chance at the SOLS and IB exams like other jurisdictions. The focus on learning by the kids and teachers for the most part is nil after Memorial Day and has been for years! We need to overrule the Kings Dominion law and there is still enough time in the summer for family vacations.

09:31 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Concern is the elementary start times at 9:30 would be difficult on working pare nts. Those who do not just leave their child at a bus stop would have to readjust their work schedule to accomdate a 8:45 bus pickup. This could cause more headache for parents.

09:33 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My son is so tired when he comes home from school that he takes a nap. Sometime s he doesn't wake up until very late which affects homework and his ability to g et back to sleep before the vicious cycle begins again. His sleeping patterns a re erratic. He is zombie like and can be irritable. Falls asleep in class. I o nce was the chaperon on a middle school trip to see a play. As the lights dimme d I looked around and nearly everyone was asleep. It was a great play at the Sm ithsonian. Too bad they were all so tired.

09:42 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Having had two other children who graduated from Robinson and moved on to colleg e, the start times are too early. Getting up sometimes before 6 am can be very r ough for teenagers. Their internal clocks want to be up later in the evening and sleep longer in the morning.

09:44 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Thank you for leading this effort. Certainly it will be harder for my son to ge t up on time as he ages.

09:50 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I have been an advocate of later start times, especially for teens. My children have large amounts of homework. Between homework, sports and church activities, it is impossible for them to get the 9 hours of sleep they need and also have DO WN TIME. I feel it would be MUCH better for them to start later and end later. B oth of my children are "A" students, but the farther they get in school, the mor e difficult it will be to maintain that on the amount of sleep they are able to get. I have to have them tardy for school several times a year, just so they can "catch up" every once in awhile on their sleep. I would rather not have to do t hat. Thank you so much for your concern. I pray that this goes through!

09:57 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My daughter's high school team only practice 2 hours, but it didn't start until 4 pm so she often "hung out" at school until practice started. Would be nice if all high school practices started earlier.

09:59 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I would make for more students awake for first period, and decrease the number w ho actually miss the first period all together many days.

09:59 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

It would really mess up our family's schedule because by the time my student get s off of school and sports it's already 7 or later. BY the time she starts her h omework and takes a shower, the night is already over and she hasn't even starte d her homework. It's even worse because she's an IB student. Plus if students do sports all year round they would never have enough time and will go to bed late . True they would get up later with this new "plan" but if we didn't have the "p lan" this wouldn't happen. My opinion is to change the time schedule on the elem entary schools or middle school, but I defiantly think high schoolers can handle getting up in the morning. It's their fault they go to bed so late doing other things and it's teaching them how to wake up early. After high school, high scho ol students must get up early for their job or for college so mind as well learn now.

10:00 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My family are early risers the 7:20 start time is fine for us for the HS, as a w orking mom, earlier start times for elem would help me get to work on time

10:04 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My son is supposed to be bussed to Robinson but has to be at the stop at 6:25 an d then he is bussed to TJ. Since he can't get up in time to make the bus I have to drive him to Robinson and he is so tired that is is quite a rush I then go on to my elementary school which my contract hours begin at 8:15. I am buying him a car so he can drive himself next year.

10:06 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I find the bus ride too long for the distance covered. We live about 1.5 miles from Robinson. The school bus comes at 6:45, which seems too early for a 7:20 b ell. I would suggest using more, smaller, buses so that the routes weren't so l ong. The EZ bus which shuttles back and forth to the Burke Centre VRE station i s an example. The second thing is, I finally just got out from under the regime of having my 8th (and then 9th) grader starting school at 7:20 and my 5th (and then 6th) grader starting at 8:50 (we parents have to leave for work at around 7 :00). This was a huge and expensive problem for our family, necessitating the u se of SACC, etc. since I did not feel comfortable leaving my fifth/sixth grader home alone to get himself to school in the mornings, nor on Monday afternoons wh en school let out early. The prospect of having both children going to school a t the same time is very welcome. 7:20 is a bit early, but it would be a lot mor e viable if there weren't such a lead time for transportation. I really, really , do not want to return to a situation where the children start school at differ ent times.

10:07 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

My biggest concern is making sure that a later HS start time won't result in lat er after-school activities that will then affect our evenings, e.g., later dinne rs, getting home from sports events at even later hours than we do now. There i s still homework to be done, and many parents will still have to get up early fo r work.

10:11 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I have noticed that as both my children reached puberty, their sleep habits chan ged. My high school child is a very good student, she regularly falls asleep in her morning classes. She is a self motivated student that doesn't allow anythi ng to get in the way of getting good grades. My son will be attending middle sc hool next year, with a start time of 7:20. Although he is also a good student, I think that the lack of sleep will greatly affect his performance in school. H e is not as motivated and I know lack of sleep will possibly derail his concentr ation. I am truly worried about next year!

10:21 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

For some parents it may be better to have there child arrive home closer to the times both working parents arrive home (i.e., later) so the child has less time unsupervised.

10:22 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I really think you should just keep the current schedule. Any benefit teenagers may gain from being able to sleep in a small bit of extra time would be offset by them having to stay up later to get work done since they would have less time after school to complete assignments before heading out to evening commitments (sports, community service, music/art, etc). Kids shouldn't have to stay up pas t 11 at night getting homework done.

10:28 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

The start times for high school should remain the same to accommodate sports and other extra curricular activities. A later start time of 1 1/2 hours for highsc hoolers would negatively impact sports because there would not be enough hours a t the end of the day for practices/games and homework, so these same children wo uld have to get up 1 1/2 hours earlier the following morning to finish homework and/or study. And, as this specifically relates to Robinson and other Secondary Schools, a 9:30 - 4:30 school day for Middle Schoolers would require two sets o f buses.

10:47 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think there is substantive medical and behavioral evidence to indicate that te enager sleep patterns and sleep requirements are quite different from pre-teens and adults. I think they need more sleep because of their growth responses in 15 -17 age groups. But their energy levels don't wane until later in the evenings, 11pm - 12am, so that they can actually fall asleep. Before moving closer to the school (we're in walking distance now), my teenagers had to get up at 5:30am to get ready for bus pick-ups at 6:15am. One reason I moved closer to the school w as to make it possible for them to get an extra 1:15 of sleep! On the other hand , I fully appreciate that this is a complex logistical issue for the schools, bu s resrources, and traffic management and city/county planners. Given the many le gitimate competing interests, I appreciate the difficulty of this debate. But I think it's important and worth the thoughtful effort that the PTA, county and st ate officials are putting into the debate. As a parent, this a welcome conversat ion. Thanks!

11:05 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think this is not only a great idea for the teens but also for families. When the children are more on their natural schedules to perform and succeed there is less conflict and they are more able to excell at their activities.

11:06 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I hope you implement changes to the schedule sooner rather than later. All stud ies indicate that teenagers need the sleep. It is unfortunate that this ever go t broken. I have problems waking up at 6:00 each morning. It is heinous that s ome of these kids are on a bus at 6:00, menaing some are up at 5:00.

11:08 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

It's absolutely ridiculous to have 12-18 year olds in class before most adults a re even at work! My son's middle school academics was great except for his first class in the morning, where he (and all the students around him were exhausted! ) Since I believe school start times should be based on the student's needs and academic learning, I really don't think that after school recreation or jobs sho uld have much say on when the school day should start. After all, school is mean t for learning and for preparing our kids for a lifetime of achievement. Nothing should get in the way of that goal!

11:33 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I hope you allow the high/middle schoolers to get the sleep they need as growing children. Thank you for all you do!

11:36 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

my child is so exhausted everyday we limit family time and dinner time at night to accommodate homework and sleep scheduling. I hate it and have considered pri vate school so the schedule is better suited for our family.

11:51 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I support a later start time for HS students. When my kids were little I needed to drop them off at daycare anyway, with this scedule I would only need after sc hool daycare with this schedule rather than before and after school care. When m y kids were little they were up much earlier in the morning now it is a constant struggle to get them as teenagers. I am more of a nag than a parent in the morn ings. The teenagers are grouchy and family dynamics in the morning are very bad .

09:25 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I strongly believe the 7:20am start time is too early for students, knowing that most need to get up on or before 6am due to bus schedules. They are simply not awake enough and are not getting enough sleep.

09:59 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

younger children (elem.) get up earlier by nature -- older students require more sleep as scientifically proven and threfore, with early start times, they are n ot functioning to the best of their ability and result in lost information provi ded in the 1st-3rd periods.

10:24 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

A later start time (later than 7:20) -- by any amount of time, would be better t han than the current time. I'd welcome any improvement, even if it's small.

10:29 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

My kids will go to Robinson, so different start times would be negative. Ending middleschool at 4:00 is unrealistic if they expect to participate in CCD, sport s or any other activities after school (and still get their homework done). If, however, middleschool had the same start time as highschool (8-ish), I think it would make it easier on my kids. In general, I think that the ideal would be t o have having everyone start at 8:00, but I know this is logistically/fiscally i mpossible. I think adolescents are typically nightowls and allowing them one ex tra hour in the morning would not necessarily mean they'd fall asleep each night any earlier.

12:02 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

My son's GPA would be alot higher and his relationship with teachers would be im proved if he was not sleep deprived.

12:05 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE change the hours. The students at Robinson have to get up way too early and it is affecting their/our lives considerably. I am extremely in favor of later start times for high school students!!!!!!!!!!!!

12:39 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

We think it would be extremely prudent to move the high school start time to as late as possible.

12:45 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

Between homework and the teenager biological clock, they were both exhausted by May.

12:46 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

my younger children were up early and have less demanding schedules, my teenager s (we are on the last of 5 kids) had a horrible time with the Robinson start tim es for school and activity schedules.

12:48 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

In the winter months it is too cold and dark between 6:00 and 7:30 in the mornin g for elementary children to walk to school or wait for a bus. Middle and High school students should go to school earlier than elementary school kids. ur situation the Robinson Secondary School students go to school about 2 hours earlier than the Bonnie Brae Elementary students. I would like to see the Robi nson students go to school 1/2 hour later. Example: Robinson bus pickup at 7:1 0 with school starting at 7:40 and Bonnie Brae pickup at 8:30 and school startin g at 9:00.

12:58 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

Don't want school to start later because after-school activities will keep stude nts in school till the night.

01:30 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

For students at all levels, there has to be a balance between appropriate school start times and the logistics of a household's morning. An 8:45 bus for school may be a problem, in a household where both parents must leave for work before 8:45. High schoolers being unsupervised in the morning has a different set of p roblems, but is equally concerning to me.

01:33 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I have one child in college, one that will be a sophmore and a 3 year old. I kn ow that from 3 - 11(ish) children naturally wake up early so it makes sense for them to start their day early, while they are fresh. On the other hand, teenage rs - 20 (so far) need much more sleep and tend to stay up later and sleep earlie r. It would be better for teens (middle and highschool) to start later and stay later. Honestly, at this age...they don't need to be home too long after schoo l before parents get home but they are too old for any sort of sitter while the younger kids can have daycare if needed. Make the change ASAP. I am certain, y ou would see better school grades across middle to highschool!

01:46 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think a later high school start time would hurt after-school sports practices and those who work after school. I think parents are not enforcing bedtimes so that students are staying up late by choice. I think there is too much homework given that takes up too much time so that students cannot get to bed at a decen t hour.

01:57 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

The current middle school schedule/ start and finish times already work very wel l. Our kid gets enough sleep, and finishing school earlier in the day allows eno ugh after scholl daylight time to do other useful activities and games.

02:06 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

The current bell schedule is antiquated! It went into affect back in 1979 ... I remember it all to well as I was going into 9th grade at the time. Students en d up waiting for the bus in the dark on most days and it is simply too early for them. My daughter feels she has to be in bed by 7:00 am to wake up on time!

02:22 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I'm happy you're thinking about this. We think this may alleviate many problems that are currently faced both at home and in the classroom. Hope it is voted i n and can take effect right away :)

02:27 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I wholly support later start times for our students so that they may get the ade quate amount of sleep. Living in one of the richest counties around, it is asto nishing that the reason we go against the scientific evidence about teenagers an d sleep is because we have to "share" buses???? That is ludicrous. we certainl y must be able to afford the buses needed for the schools that start so early - perhaps only those schools should be considered for change.

02:33 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

However we have to juggle the other grade levels, I'm in favor of moving HS star t times later. or both before- and after-school care. If the start times were moved earlier, I would only have to deal with after-school care, I could take my child to the bus stop myself. I'm in favor of that, as I would rather my child spend one solid a mount of time with their caregiver, rather than two; it saves a lot of hassle al l the way around. lanted against this proposal. Otherwise, I would have expected more questions ab out before and after school care regardless of whether that care was SACC or not or with a HS student or not. I would also have expected some more variance in t he answers to whether it was hard for my child to get up for school, because of course naturally there are some days when my child is hard to wake up, others th at they aren't. The pharasing of the question and answer push parents to an abso lute answer, and you're going to get faulty feedback from that. [You could have done a 5-point answer (Mostly Yes, Sometimes Yes, Either/or, Sometimes No and Mo stly No) type of thing.]

02:36 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

My high schooler plays ice hockey which practices at Dale City ice rink which en tails drive time and practice time. Times and games(Friday nights) were fine th is year for the winter season, with occasional spring games too late - start at 9:40.

02:41 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

My high school children think, and other teens in high school do not want the sc hedule to be delayed to a later time because it would mean getting out of school later and sports running later into the evening.

02:41 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

Later start times for middle school and high school are essential to the health and well being of our teens! They would greatly appreciate and additional hour of sleep in the morning!! Thank you for keeping this at the forefront of the Bo ard's attention.

02:59 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

As parents, we need to make sure our kids are getting enough sleep. If we chang e school opening time, kids will go to bed later.

03:28 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I answered No Opinion on questions 1 and 2, part II because my opinion is not in the choices. I believe school start times are good, what is too early is the bu s pickup times. My daughter gets up no later than 6, that is not too early, but some kid have to be at the bus stop before 6am. My worry is that school will sta rt and end later, and kids art not going to get up early to complete homework, t hey will only be going to bed later, and later. If school gets out at 4 or later , by the time the kids get home and take some time to unwind is dinner time, wha t about other activities, sports, family time, play and be a kid. They will have to go straight to homework until whenever late night.

03:36 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I love the idea of changing the times to later starts. My high school son cares for my middle schooler after school, so hope my reply to question regarding afte r school care wasn't misleading since referred to elementary school age children . Also, my high schooler does not work during school year, so hope that wasn't m isleading either. Thank you very much for this survey!!!!

03:57 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I'm very much in favor of delaying start times for MS and HS students. My midd le school student is an "early riser" by nature but finds it quite difficult to get up at 5:45 am after doing homework until 10 pm. Also, she mentioned that so metimes she almost fell asleep or dozed off in her first two classes of the day because she was so tired. Thank you for everyones' efforts to have these start times changed.

04:08 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

There is no evidence that later start times improve high school students perform ance. I think FCPS should make sound decisions based on evidence.

04:29 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

It would be great if we could change the start time for middle and high school. Kids that age need so much more sleep than they are able to get with such early start times.

04:36 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

With a later start and shorter sports weekday practices; the new schedule would work fine in that sports or homework or outside work or outside activities can b e accomplished.

05:11 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

High school students need to have later school start times because they have mor e responsibilities, they work and they have more home work. It is important for them to have enough sleep.

05:36 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I am very concerned that the later start time will impact our younger children. I agree that our teens need more sleep. I wish we would increase the budget to allow more buses to run. Sleep is too important for our children's health.

05:50 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

People in this area are too driven, and that affects their children. They need more sleep time, more family time, and more relaxation time.

05:54 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

Yes, the teenagers are starting too early. I helped raise my 16 year old neigbo r. She is frequently sick, and suffers other effects of sleep deprivation. The re's a lot of unhappiness due to lack of sleep. However, my Kindergartner could not start much earlier than he already does (8:55) without major disruption to his/our life. Please don't fix one problem by creating another. nsider the heavy price families pay to give Fairfax's teachers their half day on Monday. My Kindergartner barely had time to play after school (Tu - Fri) befor e getting into the dinner-bedtime routine. My son attends school 27 hours 50 m inutes a week. IF he could just do that in 5 EQUAL days of 5 hours 50 minutes, we would have nearly an extra hour of family time the majority of the week. Wit h this school district's heavy reliance on homework assignments, the extra time at home would make a big, positive difference in a child's life. PLEASE put the teachers on a normal schedule and give families their time back!!!! The teacher s get paid to do their jobs, so why do famlilies have to sacrifice their time to make teachers' jobs easier to do? If the teachers are underpaid, then fix that and stop making our children's lives so tough in order to give teachers a perk.

06:16 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

I think teenagers need more sleep. My Son, 13, has been going to bed later and s leeping a lot later then I've ever seen in his elementary years! He gets up and is always on time for school, with good academic grades. But, he seems so much m ore relaxed on weekends and now, in the Summer PARTLY BECAUSE HE CAN SLEEP LATER IN THE MORNING. THAT EXTRA EDGE OF MORE SLEEP GIVES HIM MORE ENERGY ALL DAY. I SUPPORT ANY LATER SCHEDULE THEN THE CURRENT ONE!!

06:09 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Our children go to school at 9:05 and because school ends at 3:55 PM, they are f rustrated because after they get home there is very little play time after homew ork. I would much prefer an earlier start time for Bull Run Elementary to sync h them up to their friends.

07:40 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

I prefer the current schedule because my son does not get up early and I would l ike to kkep the school schedule the same.

08:15 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

My son was attended full-day K at Bull Run ES last school. I could not believe that my child would not get off the bus until 4:10pm. I found it absolutely rid iculous to have a 5 year old with such a schedule that would not allow for any d own time in the afternoon. In order for children to function properly, they nee d to get to bed at the appropriate time. My children are typically asleep by 7: 30 - 7:45 every night. Getting off the school bus at 4:10-4:15 leaves him with no time to rest/play or partake in after school activities. Another ES in our i mmediate area lets out at 3:05. Another has children home by 3:15. I cannot be lieve that my son gets home a full 1 hour later (and we live 4 miles away). Som ething needs to be done. If it means hiring more bus drivers, then do it......

08:56 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Please consider the impact on the teachers who are also parents in the county. As a high school teacher I am able to have my spouse get my children off to scho ol in the morning (while I have already started teaching) and then I can be at t he bus when they get off in the afternoon. If the schedule is changed then we w ill not be able to do this. As a high school teacher I also know that some stud ents will stay up all night--a later start time will give them the excuse to do exactly that.

09:36 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Thank you for looking at changing the high school start times! I completely sup port this change.

11:21 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

It's a nice thought to change things. Unfortunately, this should have been done decades ago. Now, schedules are too hard to change. No way should you mess up sports practice schedules to accomodate a change in school start time. We had to get up early, and our kids have to get up early. No big deal and they are al ready used to it. It seems to me that if anyone has to get up early, the older kids should do it instead of the little ones. My HS senior daughter says she pr efers getting out of school at 2:00pm in exchange for getting up early. The pro posed HS ending times are too late.

08:44 AM Sunday, June 22, 2008

I am not in favor of later start times for the high school because of the impact it would have on jobs and athletics. I feel that the result would be that stud ents would just stay up later and get up later. I don't believe it would truly alter their health or habits. I also worry that many high school activities (sp orts practices, clubs, etc.) would shift to early morning hours making these act ivities unaccessible to those who cannot get an early morning ride to school. I think later start times would compromise many programs that the schools have wo rked very hard to implement. The high school schedules imitate "real world" sch edules and this is what schools should be trying to prepare students for...the r eal world. Don't change it!

01:19 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

I am happy that Fafirfac County is finally looking ay making these changes. I h ope it won't take 5 years to implement the changes.

07:47 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

Should it affect programs at High school or middle school, start times should no t be changed.

07:50 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

This is a great initiative and long overdue. We all know the sleep habits and r equirements for our beloved teenagers -- send them to school later!

08:39 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

High school students would be less likely to get into trouble right after school if the start time was later. They aren't going to get out of bed earlier to ge t into trouble. Anything you can do to shorten the window of time when school e nds and when parents come home from work would help to keep high school students out of trouble. SACC can accomodate elementary school students after school, s o an earlier dismissal for them would make more sense.

03:43 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

In my opinion, 8-8:30 start times are reasonable for both elementary and middle/ high school students. If they cannot be on the same schedule, I would rather se e the elementary begin earlier, and the middle/high school start later to accomm odate natural sleep patterns.

01:07 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I understand the idea however, I grew up in FCPS and I/we turned out just fine. Why are these changes being made? It's like fixing something that is NOT broke . I think this change will bring lots of problems for families that depend on o lder children to watch younger children. This change will have a domino effect and start effecting parents work hours. Intermediate and High School children a re preparing for the real world and in the real world it is early to rise, for m ost people who work regular 8 hour days.

01:58 PM Saturday, June 14, 2008

I really like love the idea of the changes in the school times a lways teenegers love to sleep more and I love that they can start school late and finihs late so parents can comeback almost at the sam e time so they are not alone at home for 3 to 4 hours you know the y have to be supervised more or like elementary kids. I really like and suport this wonderfull idea.

04:11 PM Saturday, June 14, 2008

students starting school this early are barely functioning , winter is also a sa fety concern

07:19 AM Sunday, June 15, 2008

The stated purpose of the change "as giving students more time to sleep" makes n o sense to me. There are still 24 hours in a day no matter what. I travel for my work and I write this from 5 time zones away. If parents want more sleep for Their kids, they need to help get the kids to bed earlier. Adminstrative conce rns like efficient use of buses and other resources are much more important. I prefer early start times in general so I don't have to engage am daycare and so my kids could finish their day earlier.

09:02 AM Sunday, June 15, 2008

Although the proposal above would not affect our current high school student too much, many other students have after-school jobs and/or extra-curricular activi ties that might be negatively impacted. The later start/end time may limit thei r options. Again, while not a problem for our family currently, there was a tim e when we relied on our eldest (now away at college) to be home for our youngest when she was in elementary school.

10:35 AM Sunday, June 15, 2008

I am so happy you are asking these questions! The students have recognized them selves that the school start times are reversed - as youngsters, they rose early (and easily) while as teenagers, they are more nocturnal and have a really hard time getting up in the morning. I hope a concensus can be met.

11:01 AM Sunday, June 15, 2008

Obviously the problem is not enough bus drivers. Seems like that is the area th at needs improvement

03:40 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

I think since the middle and high school students are still teenagers they shoul d start a little later then the elementary schools.

05:05 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

Change the start time for high school kids to the latest possible time. I have to drag my kids out of bed in the a.m. 5:30 a.m. is an unreasonable time for hig h school kids to get up!!

08:04 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

This issue has been coming up for many years now, and most studies on teenage be haviour indicate that most teenagers would benefit from having a later start to the school day than is currently the practice in Fairfax county.

08:07 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

A later start for high school would be fantastic. The students would benefit gr eatly.

09:24 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

Teens seem to have difficulty getting up and would like to start later but that causes problems with after school activities. I think an 8AM start time would sa tisfy a later sleep and still allow some daylight for after school practices

09:42 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

High school does need to start later...they go to bed later(homework) y could start earlier...no homework and they are able to go to bed earlier(less homework)

11:48 PM Sunday, June 15, 2008

With moe and more students taking AP classes in H.S. they are up late completei ng reading or assignments. Then they are up early the next morning. They need more sleep time to do their best work. They shouldn't have to suffer because of the bus driver shortage.

04:30 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

My son is usually so tired in the morning I have been told by teachers that he f requently naps in class. Although he is in bed by ten a later start time would d efinitely help this situation. One weekends he oversleeps to try to catch up.

05:33 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

I like the time my child gets home from school. I would rather them go to school earlier and get home earlier than start late and end at 4:30

05:59 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

What a mess. Good luck. Buy more buses and have everyone start at the same tim e!!! That would be best for our family. This only is going to affect us a litt le because our youngest will be in middle school after this year and they go to Robinson, so middle and high school is on the same schedule. I feel for familie s who have young children and need their older kids to care for the little ones. But that won't really affect us, as I said. I think the best solution would b e to buy more buses and keep everyone on the same schedule. This is very hard o n working families. I also know you are all trying to do your best, so again, g ood luck.

08:39 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Late school start times will help student many ways. They will get more sleep; t herefore, they are more awake and learn better. Winter time will not be too dark .

09:39 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I would gladly welcome a change in school schedule. A later start to school may drastically improve students' performance in school.

09:44 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Some of the schools start so early that students are very hungry by late morning , and are having lunch at ridiculous times like 10am. The amount of homework an d the early school times sometimes cause students to have absolutely no free tim e. This is ridiculous.

10:03 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Anytime students are falling asleep during class and behind the wheel of a car c oming home from practices, they are being driven too hard with not enough sleep. I support this measure.

10:28 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

High school sports need two hours per day of practice time. adjusted bus schedules-shorter routes so shorter times. No one should be at a b us stop earlier than 6:45 a.m. 3:30.

10:58 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

If times are changed so that students get out later, I definatly think there nee ds to be a 2hour limit on after school practices, remembering that there is hour s of homework ahead. Family dinners are very important too. Also, would there still be a block of time after school, before sports practices, to meet with tea chers or get exra help? It is very important to have that time. Here is an exa mple as to why later start times might be better. My son just finished 8th grad e, He had math 1st period and had trouble concentrating and staying awake, even though he was asleep by 10:00pm. He had to always get extra help, and then he d id fine. I'm sure many teachers can say they have had a few students fall aslee p in 1st period. I really see the need for sports practices to be limited to 2h ours for this time change to work. Other wise, family time and school work will be jepordized, and afterall, they are what's most important. thank you for con sidering all family comments. Good Luck!

07:53 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

I do not support the possibility of changing the bell schedule! Getting out at 4:00pm or later for middle or high school students is way too late for many reas ons. I think you will find that the students who don't want to get up now will be the same students who don't want to get up at a later time (even if it is noo n!). This change won't take place for a while so your idea of only questioning p arents of high school people on the impact does not let parents of future high s choolers fully participate in the impact it will have on them in the future if t hey anticipate their needs at that time. I think you have spent enough time and $$ on this for a few number of families fighting for it at the expense of the ma jority of families/students who do not want the change. Students may need their sleep but changing the start time will not make those students more discipfont-weight: normal; lined about getting up and going to bed when they need to. I do not support this deci sion and was at the Fairfax County PTA when they voted to support it. They did not give the whole story and railroaded it through as if everyone was in support of this. MANY ARE NOT!!!! And the time and talent spent on this needs to be r edirected to more important issues.

08:32 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

In addition to allowing high school students to start school later in the mornin g, I feel that school-sponsored sports game should start and end earlier. For ex ample, for varsity sports players whose games don't end until 9pm or later don't get home and to bed until late--even later if there is homework to be done. Gam es end times, Monday-Thursday, should be limited to 8pm. Thus, games would start earlier (e.g., 4/5pm instead of 6/7pm). This would also help with high school s tudents getting enough sleep.

09:11 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

My oldest daughter (in college) had a very hard time in high school. We had to drive her because she could never get up to ride the bus. She was always tired and napped when she got home. We couldn't break this cycle - we tried to get he r to go to bed earlier, but she seemed to get most of her energy around 8-11. I t was a trying four years!! My son is a little better - he doesn't want to miss the bus because his friends all ride it and he falls asleep easily around 9:30- 10:30, but he is VERY tired when he comes home and will nap for an hour. I knew four years ago that our family would have disrupted sleep for seven years as we tried to get our two kids through high school!!!!

09:36 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

This is my thrid child I have found that the child goes to bed earlier to get th e required sleep. All three of my kids went to bed earlier in high school than 8th grade. If his start time is later he will just go to bed later and his afte r school activities- not just sports but drama, band and clubs would suffer. If his sports practice must start right after school-get gets dark and not all of the highschool practice field have lights he will not be able to stay after for extra help or to make up work. We must get the extra 45 minutes at the end of t he school day when the student athletes can stay after for help or other club me eting before their practice times. The option of reducing high school sports wou ld reduce the motive many kids have for staying in school and keeping up thier g rades.

10:15 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

The scientific evidence for teenagers' sleep needs is clear. Part of that knowl edge is the usefulness of later waking times in the morning. I believe it is ti me for the High Schools to "wake up" to the facts.

10:38 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

I strongly believe that middle & high school students need to get the proper amo unt of sleep to succeed in school and for safety reasons, especially when they a re old enough to drive. The roads in Northern VA are very congested and driving to Oakton H.S. can be very dangerous at 6:30 am when the children's reflexes an d decision making are not as keen due to sleep deprivation. If elementary schoo l have earlier start times this coincides with their biological time clocks plus their schools tend to be closer to their homes than the high school location. We should work with middle & high school student's biological clock to optimize their success and safety.

11:01 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

Elementary School should be the earliest to start in the morning, then Middle Sc hool, and High School should be last!

11:16 AM Monday, June 16, 2008

A later start time means kids will finish sports practice later, homework later & get to bed even later. There is a piece of learning to manage their time & us e the early afterschool time to start right in on homework so they can get to be d earlier. Don't have high school start later!!!

12:24 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

I believe that moving high school and middle school start times later will not i ncrease the number of hours sleep these children get. Families will naturally g ravitate to an even later bedtime in order to fit activites, dinner and homework in. It would be very difficult for me to maintain the correct number of sleep hours for my younger children if they had to get up earlier than they currently do (7:15). It would be very difficult to manage the afternoon and evening and g et them in bed at 7:00 or 7:30 instead of 8:00.

12:25 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

I support later start times for adolescents as they function much better, and la ter times coincide with their changing sleep behavior/body clocks.

02:43 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

I definitely support starting both Middle and High school start times later than the current start times.

03:39 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE STEPS TO HAVE A MANDATORY PRACTICE TIME ALLOWED FOR ALL SPORTS. THE FOOTBALL COACH AT OUR HIGH SCHOOL DOESN'T COMPLY WI TH THE THREE HOUR MINIMUM AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.....IT IS HARD FOR KIDS TO AC COMPLISH THEIR HOMEWORK

04:10 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

No matter what, high school times are WAY too early - this won't affect my kids for a while, but it's obviously wrong.

06:11 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

If high school start times are pushed back 2 hours, sports teams and others will be forced to have morning activities, so what has this accomplished? Will they provide transportation to bring students to 6am band practice? The money to im plement these changes would be better spent on other things in the schools. Stu dents need to just find a way to go to bed and get to school. I think this "stu dy" was a huge waste of money and resources. Most students would love to start school later, but when you tell them they'll get out at 3:15 or 4, they would pr efer to just keep it the way it is. This would also have a huge impact on traff ic in the area when buses are traveling during more rush hour time periods. In addition, the extra cost of gas, bus drivers, etc. makes this a bad idea. I hop e you pass along alternate views because it seems as if people who disagree with this proposal are pushed aside and silenced. I know about the research about t he teenage body clock, but I don't think it's enough to make these inconvenient and costly changes.

06:18 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

All 3 of our children struggled to function in the early morning during high sch ool.

06:26 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

The kids need more time to sleep! Studies show marked improvement in attitude an d academic performance when school start times are later. They also have time t o eat a breakfast, which further improves behavior. With sports and homework, i t is very difficult for the kids to get to bed at a reasonable time.

07:30 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

The current schedule seems so removed from high schoolers natural sleep rhythms that I find it a constant struggle to see that she gets awake on time to catch b us. And she is miserable each morning.

11:52 PM Monday, June 16, 2008

I completely agree with starting Middle and High School times later. All the tee nagers I know need more sleep in the morning and are apt to be up late studying. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

12:29 AM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

the high schools and middle schools start too early in morning. students do not have enough time to sleep and to eat breakfast. I would urge the school board t o change the school start time to later time.

11:59 AM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Our school days are too long, in general. School should not get out after 3:45 - 4:00 in the afternoon and should not start until 8:00 am.

12:30 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I would like to see high schools start later than they now start. I also think it is good for middle schoolers to go in later - they need the rest and they nee d the time at school later in the afternoon.

12:38 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I would WELCOME a change to the school start and end times, not only as a parent , but as a psychologist who works with many children and teens (many of whom are sleep-deprived!).

01:58 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Age 12 and up is essential growth period for adolescents and this is being compr omised by lack of sleep due to early start times.

02:20 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The high schoolers often must stay up later to complete homework or study. Gett ing up at 5:30 does NOT help them achieve good grades.

02:42 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

My oldest child is definitely sleep deprived throughout the school year and is u sually fatigued by mid week. My second child will be starting high school next fall and it will be a challenge just getting him up and moving before 6 a.m. and ready to face a full day of learning. Later start times would be beneficial to both students.

08:59 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I think anything for HS and MS before 8a is too early, and before 9a for ES is a lso too early in general, I think all school times should be later

06:59 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

In Northern Virginia children of all ages are involved in too many activities at one time. My elementary school age children enjoy playing outside and we like the fact that they arrive at home by 3:30pm at the latest, especially in the win ter months. It is important for parents to help their children, whether teens o r younger, make wise decisions by not overextending themselves and planning down time in addition to consistent bed time routines.

08:41 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I have been giving my son sleep medication for the past 2 years to help him fall asleep early enough to be able to get up at 6am. 6am is a ridiculous time to b e waking up kids. It's just crazy and barbaric in my opinion. The Federal gove rnment doesn't even start that early. I think it's abusive and disgraceful and a change is long overdue.

09:24 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

If High School start times were later than they are currently, I feel you will c reate a new breed of laziness in our students. Right now, if the students want to be successful in their studies and afterschool activities, they have to learn to organize their time. They must get up early for school which in turn gives them day light time in the afternoons to participate in their afterschool activi ties. Obviously then, they must plan to come home and study before going to bed at a decent time. Allowing an already lazy teenager to become even more lazier will only promote bad habits. It would encourage them to stay up even later tha n they already do because they would know that they can "sleep in" the next morn ing. Would we rather our kids to be up and out of the house in the am or in the pm. I think less temptations for trouble would happen in the am and more tempt ations for trouble would occur in the pm. Students need approx 8 hours of sleep at night. If these kids are not already ensuring that they get that sleep, cha nging the time of day they get up will not change the amount of sleep they are g etting. It would only push back their bedtime. Please leave the highschool sta rt time as is for the continued betterment of our community.

09:41 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

My high school child and his friends are so sleepy during their morning classes that very little learning is going on. By the end of the week they can bearly g et out of bed and catch the bus. It is also so dangerous for our children to be walking to the bus stop in the pitch black each morning. On Wednesdays this pa st year, Oakton had an delayed start by 1 hour; it made such a huge difference i n my childs ability to get up for school and his mood for the entire day. I thi nk he was actually awake for first period.

09:47 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

My high school age son is exhausted most days. He falls asleep when he gets home from school, then gets frustrated that he's missed the time to study while no o ne is at home. When I lived in MD, my daughter's high school started at 9:30 an d went to 4:30. It was perfectly attuned to the needs of the students. With all the stress that our kids have in high school for AP, Honors classes and the dema nds outside of school, I believe that later bell times are a necessity so studen ts can get the rest they need to cope with the demands they face in today's comp etitive world.

11:00 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

In addtion to students getting more sleep, it would also help with rush hour tra ffic.

11:43 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Having to be out for the bus before 6:45am is a difficult for a high school stud ent. Most students we know are not up late "playing on the computer or goofing o ff" late at night they are either doing large amounts of homework (2-3 hours) or just can't fall asleep as early they use to. Even very dilligent students have a hard time staying awake in their first period classes or by mid afternoon they are so exhuated they fall asleep then. Our elementary school has an 8:10 start time which was fine Elementary schools should start about that time.

02:41 PM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

My high schooler has great difficulty getting up in the morning. This is compou nded during sports season when she is often not home from practice until 9pm or games until 10:15pm, then has homework. Even on non-sports nights, she gets a s econd wind at night and cannot fall asleep. She is an academic athlete but is a lways so tired in mornings. Something has to give. We are driving our children into the ground with severe lack of sleep and high expectations. (Also, with t he bus coming at 6:30am, in winter, it is pitch black and unsafe for teenage gir ls to be waiting alone for a bus.) All year long, we drive her as many days as we can so that she can sleep an extra 30 minutes, then eat a bagel in the car fo r breakfast. These are not habits I like promoting. We scramble to find sleep where she can get it.

08:58 PM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

With my daughter being in elementary school, the current bus schedule pickup at 8:20 has worked out well with us but I am not opposed if bus came slightly early but not at 7:00 since she is just getting up and needs her sleep. I don't objec t if the bus came around 7:30 so a little earlier than 8:20 would be fine with u s.

10:40 PM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

FCPS schedules have for years accommodated its motor vehicle resources, NOT the human children it purports to serve. SHAME ON YOU, FCPS! It is time you change .

10:44 PM Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The early high school time has been a hardship on our family. My husband wake u p early for our high schooler, causing us both to be tired in the mornings. The younger children don't see their brother at all before school, which I do not l ike. affected by the loss of sleep caused by the early school starting time. In midd le school, he was able to get himself up in the mornings, shower and have time f or breakfast before his 7:30 bus. In high school, having to get up an hour earl ier, he is tired and can't seem to get himself going. He frequently misses the bus.

07:04 AM Thursday, June 19, 2008

Perhaps more money for more buses would improve the negative impact very early a nd very late bus pick-ups have on our children. And why not green buses?!?

09:25 AM Thursday, June 19, 2008

Having both a high schooler and an elementary school student I can personally se e that a later start time for high school would be beneficial. My elementary stu dent is up early anyway and goes to be earlier.

10:29 AM Thursday, June 19, 2008

High School children who play any sport and who take honors/AP courses as well, under the current existing schedule, can not get more than 5-6 hours of sleep a night and that is unacceptable. By the end of the week, my son was irritable, d epressed, and exhausted. High School students, above all, need to have a later start to their school day.

08:48 PM Thursday, June 19, 2008

I think the day should start later and the sports should be held in check. They are allowed to override the academics and the coaches are given carte blanche n o matter how immature they (the coaches) may be. They claim academics are first , but schedules and complete and total lack of flexibility prove otherwise.

11:58 PM Thursday, June 19, 2008

I really agree school should start later. I'v raised 3 teens and I remember mys elf as a teen and they require more sleep but in Fairfax County, they get LESS. It's unrealistic to expect teens to have to go to bed before the rest of the ad ults so they should be on a schedule that matches MOST adults. Better for the t eens, the family, grades, for everyone. I've had early morning meetings with al ot of teachers and I have to say, they are having trouble too.

06:40 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

Don't forget to consider the impact on life outside the school sphere. Consider the activities(businesses) that provide dance, martial arts, gymnastics, etc. Al so to be considered are afterschool programs such as clubs, tutoring programs, m usic lessons, and impact on family life.

07:52 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

We should take into consideration time change in the fall. I don't like my child waiting for the bus in the a.m. in the dark.

08:59 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I do NOT want the bell schedule to change because it would mean that my son woul d have to be home alone in the morning to get himself out to school. If some ch ildren are tired in the morning they should not be driving--there are buses for them to ride. This time change would be terrible for my son. If school ends la ter everything else he does will just be done later and that includes going to b ed. No matter what time school starts children will still be falling asleep in first period--it will not make any difference. My son does not want to start sc hool later. His practice will be later his homework will be later and his bed w ill be later. It will not make any difference for all the trouble it will cause . When I was in school we started earlier than Robinson does now. My sons have a bed time of 10pm they must be in their rooms quiet and resting before they go to sleep. Look at their diets and stimulation level for trouble sleeping. My s ons have no trouble going to sleep. This idea that teenagers somehow are physic ally precluded from sleeping before a certain time is not the case in my home, n or was it for myself and my siblings.

09:42 AM Friday, June 20, 2008

I am glad that you are entertaining this option. I think it is most critical for high school students who are working toward developing a resume to submit to co lleges so outside of school time can be very important. Their academic school da y hours should be done by 3pm at the latest for the best opportunity for success in other areas.

02:57 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

Changing the school start times will require changes and adjustments to EVERYONE 's schedule, including teachers, bus drivers, students, parents, sports and club activities ,and community groups. We are all in this together!! We can make th e change if we all pitch in and adjust as necessary. Your high school students will thank you and so will anyone dealing with high school students!! I have al ready seen a negative change in my 13 year old as she adjusts to a 6:20 a.m. wak ing time for the 7:05 school bus. It's not pretty!

08:35 PM Friday, June 20, 2008

If more buses are needed to allow High Schools to start later then that should b e a priority for FCPS budgets.

09:19 AM Saturday, June 21, 2008

My child will start HS September 2008, and in my job I have witnessed a number o f HS students falling asleep in class. By the end of the day they are exhausted. With AP classes, homework, after school activities, students do not get enough sleep. If they catch the bus at 6:00, they need to get up around 5:00, some ea rlier. All students require more sleep for their well being.

09:48 AM Saturday, June 21, 2008

My daughter is an honor roll student and serious about her classes. She does re port that students have fallen asleep in the early morning classes. Other scho ol systems in the US have changed to later start times and have shown improvemen t across the board in test scores for high school students.

10:05 AM Saturday, June 21, 2008

I support this effort because studies have proven this helps teens and other sho ols have shown improvements in grades it is too late for my kids but it will hel p those coming after them!

10:46 AM Saturday, June 21, 2008

I believe the current schedule is good, it could be shifted by an hour or hour a nd a half with little trouble. Not everyone will be happy with whatever schedul e is picked. There are too many deverse interests, committments and schedules.

11:42 AM Saturday, June 21, 2008

The school system management needs to think of external factors it may affect w/ these changes, such as traffic, parental work schedules, etc. While I understan d the concern of the biological impact to each child due to the early rising, it should be a parental responsibility to instill in their offspring the disciplin e to go to bed early enough to get a good night's sleep. The advantage of being rested is well studied and recorded. Do you really think it will improve the sch ool system to accomodate deficient parenting??

12:05 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Later start times would make it harder for high school students to complete thei r homework.

01:18 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

We were blessed with the option of afternoon kindergarten, which worked out wond erfully for our family. Now that kindergarten is all-day, I cannot imagine gett ing my 5 yr old up so early.

01:23 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Strongly in favor of moving High School start times back...the kids are like zom bies in the morning, never getting anywhere near the amount of sleep they need. My son has a 3.6 GPA but his lowest grade was for his first period class ( which he loved)...he was never able to be fully alert at that hour. Additionally, spo rt schedules add to the kids late arrival home at night, and leave little extra time for studying. It is common for the kids to be doing homework at 11pm, which is too late and, in my opinion, drastically affects their focus.

01:30 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

our children have sport activities and home work which they have to finish befor e they go to sleep and that is usually late, as result they get up with difficul ty the following day and not wanting to attend school making this even harder fo r everyone. so this new change would be great.

02:15 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

I like the later start times because I don't like the idea of middle school kids of either sex, but especially girls, standing in the dark waiting for the bus

03:01 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

I appreciate everyone looking into the matter eventhough for the first couple of years it is implemented, people are going to be angry.

03:52 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Concerns about later HS start: increased traffic at rush hour for both student d rivers and buses. HS buses cover a wider area. ES buses have smaller areas to cover. ork. If a student has problems getting up early to go to school, this students is not going to get up earlier to complete work or study. arlier regularly, they will have an easier time getting up. Unfortunately, most of them (honestly) admit that they stay up late doing non-school activities (TV , internet, texting, games)

04:05 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Quite honestly, I & my kids would rather have a high school start-time at 9:00, and get out around 4:00. Even though we try to support earlier bedtimes so they get more sleep, their natural sleep cycles and amount of homework prohibit gett ing to sleep earlier. Then weekends are spent trying to "catch up". Over the s ummer, they naturally get up, are alert and are ready for the day around 9:00. So not only would a later start time promote more sleep, and less health issues, but they would also be getting more out their educational time at school--remem bering what they learned, rather than just trying to stay awake the first half o f the school day! Sounds like a winning combination to us!!

04:36 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

Great idea to let teens in high school sleep later...other counties across the c ountry do it.

06:29 PM Saturday, June 21, 2008

If the school start and end times were to change to later times, then my child w ould not get some of the private therapy that she needs (and that the school doe s not provide) unless she was excused from school to get it. She would also hav e to take additional medications at school - she has some that she needs to take between 3:30pm and 4:00pm every day. One of these medications has to be refrig erated. I do not trust the school to give these medications to her on a regular basis.

02:46 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

It would be difficult for my child to participate in the activities that she cur rently does with a later school bell starting time.

03:09 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

it is OK It teaches character and discipfont-weight: normal; line. DO not change the time for highsc hool. have time to do homwork and projects. If the shcool day time changes, then we w ill have miserable time in the evening with homework and the kids will hve to st ay late to finish their work. We are happy with the hours set now. Thank you.

03:56 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

The two different elementary start time possibilities seem too drastically diffe rent. The later time could make it hard for students to get home so late, do hom ework and afterschool activities. Homework loads for all kids should be conside red in this time issue too. It's also a huge part of why teens don't get enough sleep- they're overwhelmed.

04:31 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

walking to the bus at 6:00 am in the dark on hilly va roads with no sidewalks, n o shoulders and open stormwater gutters seems dangerous. Getting home at 2:45 p m leaves lots of opportunity to get into trouble in the afternoon.

06:07 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

We are coming from Montana schools where bell times are 7:55 a.m. for High Schoo l (6:55 a.m. for Early Morning classes), and they get out at 3:05 p.m. This wor ks well. Middle School classes start at 8:25 a.m. and go to 3:25 p.m. Elementa ry schools are 8:10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Why such an early start to Fairfax County school systems?

09:11 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

believe strongly the HS start too early around here. Many students are asleep i n the first period.

09:20 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

My children swim after school. From previous experience in another school distr ict, the later starts do not help. Actually, it was more difficult. He would go to school, get home at 4:30, practice at 5:30pm-7:30pm, get home at 8pm, eat. He would be so tired, he would not finish home work and have to get up in the mo rning to finish homework before school, so the later start did nothing. He was in middle school. We found the earlier start here preferable for our lifestyle.

10:21 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

I strongly support your proposed new schedule. As a parent of a rising middle s choolers I like the idea of the later end tiem, as it cuts down on the time afte r school before we return from work. And the later high school start makes grea t sense.

11:55 PM Sunday, June 22, 2008

Lack of busses and traffic congestion are main obstacles. More high schools in greater proximity would be the ideal solution. However, later start times would be beneficial: my first child went to TJHSST and we live in Reston--she had to get up at 5:20am to start school at 8:30, and did not get home until 5pm. This was too long a day, and she paid for it psychologically by now being on medicati on. She did not get enough sleep because of too much homework and then the long commute. Also, keeping kids in school longer during the day keeps the teens ou t of trouble and more focused on getting school work done.

07:55 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

The times have been an issue for many years. This is my last of 4 children and it is time to take action and stop "thinking" about it.

08:35 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

High School starts way too early. High school should start the very last. Stud ents who drive will not have to deal with rush hour traffic as well as get much needed sleep.

09:24 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

My child practices several times a week with the marching band in the fall and t akes challenging courses that require hours of homework every night.

09:30 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

My concern is that if high school starts later that would just mean more time fo r high school coaches to load the kids up on practice. My son played high schoo l baseball and the coach would sometimes have practice from 5:30am to 7:00am and then again after school from 3:00 - 6:00. It is rediculous. My son was a walk ing zombie during baseball season. Fairx County should limit the time allowed d uring the week for sports practices.

09:53 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

Parents need to stop pampering their children. My kids go to bed early so they c an get up early.

10:45 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

It is against all research to expect high school students to wake up early and h ave them function at their best. I have been driving my child to school for year s just so they can have an extra hour to sleep in the morning.

11:00 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

7:20 is just too early for my children. My son grduated last year and it was a struggle to get him up every day. The sme is true of my daughter. I was unable to choice Woodson High School from your list. Woodson is my child's school.

11:17 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

finally it is unreasonable to expect children to go to sleep early enough for th ese bus schedules especially with all the home work they receive

11:33 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

We have four children. One just graduated from WPHS. The school times have nev er corresponded to their natural waking/sleeping rhythms. We have young childre n up early and biding their time to catch the bus and older kids who are up late (naturally) that are getting not nearly enough sleep and are up so early that t hey don't eat breakfast (which they always have before and still do on non-schoo l days. It is insane. Meanwhile, the high school students are out early--perfec t time for them to get into mischief! Your survey only allowed for three childr en. I chose the two middle schoolers and the elementary student.

11:43 AM Monday, June 23, 2008

By the time my child gets his homework done at night after spending time at scho ol for extracurricular activities, it is usually 11 pm. Seven hours is not enou gh sleep for a teenager.

12:09 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

Frost kids are particularly penalized because the county insists on having them ride the same buses as high school students, thereby making their day start even earlier than usual. My daughter in particular is first on the bus in the morni ng, and last off in the afternoon -- is that fair? Meaning that although we liv e only a 5 or 10 minute drive to school, she spends 50 minutes on the bus each d ay, and arrives at school at a little after 7 a.m. for a 7:20 start time. That is too early!

12:34 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

High schools & middle schools currently start way too early -- it's counterprodu ctive. My daughter goes to bed as early as is feasible for our family but still struggles to stay awake in school and after. Often, she falls asleep after comin g home and it is very hard to wake her. These early start times are ridiculously early -- and with kids waiting on corners for buses before dawn (while still da rk) also present safety issues.

12:52 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

in the case of Robinson children are picked up very early and come home early. I would prefer a later start, so children, specially in winter would be able to c atch the bus later. 6:15 am for the bus is very early. And I like the idea for t hem coming a little bit later home. That way they dont stay by themselves for t oo long. So I welcome the change. if possible.

01:35 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

Our child plays in the band. A later start time would drive band practice later and cut into needed time to study in the afternoon/evening. Strongly support e fforts to keep start time as is.

01:45 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

We place high academic demands on our children and are raising them in a highly competetive environment, but we expect them to run on fumes with optimal effects .

03:05 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

A start time slightly later than 7:20 for HS students and slightly later than MS student times may work if surveyed again.

03:41 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

The current high school start times are too early. High school kids are often to o tired to focus in the morning.

04:24 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

ight I am afraid that it would be later and sports have been very good for them.

04:36 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

In San Antonio, where the high school starts at 9am, students are staying up unt il an average of 3am. They are chatting onfont-weight: normal; line, talking on their cell phones or sneaking out of the house after there parents go to sleep. No one's work time is changing so parents will be asleep way before there teens are asleep. Curren tly teens get in trouble most often from the time they get home from school unti l the time parents get home from work. If the school start time changes I belie ve that teens will be in more serious trouble between 11pm and 2 am because no p arent will be calling to check on them while the parent is sleeping.

04:51 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

Sometimes it seems like my son is barely hanging on. He is just so tired and we are all so glad when the weekend comes. I STRONGLY endorse later start times f or high school.

05:52 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

My child has been seeing a sleep specialist physician this year because of the d ifficulty of getting enough sleep due to the very early start time of high schoo l. The doctor's opinion (and I strongly agree) is that a later start time for h igh school students is necessary for high school students to be able to get enou gh sleep and to be able to succeed at academics.

06:33 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

High School starts way too early - Teenagers need a lot more sleep - the stress of doing well in school, staying up late to study and then getting up at 5:15am is eatly benefit my daughter. I wish they had considered this when my other 3 were going through Robinson.

08:31 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

For #7- didn't answer because our opinion is that for elementary school 8am is t oo early and 9:30am is too late for start times. Getting home at 4:30 is ridicul ously late for little kids to do homework and possibly an activity once a week a fter school.

08:40 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

I am very much in support of the SLEEP INITIATIVE for middle school and especial ly high school students. Later starts times not only will help students achiev e better grades academically but it also means less idle time in the afternoon. For those parents that work this could be a big improvement as we all know what kind of trouble teens can get into but they are too old for a babysitter even t hough they need one.

09:24 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

I believe a later time will impact sports and extracurricular activies after sch ool. I believe that is school starts later, the kids will just go to bed later. If they are discipfont-weight: normal; lined enough to get enough sleep now, the later time won't m atter. Besides, if they have to stay at school longer, then they will be up lat er to finish homework, have dinner, etc.

09:30 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

if HS gets out later, and student plays a sch. sport, then homework will go late r into the night and sleep time will be later at night to complete homework. Ei ther way,we are back to the same amount of sleep. Later starts and later end fo r HS will create huge problems for sports activities in the winte months when da ylight is shorter. Too many obese kids now and schools are cutting many PE acti vities, the kids need to sports. This is also a great time for character buildin g. Again, if you change the times, kids will go to be later and you are right b ack to the same issues. Keep things the way they are.

09:31 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

I really don't like the idea of having middle and high school age children wait in the dark in the winter at bus stops. Most teenage crime and unsafe activity occurs after school between 25-pm. Later start time for middle and high school students will encourage more sleep and less unwanted diversions, as the children will get home later. I know I don't have any citations for my comments but I h ave read the statistics many times.

09:36 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

I heartily support later middle school start times, even if the high schools are not changed. A little more discipfont-weight: normal; line on the part of the high schoolers will h elp them function better in school, no matter what the scientists say, but middl e schoolers often find the earlier start times along with all the other changes of moving from elementary school to middle school just too much to handle. We d rive our middle son to school because the adjustment from an 8:30 bus pickup to a 6:25 bus pickup was to much to do all at once. I do believe that he is now re ady for the earlier time as he heads to high school in the fall.

09:54 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

A later start time I think would be helpful to our child's academic performance. He simply struggles to be awake for exams at 7:20 AM. His comment is that if this change could be made by this fall, it would be simply amazing. A dream com e true.

10:19 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

The current start time at Robinson is unhealthy for all concerned, not only my c hild, but myself as well. It is virtually impossible to get a normal amount of sleep, and I think this could effect the long term health of the students.

10:29 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

I am very concerned about what later start times would do for kids who play spor ts. Due to the fact that very few fields in NO Va have lights we must get a lot of teams on limited fields between 4pm and 6:30pm. If everyone from elementary s choolers to high school is starting school later we would all be competing for p ractices in the same time slots. Also many high school athletes go from high sch ool practices to club team practices. This would be a problem with a later start time. I like the fact that my child has time to come home from school and do ho mework before practice.

10:32 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

School should start later in the morning since high school kids especially these days have loads of school work to do and end up staying late; they still have t o get up early in the morning to make to to school on time.

11:51 PM Monday, June 23, 2008

The high school start times are ridiculously early, especially in relation to ho w much homework is required of students. My children's physical and emotional he alth have suffered because of sleep deprivation.

01:35 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

High School Start Times: 8:00 am - 2:15 pm - 3:00 pm

09:08 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Loudoun County has later school start times and it has been very successful. My recent graduate always performed worse in his early morning class. My daughter s truggles with the huge shift in time change from elementary to secondary. As a f ormer teacher in Loudoun County, I highly support the change.

09:15 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Please do not make the school day start later. My kids would end up at school s o late for their sports and we would have no family time. If they changed their sleep schedule to get up later, they would stay up so late and be left alone mo re as we, the parents, go to bed earlier.

09:27 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Although we would welcome a later start time for HS, we're not sure how activiti es like sports and marching band would find the time to practice. Practice time s for plays, sports and marching band already run into the dinner hour now.....

10:06 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

My daughter has to catch the bus at 6:25 am! The start time for middle and high schools needs to change!!! Please follow through on this.

11:01 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

It's hard to predict full impact, but I'm sure a later start time for high schoo l students would be good. It's hard to get up in the dark in the winter.

11:13 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I would prefer a late start for my son at high school. He currently operates on 4-5 hours of sleep.

12:05 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

5:20 is MUCH too early for the bus pick-up for high school students!!!! uld be easier for our family to have older kids leave after the younger ones in the morning. The young ones get up early anyway and teenagers are exhausted all the time!!

12:22 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I think the PTAs are thinking in the right direction. Starting school later for middle and high school children will give them extra sleep. I think this is very important for a growing child! It will enable them to concentrate better in the class and sports. I'm this will improve their grades too. I strongly recommend starting school at a later time for middle and high schoolers.

12:56 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

change is always hard, some of the impacts will not be known up front but will n eed a chance to be worked out. The research is clear on teenagers sleep time. Also, every time we had a two hour delayed my high school students would say I w ish we could go to school at this time every day. I feel like a real person and I would feel like eating breakfast before I go. They were more awake and happi er.

03:55 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

This study is a waste of money given the budget short fall. High School sports and other activities would be impacted and changing the start time would not nec essarily give high school students more sleep. Activities would then run later and then homework so you would just be pushing back the time. When they get to college you don't have someone telling them they need more sleep. They can lear n to manage their time without a study and without later start times. Younger k ids are usually the ones that have trouble getting up in the morning the older k ids know how to manage their sleep and most make it work. Later start time woul d them subject them to rush hour traffic and other traffic situations that young drivers can avoid bu starting the school day early.

04:55 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Do not want to see major changes to elementary school schedules, nor do I want t o see additional costs due to transportation. The FCPS budget is large enough.

04:59 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Our current child in FCPS will be in Middle School for 2008-2009. Her brothers both attended FCPS High Schools, and we had great difficulty getting them up in the mornings. They were always tired.

05:32 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

This change would greatly benefit our 2 teenagers. They get far less than the n ecessary amount of sleep and try to make up for it on weekends and occasional na ps on weekday afternoons, which further disrupts their natural sleep cycles and has resulted in health problems.

05:43 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I have been saying for years that high schoolers need more sleep. It is amazing to me that they function as well as they do. Elementary school children are ge nerally up and raring to go at the crack of dawn, so let them go to school early .

07:08 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Later start times may adversely effect the High School student who plays sports. This would mean later in the evening practice times and conclusion of sporting events. This might make academic study more difficult on the nights of practic e and sporting events.

01:50 AM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I think you should sswitch the proposed middle & high school schedules. Most tee ns are going through a growth spurt where they need more sleep to grow-- this is in the literature; HS students should go in later.

08:36 AM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

If you started elementary school earlier and high school later it would sync in with the way elementary school children work. They are easier to get up in the morning and more alert. High School kids are harder to get up in the morning an d groggy until 9.

08:49 AM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

HIgh school should start later -- this is a problem that should have been fixed years ago.

10:01 AM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

My daughter is unable to get to sleep at the time that would give her enough sle ep to get up at 6am. She never wakes up refreshed.

11:30 AM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Changing the high school start times would wreck havoc with after school sports and activities and with kids who have parttime jobs. My sense is that this whole push for later high school start times has been driven by a small group of pare nts who are oblivious to the detrimental impact this would have on the things me ntioned above. Do the majority of parents of high school students support later start times? Have these parents ever been asked their opinion up until this mom ent?

03:53 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

My children drive/are driven to high school because they can get an extra hour o f sleep every day compared with taking the bus. This costs our family money, an d puts more kids on the road. s middle and high schoolers are out of the house between 6 and 7 a.m. For the m ajority of families where both parents work, we do not have the flexibility to s tart our workday as early as 6:30, which means there are more hours when the chi ldren do not have a parent at home. Teenagers do not get in trouble at 6:00 in the morning. They would be asleep. However, they are much more apt to get in t rouble at 2:00 in the afternoon. School times should be better aligned with the ir sleep habits, and with family commitments (parent's work schedules)....

04:22 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I know from teachers that my son and daughter often fall asleep in class and I t hink if they sleep in, it would make a difference in their school work

04:29 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

We are new to the USA system but do find 7:20am very early, even 15 minutes late r would make a difference.

04:41 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I think the health benefits for adolescents that get a sufficient amount of slee p outweighs any inconveniences in changing the start time of schools. I support a later start time for high schoolers.

05:02 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Starting school later would be so beneficial for our teenagers;we try to have st rict bedtimes but they can't fall asleep as early as they need to for a good nig ht's sleep. They often complain everyone is sleepy on the bus and in first clas ses and we also have concern about student drivers when they are tired. They wo uld benefit academically and emotionally. Most of the sport practices don't eve n start right after school so we should rather they finish school later, have a better night's sleep instead of finishing school at 2:10 and waiting around for practices to start at 3:30 or 4.

06:07 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

This initiative is long overdue. HS MUST start later; teenagers need more sleep and often have heavy homework and extracurricular obligations.

07:26 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I support earlier elementary school start times and later start times for middle and high schools. In addition to the sleep issue, my child is enrolled in morn ing SACC. If school started earlier (currently it's 9:15), I wouldn't have to u se morning SACC, a cost savings to me.

08:17 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The current middle school and high school start times are much too early. My chi ldren are now in an elementary school with a very late time. When they go to mid dle school, they will have to get up 2-1/2 hours earlier than they now do. This is going to cause a huge disruption in their sleep schedules and productivity.

08:29 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2008

No one will be totally happy, especially if you have more than one child in diff erent levels.

01:33 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Research continues to support the fact that teenagers bodies function durung dif ferent time frames than adults do.They require between 9 and 11 hours of sleep w hich I assume the majority of students aren't recieving.This directly effects th eir ability to focus during class time and complete their assiginments with thei r full cognitive capabilities.

06:42 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I know this is extremely difficult to change the bell schedule but it MUST be do ne. This affects such a huge part of the children's lives, now and in the futur e.

07:10 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I'm thrilled to see that FCPS is considering making changes based on research th at shows that teenagers need more sleep than the current school schedule tends t o allow.

08:00 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I prefer to see the older children start later for 2 reasons. 1. They need the rest. 2. Less time in the afternoon for many who are unsupervised until adult s arrive home from work, thus less time to get into trouble.

08:41 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

From a purely selfish standpoint I would prefer to keep my kids school time of 9 :00. I can run more errands by myself with the later start time since right now my kids are to young to be left home alone. I am also not a morning person so i like the later start time for my younger kids since I'm the one who gets them re ady and off to school. As I wrote- ourely selfish reasons on my part.

08:52 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

The high school start times are extremely early, especially for those catching t he bus.

08:56 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I'm pretty flexible about what we change to but high school starting at 7:20 is insane and needs to change. Anything that lets that start time move back consid erably is very welcome to our family.

09:10 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I'm glad to see the Board is looking at this issue -- it's clear that high schoo l starts far too early in the morning.

09:10 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

The middle school children presently are sent to school much too early. My daugh ter will have an extremely difficult time getting up at 5:45 a.m. (or earlier) t o catch at 6:15 a.m. bus.

05:54 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I have a rising middle school student and would support a later start time for m iddle schools and high schools, even if this means an earlier start for my eleme ntary aged children.

06:46 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Choices are far too much. Unless FACB see the necessary followed by a serious s urvey or expertise's recommenddation for all students' sake, it should be ketp s ame. Getting a child ready for the school with proper amount of sleep is one of big (and enduring) reponsiblity that parent and child has and will benefit from that long time training a child grow up. This sleeping patten and proper sleep ing time also differ from one child to another which parent needs to learn. Reg ardless of time which the school time, getting ready for school will be a somewh at challange and it is a big part of training. FC schools already have encought current problems to deal without trying to meet a certain group of people. Tha nk you for your pasion for our Children.

08:57 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

High school students get home too early and have too much free time before paren ts arrive home. I understand it might be better for seniors, but not lower clas smen.

09:16 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

The current start schedule for High school is too early and affects my students academic performance and health. He routinely performs at a substandard level in his first period class, whatever it is. He is simply not awake enough to absorb the material or perform well on a test.

09:52 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Making the start time later for High School will cut down on the amount of time that students have to work with teachers before sports practices begin. Sports practices only have a finite amount of daylight and making the day later will ad versely impact those activities.

09:44 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I think the current system is working well. When my oldest was still in school, I had one at elementary, middle and high school and the staggered schedules wer e ideal. I have heard of elementary schools that start after 9 am and would hav e found that burdensome, for a working parent and as a conflict with after schoo l sports practices for that age group.

09:52 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I feel the lack of sleep in children today is often a result of numerous extra-c urricular activities resulting in late nights.

09:52 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Please remember that GT students in ES & MS have longer than avg. bus rides maki ng them start the day earlier and get home later. This is a big problem in our household.

10:10 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Isn't it better to have the kids at home in the mornings instead of in the after noons when there's a greater chance for them to get into trouble?

10:26 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Although my oldest is only in elementary school, I would like to see high school start times adjusted to allow as little "unattended" time at home in the aftern oon. I am a working parent and I think allowing high school age children too mu ch time at home after school allows an opportunity to get into trouble.

10:31 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I'm not a big fan of any age group having to get up before 7 a.m. to get ready f or school. I'm not a morning person, and it makes me feel nauseous for the rest of the day if I have to get up early.

10:31 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I was a middle school/high school teacher with FCPS for 13.5 years. Many high s chool students were very tired at 7:20 am and found it difficult to be alert and involved let alone enthusiastic about Algebra 2 topics. The middle schoolers d idn't seem to have as many difficulties. I think it might be due to high school ers' later nights, whether from the privilege of age, work schedules, extra-curr icular activities, or studying. this change.

10:44 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Would strongly support 8am start times for elementary schools. 9am start times and 3:35 release times are too late for elementary schools.

10:52 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Increase the number of buses so each bus only makes one trip and STOP zoning chi ldren outside of their logical school radius of their homes. A student should no t have to wake up at 5:00 am to be bused to a school when they live less than 2 miles from a school (this is ridiculous and a major cause of this time schedule problem).

10:54 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Please allow our High Schoolers to sleep later and start school later. Loudon C ounty does and you should hear the rave reviews from both students and parents. Why must we reinvent the wheel?

11:35 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I understand this is a very difficult problem to reconcile. I do hope that the c ounty takes into account the needs of families of working parents who have eleme ntary school aged children. Kids in elementary school with parents who work outs ide the home need day care. Having elementary schools with late start times (aft er 8:30) creates the need for before school and after school care - very expensi ve. These kids have been up for hours before school starts, sometimes going 5-6 hours between breakfast and lunch. I know how children act when they are hungry, and tired, it can not be good for anyone. The school does a wonderful job of pr oviding breakfast for kids, but we know that often the kids that eat breakfast a t school end up doing it at their desks as they are gathering supplies and prepa ring for their first lesson, and it will never be as balanced and healthy as a b reakfast served in my home.

11:41 AM Thursday, June 26, 2008

During the school year, it seems my two teenagers are tired most of the time. I know, for a fact, that my son, who is now in college, often slept during classe s at school. We all know that the sleep cycle for teenagers is much different t han the elementary age child. I hope FCPS makes this change to later start time s for high schools.

12:33 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

While in theory it sounds good to start school times later for high school stude nts, starting too late gets them home late and could have a negative impact on b eing able to complete homework and projects and be involved in outside activitie s. This could also impact the ability of families to eat a relaxed dinner togeth er (some of us really do that!). It may backfire and cause the student to have t o stay up later to comlete homework which would negate the purpose. This is a to ugh call.

12:38 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Children's ability to properly focus on the material should be the first priorit y.

12:51 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I am very scared when my son has to walk in the dark on unlit streets to get to school. He could get hit by a car or abducted! We MUST change the start time for safety!!!!

01:19 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ideal start times if doable with busses are: Elementary 8:00 - 8:45; High Schoo l 8:20-8:40; Middle School: 8:40-9:00

02:06 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Very surprised about this issue that has just come up, unless it has always been an issue. Recently moved here and we are very surprised about this school syst em. It has a good reputation but I am questioning alot and wouldn't have moved into this area if I know what I know now. Won't bother you with details.

02:22 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I think changing start times, which would change dismissal times, would be very unwelcome by many parents and students.

03:00 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Later is better in my opinion. We have so many working parents which may accoun t for kids staying up later at night to spend time w/ them. At least then they would have extra time to sleep in if one or both parents can work around their c hild's morning schedule.

03:22 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

In general, I would support earlier elementary times and later secondary times. This year, my elementary son did homework in the morning, because he got home l ate and was tired.

04:20 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I think that middle and high school students should start later than elementary students based on studies that have shown older children need more sleep. I kno w of other school systems (Belleville, IL as one) that have switched to sending elementary students first and it seems to be working for a few families that we know.

04:21 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I would appreciate a later schedule to allow my kids to get longer sleep, but no t so late as to impact the amount of time in the afternoon for them to do homewo rk and activities.

04:53 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Extremely tired in the mornings. He is concerned that he is not alert in the fi rst few classes due to fatique. With a later start time of school, I wonder if this will impact on the ability of students in sports to accomplish homework whe n they will be getting home later from school. If practices are limited to a ma ximum of 2 hours, this may solve the concern.

05:02 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I applaud the efforts to make changes related to this issue. Since middle and h igh school students have more challenging curriculum they need more sleep time t han they are currently getting to enable them to perform better. In addition, i t will keep them occupied for more afternoon time so that they do not have as mu ch idle time to get into trouble. Thank you for taking a look at and possibly i mplementing these changes!

05:20 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

High schools start (8:35am),(end 3:15pm), perfect due to sports schedule. Elemen tary schools (start 7:50am),(end 2:30pm), perfect for after school activities.

05:25 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

It would be great to have the time change implemented with the start of the new school year. I believe High School student performance would increase. Most of the times my older student skips breakfast in order to be able to sleep in as m uch as possible - which is NOT a good thing.

07:09 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

see concerns listed in the text box above to get more sleep. My son is completely sleep deprived the entire school year d ue to the early start times for Frost. This impacts academics, family relationsh ips, etc.

07:20 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I would like to see a later start time so that my child has time to wake up and allow time for his body to wake up so that he would want breakfast in the mornin g.

07:37 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Starting school at 7:20am is too early! I love that people are talking about mak ing changes. I know my daughters tell me kids are always falling asleep in their classrooms! It's time to rethink the start time!

08:03 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

100% support this effort. Very pleased that Fairfax County is researching and co nsidering this change that will allow children to obtain the necessary sleep for doing their best each day.

08:37 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

don't change it -- traffic is the main consideration -- if parents can't get the ir children to go to bed on time, they haqve a discipfont-weight: normal; line problem. There is no need to change.

08:47 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

The bus will not stop at a stop sign right across the street from my home in ord er to drop off and pick up my child. This has caused loss of work for my husban d and I because it is unsafe for her to walk four blocks home every day so one o f us must get her from the bus stop. Twice people tried to pick her up when she walked alone. Why can't the bus let her off and pick her up at a stop sign tha t they stop at anyway? The people at the bus department refuse to call you back and they are rude and not at all helpful or understanding. This is a public se rvice and it is a service that needs serious consideration for the safety of all children walking alone when every thinking person knows it is no longer safe fo r a child to do so.

08:52 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

I think that the best way to get healthier and more attentive students is to hav e late start times and early releases.

10:05 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Many student activites start around 7-8 pm and do not end until 9-10 pm. Studen ts have little time to complete their homework, wind down and get enough rest fo r their next day at school if we stick with the current time schedules. We are not asking the times be adjusted to extremes, just 30 minutes later would help.

10:18 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

We strongly support a later start time for the high school and middle school (Ro binson). 0530 is much too early to begin the day for a teenager.

11:25 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Younger children naturally wake up earlier and will perform better earlier in th e day VS older children who need more sleep and can perform better academically if allowed a later school start time!

11:49 PM Thursday, June 26, 2008

Keep school start times the way they are. If you move high school start times e arlier, then my child's cross country practice will be in the morning which will mean she must get up earlier than she does now in order to get to practice and then get home and then shower.

09:45 AM Friday, June 27, 2008

the start time for high school are too late making the end time far too late int o the afternoon. Getting home at 4/4:15 would put a heavy strain on the evening with after school practices/activities/work/downtime and homework, forget about fitting in a family sit down dinner during the week.

10:15 AM Friday, June 27, 2008

I do feel that HS students start too early, however for my elementary school, th e start time of 9:00 works out perfectly for my children. I would support an ea rlier start of say, 8:30, however, I would not feel comfortable with a bus pick up time any earlier than 8am. I would not support a 9:30 start as I think gettin g home at 4:30 is too late in the day.

10:40 AM Friday, June 27, 2008

I have always been concerned about my student taking advanced math and science c lasses at 7:20am. I question whether HS students can really process the concept s of what are being taught when they are not fully awake. I read an article abo ut a low performing school in Baltimore (done by Johns Hopkins and another colle ge). The only thing they did was to change the start time of this school. The results showed a marked improvement in student performance from this single chan ge in schedule. We are missing the point - with all our well guided intentions to improve student performance- if we don't align start times with what we know from sleep studies/research. It seems to me, that this is fundamental if we are truly interested in improving student performance. See my idea/solution above re: rolling start times to accomodate student responsibilities after school.

10:54 AM Friday, June 27, 2008

I would welcome an earlier start time for elementary kids so they have time to p lay outside after school. In the winter it gets dark about 45 after they get ho me. It would be great to have more time for the HS kids to sleep in the AM. B etween school, homework, sports, the only study time is late into the night.

10:54 AM Friday, June 27, 2008

We would rather have earlier start times. We woould rather have the high schoole r finish school before the elementary schooler.

11:16 AM Friday, June 27, 2008

My family is very supportive of starting middle and high school later in the mor ning. I think we are doing a great disservice at the moment to our growing chil dren by forcing them to try to adjust to sleep cycles that are not normal for th eir age group; we are robbing them of sleep that would be beneficial to their he alth and sending them off to school when they are too tired to fully participant in their education. I grew up in a very rural area and my home was so far from my high school that I had to change buses, with a lay-over, on the way to schoo l in the morning and yet I never had to get up before 6:45 am because my school started at 8:30 and ended at 3:15. There was still plenty of time for the sport s teams to practice and I had enough time at home in the afternoon to relax, do homework, etc. I have never understood why Fairfax Co. expects their teenagers to go to school before daylight, almost all the school year, and thinks that qua lity education can be accomplished when students are dragging themselves to scho ol each day.

12:52 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I think it is good to look at. Teenages could use more sleep especially with al l the extra things they have to do in addition to school

01:50 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

If highschool could start at 8:20 vs 7:20, that extra one hour of morning sleep would make a big difference.

02:01 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I think it is unwise to have elementary school children walking to school at ear ly hours. It is unsafe.

02:12 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I do think that middle school and high school students should start later in the morning because they are not getting enough rest but at the same time how will it affect sports practices and games etc for the high schoolers? I think start a nd end times should be created by clusters as to not conflict with families who do have multiple children in multiple schools trying to pick them all up at the same time etc.

02:37 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I think it's ridiculous to change the school times for HS/MS students. When we were their age, we got up at the same time, played sports and had a job/other re sponsibilities. We did just fine. I think we tend to baby our children way too much now a days.

07:01 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I also grew up in this area and remember my schoolmates and I felt it was diffic ult to fall asleep early enough to get enough sleep prior to a very early wake u p call. Morning classes are more difficult to stay awake in.

08:26 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I'm hopeful that these changes can be implemented. It kills me to know that my k ids are only getting around 5 or 6 hours of sleep at night after doing their hom ework. I know that I could NEVER operate on that little sleep and I suspect tha t they are not operating very well either. It catches up with them on Thursdays and Fridays as they often come home from school with splitting headaches and ha ve to sleep before dinner.

09:05 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

The proposed change is good but what about other extracurricular activities, lik e dy using their weekends for other homeworks/projects.

09:55 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

Have you checked into whether expanding SACC at elementary schools would cut dow n on the need for some bus service?

10:27 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

This is our third child to attend Robinson Secondary school. His experience is very similar to that of his older siblings. The transition from elementary scho ol to secondary school was difficult for all of them, most pointedly when they b egan to go through adolescent changes. They were all discipfont-weight: normal; lined, motivated stu dents who physically could not fall asleep at night when their biorhythms and sl eep cycles began to change. They became sick more often, they struggled with co ncentration and organization, and chronic fatigue would often take a toll on the ir mid-year grades. with my students. By mid-year, my first block classes are so exhausted they str uggle to stay awake in the morning. We place a great deal of pressure on our st udents to succeed - test scores, extracurricular activities, GPA. No one can be their best when they are in a constant sleep-deprived state. There is no justi fication for not making the recommended changes to a later high school time.

10:47 PM Friday, June 27, 2008

I appreciate all the hard work being done to better bell schedules on behalf of my high school children. The past 4 years has been a tremendous struggle for my family to get the kids in bed to get a good night's rest and up again in the mor ning to get to school on time. Thank you!!

12:02 AM Saturday, June 28, 2008

We really need to amend the early start times at Secondary and High Schools. Th e children are groggy and unfocused in the morning. It is difficult to get them to eat a good breakfast and they report they are tired through the day. Given the demands placed on them for scholastic progress an early start is a great hin derance. We are also setting them up for bad habits in the future.

12:17 AM Saturday, June 28, 2008

See comments in box above. I'm am completely in favor of school times starting later. Especially for high school students.

05:32 AM Saturday, June 28, 2008

The survey needs reformatting answers and question (writing on screen) overlap 5& 5a 4&4a. Hard to see or chose answers

07:22 AM Saturday, June 28, 2008

I do not like my children getting out of school later than 3:35. This is a very busy area and it is hard the later they get out. I know scheduling is hard wit h each each of the schools as well. I would rather they go earlier and get out earlier. I just think 4:00 and up is too late. I do not have a better opinion to offer.

07:28 AM Saturday, June 28, 2008

I like EVERYTHING about the proposed bell schedule, EXCEPT the start and end tim es for the Middle Schools. I would like to see Middle Schools starting and endi ng around the SAME TIME as the High Schools. The idea of children being dismiss ed from school at 4:30pm is completely unacceptable. A 4pm end time is LATE ENO UGH for our children!

08:49 AM Saturday, June 28, 2008

We are in WSES and start at 9:00, ending at 3:40. I think this is a perfect sch edule. However I understand juggling may need to occur. IN General I think Stu dents at any age should not be starting before 8:00 and there is no need for the m to get out as early as they sometimes do, before 2:30. Would there be a way t o combine Middle and High School students together on the same busses?

02:37 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

I support a later bell schedule for middle and high schoolers. Their bio-rhythm s are not in sync with early start times.

03:04 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

many sleep studies of students show time and again that later start times benefi t the student's learning capabality as demonstrated by increased test scores and decreased time in class spent sleeping. This change seems to be a no-brainer t o me.

03:28 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

My sons both participate in Crew. The proposed new bell schedule would eliminat e any pratice time for the crew team and would make it impossible for my sons to get help from their teachers after school. I am strongly opposed to this plan.

03:36 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

It has been proven that older teenagers (thus high schoolers) need nine and one quarter hours of sleep. Seeing that most teens also do not fall asleep until aro und 11 pm or later due to homework, after school activities, work, sports, etc., high schools should start later than the current time to allow for needed sleep .

04:53 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

Our older children drove, when they got their licenses, to give them more time t o sleep. It also enabled them to get home immediately after practices and rehea rsals.

05:22 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

We are aware the research shows that the biological clocks of teens function bet ter later in the day. However, by disciplining themselves they will find they c an get up early and do what they need to do. Think of all the young people who get up for early practices, live on farms and do chores early in the morning, or go to service academies where they not only have to get up early, but have to f unction physically and mentally all day

07:32 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

I believe that the schedule should be the opposite to what it is now, having ele mentary students entering first, followed by middle and high school students who need more sleep since they partake in more rigorous academic work

08:09 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

Later high school start time would be fantastic! My daughter was on a later sta rt time in Texas, and she definitely did much better in her morning classes ther e.

09:57 PM Saturday, June 28, 2008

THis is a critical issue - start times for high school must shift later to optim ize learning time! The proposed times seem good to me

10:33 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

Students are asked to be out of bed and into school way too early. Science does not support Fairfax County's start times. The later start times are a must.

10:37 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

Long sports practices impact the students' ability to do their upper level class es (AP). Currently my daughter's team practices for 3 hours daily at least, six days a week. That affects her ability to work and to keep up with school work. C oaches would still require the same amount of practice and later starting hours at school would adversely affeect the students' grades because of even less time to do homework.

10:50 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

We moved down here last year from a school district that had start times of 8:00 am high school and 8:20am middle school. I was very upset with the significantly earlier start times in fcps. I think it has a tremendous impact on my kids acad emically and in their athletic endeavours. Kids need sleep and with all the home work they receive, they can't get that sleep unless they stay up late after they get home from their sports practices.

10:50 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

Later start times for High Schools would mean that not only would sports be push ing homework times back, students would be more ready to go to bed later. It wou ldn't change the number of hours of sleep a night. ld practices before school due to the limited hours after school, many students would be forced to not participate at all.

11:20 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

Please make the change to a later start time for these extremely sleep deprived teens!!

11:27 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I welcome the change to a later start for middle & high schoolers for the very r eason you state--the current times run counter to their natural sleep cycles. I bet performance will improve if the changes are instituted. With change comes grumbles--there will never be a schedule that fits every family but don't get di scouraged by any negative comments, and continue to focus on the needs of childr en. Thank you for your hard work and efforts!

11:43 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

we moved here from Florida School started at 0900 and got out at 4:30pm. It was wondeful, the boys were well rested and still participated in after school spor ts and other activities. I think later start times would be in the best inerest s of the students and that's what school should be about the student not what is convenient for working parents. Let's keep the students and the top of the lis t for the pros and cons to this decision. Aren't there numerous surveys and sci entific data to support a later start time? I'm sure I've read about the benenf its of starting later. I know from personal experience that for our famly it wi ll be a wonderful change.

11:49 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

It seems to me that the younger children naturally wake up earlier than older ch ildren, so an earlier start time for elementary school makes sense to me. It als o gives the middle school student more supervised time in the afternoon which I think is a good idea.

11:51 AM Sunday, June 29, 2008

While my kids gripe about getting up for school, they also like getting out earl ier in the afternoon and having more free time in the afternoon. I think most k ids just get used to the hours. I don't see my kids study habits changing for t he better if school starts later. My kids are old enough to know when they need to go to bed earlier if they are tired from extra activities. My two kids are totally different in the study habits. If my son is tired, he goes to bed early , gets up earlier to do his homework. My daughter will stay up later and get up later irregardless of what school work is reguired of her. I don't think chang ing school hours will change their personalities.

12:01 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

My kids both suffer from chronic mononucleousis. They do not function as well i n school as they did when they started at 9 in elementary school. We are all co nstantly sleep deprived and my kids have also gained weight since middle school as between the sleep deprivation and the courseload they have a hard time exerci sing. My son enjoys sports but he can't get enough rest for his body to recover from practice and he comes home so tired he cant do homework so he has to do ho mework all weekend which is no fun for anyone and the kids are too stressed. So meone needs to bring some sanity back into their schedules. Coaches need to acce pt a little less practice time, teachers a little less homework and administrato rs a little more money for busses so these kids can have a healthy life.

01:44 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

In 1973 9th grade students started at 9:30 (in my HS) due to overcrowding. Band was last period so that marching band started w/ upperclassmen.

02:02 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I went to school earlier and played/practiced sports every day (sometimes longer ) than my children do now. I graduated without a problem and managed to go on to college where hours are even more erratic. This movement to change school hours is without merit and based on inconclusive social science. I recommend that the school board focus more on improving the quality of education "during" school h ours rather than disrupting thousands of families with changes to the school hou rs themselves. Attempting to give children more sleep is not the answer to a bet ter education -- a BETTER education is the key to a BETTER education. YOU focus on improving the quality of teaching, and I, as a parent, will worry about how m uch sleep my children DO and DO NOT get!

02:16 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I think having the high school go later would be a big help. These students gen erally stay up later for homework and activities in the evening and the extra sl eep would be very much appreciated!

02:35 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

We've been hoping to go to the later start times - this is the best thing you ca n do - now is the time!

03:10 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

This is a welcome change. Our children formerly attended an elementary school w here the schedule ran from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., starting in kindergarten (yes, full -day K was on that schedule also) and they all did great. Our 6th-grade niece, who lives in California, is on her bus just after 7 a.m., and she handles it jus t fine. It really is the older children who require the additional sleep. I've been reading about the benefits of this type of change for years now, and it fe els like the right step for a school system such as Fairfax County's -- one that tries to do the right thing for its students in so many other ways -- to take f or the benefit of it's childrens' health.

04:18 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

A later high school start time would make a world of difference in how a teenage r can function and get through the day as well as their attitude upon waking.

05:47 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

My daughter is involved in high school softball and during that time she was exh austed every day. It wasn't quite so bad during the off season, but leaving the house at 6:20 in the morning is just too early. Teenagers need their sleep and that's just about impossible when there's homework on top of all that kids are involved in.

06:26 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

Students should learn more time management than change the system to allow get u p later in the day.

08:08 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I think more high school students would also get breakfast before school if star t times were later, which would help them concentrate and have the energy to foc us. In informal surveys of students I've taught, less than one third have breakf ast before school. I wonder whether back injuries from heavy backpacks could als o be reduced if the students had more late bus days available where they could s tudy at school, and leave their books in their locker at the end of the day inst ead of carrying them home. We keep a chiropracter in business, and I blame heav y books in part for this.

08:54 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

implement the change to a later start, our son would have benefited from it at l east our daughter may the next few years.

08:56 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

By starting the high schools later, students will be getting home later and will be getting to bed later by the time all homework and other activities are compl eted for the day. I feel this is simply shifting the problem to another time of day. They will need to adjust to this anyway when they get out in the working w orld, so I think it is better to have the discipfont-weight: normal; line now. Thank you.

09:02 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I drove both of my children to Middle School to allow them an extra 15 minutes i n the morning and to reduce the stress of rushing for the bus.

09:18 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I have checked that I would support this change; however, I think that the child ren would adjust their sleeping and waking hours to fit this later schedule. My son would probably stay up later at night, and sleep later, resulting in the sam e number of hours of sleep. If this is the intent and it is thought by the Task Force to be beneficial, then the change would be OK with me.

09:21 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

The high school schedule definitely needs to be later than the current plan. My son needs more sleep than my younger daughter. He's been growing like crazy. Teenagers need more sleep, not less, and they still have evening events, like co ncerts, volunteering, and family time. He'd have to be in bed by 8:30 with the current school start times, and it almost feels like a punishment to him.

09:28 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

Starting school at a later time would be a much needed improvement - in order fo r my son to get 8 hrs of sleep at night, he needs to BE ASLEEP by 10 pm. Teens bodies just don't slow down that quickly or early - and having to be up at 6 am to be "on task" and "awake" for the start of school at 7:30 is unreasonable.

11:03 PM Sunday, June 29, 2008

I completely understand the logic behind this proposed change, and I think it's true that teenagers could benefit from a later start time. The one thing I would request is that this change not be implemented for the 08-09 school year, but w ait until the next year and advertise it loudly. Education definitely comes firs t, however there is a large proportion of students who participate in extra-curr icular activites and all of those schedules will also need to have ample opportu nity to shift along with school start/end times. As of right now, I know first-h and that many sports teams in our area have already secured and paid for practic e facilities for specific times based on the ages of their players and the schoo l bell schedules that apply.

06:54 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

7:20 is just too early for middle and high school - any improvement would be app reciated.

07:58 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I think really early start times are good for no one....early start times for me hurt the rest of the family as I'd have to wake younger siblings to be with my children at the bus.

08:21 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I have noticed that TJHSST starts later and ends later and have wondered why the y alone get the better hours among FCPS high schools.

08:25 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I would like Middle school start times to bump an hour but not much more than th at. After school activities start too late otherwise.

08:46 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I know this is a difficult subject but fully believe that the high school studen ts would benefit from a later start time. My daughter just graduated and played sports and other activities and it was the weekend time that she caught up on s leep, sometimes sleeping until 1 pm. So much is asked of the kids regarding sch oolwork and time is so precious; it would be advantageous to have high school st art times begin later.

09:37 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I would just like to see the middle and high schoolers not have to be up so incr edibly early. I think it's too much of a shock going from elementary start time s to middle school start times

09:43 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I think the current schedule works best for completing the rigors of middle and high school classes, especially AP classes. Students can receive after school h elp and still participate in after school activities which begin typically after 3:00 at HHS. Study halls are available for athletics due to the early school e nding times, then daily practices are held and children can still spend dinner h ours eating with their families and not have to eat after 8:00 and 9:00 pm (whic h is an obesity issue for late night meals).

10:20 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I am strongly for moving the high school start time to a later time slot. This can only benefit the kids. I know very few teenagers that consider themselves m orning people. I drive my younger son to school every morning. He and almost e very other kid going into the school look like zombies!

10:25 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

The current start time is too early, teenagers need just as much sleep as elemen tary school kids. when you take activities and jobs and add homework. it makes f or a late night.

10:50 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

start times should be progressive with the schools, primary earliest and High sc hool the latest. They can have practices and club meetings before school.

10:51 AM Monday, June 30, 2008

I am an elementary school teacher with FCPS. I am currently working at a school that has an earlier start time than the elementary school that my youngest child attends. It has not been a probl;em for me to pick my child up from school from Tuesdays- Fridays because I can make it to his school by the dismissal time. On the days when I am not able to pick him up, my older child can do so because he r dismissal time gives her plenty of time to get to his school. For our situati on, it works very well. The only problem we have is on Mondays because of early dismissal. Will we be addressing that issue and how will it affect the school s chedule.

12:04 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Thanks so much for finally responding to this matter. Maybe the county should i nvest in a few more school buses in order to better balance all the school sched ules.

01:08 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

little kids: earlier; older kids: later; business; how much money do YOU make?

02:03 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

~ending the school day later would devastate our HS crew teams on the water prac tice times.

02:06 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

If at all possible, I would like to see the start time later for Middle and High school students.

02:16 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I agree with the proposed start times....I think High School SHOULD start later in the day.

02:40 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I grew up with 7:10 bus pick up and school started at 7:30 for High School. We h ad 45 min. classes and 3 or 4 min. to get to next class. This was a way to get y ou up and moving and wake you up.

02:42 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

My high school age child loves the current schedule. She really likes getting o ut around 2:00pm

03:09 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I do not think we need to worry about using High School students as child care. It is not their job to care for their siblings.

03:16 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I am unsure what we will accomplish by setting the times back. When my children enter college they will have 8 am classes and will have to get up very early to allow time to go to the dining hall and then to walk across campus to their cla ss. I asked my children if they would like to start school later and they do no t want to. Now they have time to do homework, before they start after school ac tivities. If you change the time, they will end up getting up early to do homew ork, so nothing will be accomplished.

03:31 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Teens need more sleep, yongesters get up early and go to bed early the currnet s tart times do not match a child sleep pattern.

03:52 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I think teens would like a later start time because they love to stay up late! The dismissal time is very late for a teen if they start later in the morning.

04:01 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

We just feel that these kids get home too late, around 4:15 pm. It leaves very little time for anything else in the afternoon.

05:52 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I have a rising middle school student and would support a later start time for m iddle schools and high schools, even if this means an earlier start for my eleme ntary aged children.

09:58 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

High School should start after elementary and middle school. Older children need more sleep for their bodies to grow.

11:02 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

If school started a couple minutes later, and still got out at 3:00, students wo uld get a couple extra minutes to sleep in, after school practices would still g et out at around 9,and afternoon traffic would not be as bad with the rush hour and school buses.

11:05 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

It is imperative that Middle and High Schools achieve later start times: it is b est for our teenagers as studies have shown.

11:08 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

It is my belief that the early start time at Woodson High School was a major con tributing factor to my daughter's exhaustion and anxiety this past school year. She has a GPA of 3.25 which we know would be higher if she could have gotten mo re sleep and felt less stress when she was unable to fall asleep at an earlier b edtime as she had done in elm school. Now she goes to bed in an attempt to get enough sleep but almost never does. Please change the schedule so our kids can perform to the best of their ability and take advantage of the wonderful school system that we have here in Fairfax County!

11:22 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

The early start times have really affected my children. My oldest daughter who just graduated suffered greatly and missed a lot of school for fatigue reasons.

11:22 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Forget the concerns about sports. They are totally secondary to academics and f amily time. The emphasis on sports is totally out of proportion with their valu e. Why should my teenager be a sleep deprived zombie so that some sports freak can live vicariously through his kid's sports activities?

11:26 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I really believe that teens are almost nocturnal -- I think later start times wo uld lead to better performance and less tardiness

11:32 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Already I am seeing that it is harder for my 12-year-old to fall asleep earlier than 10:00 on school nights, whereas until this year, he would fall asleep betwe en 9:00-9:30. I believe it is a physiological change. It will be difficult to g et up SO early next year.

11:34 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I absolutely support later high school start times. When I was in high school ( 1983-1987), I could never get to sleep before 11:30pm. My bus picked me up at 6: 50a.m. I recall always being very tired but got B grades and played varsity bas ketball. Then, in my senior year, I contracted mononucleosis, which kept me out of school for several weeks and ended my basketball season. I have always thou ght that my perpetual exhaustion led to that illness. High schoolers naturally cannot get the rest they need when they wake at the crack of dawn, particularly with the academic pressures they face today.

11:45 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

Besides the sleep question, a whole side point of this is that younger kids get up earlier. Also, older kids can manage themselves better in the morning. Starti ng later for middle and high school kids is easier on parents than starting late r for elementary school kids.

11:56 PM Monday, June 30, 2008

I really hope the school times for Middle and High School students change. As a mom with two kids in both schools, I see the trouble my kids have with these ear ly times. It is VERY hard on my kids. They do not wake up until 2nd or 3rd per iod!!