With a start time of 7:23 a.m., South Hadley High School has one of the earliest start times in Massachusetts, and the earliest of any town with whom we share a border. This is problematic because according to Start School Later – an organization of doctors, educators, and researchers advocating for later start times – beginning high school too early leads to higher rates of anxiety, stress, and substance abuse for teens. It is because of this that our high school needs to adopt a later start time.
Start School Later’s research shows that over 90% of public high schools begin at or after 7:30 a.m., placing SHHS firmly in the minority. This matters because health professionals have been warning us for decades that early start times are not good for teens’ health. And it’s clear from my perspective that many students are not fully awake in their first period classes and could benefit from more sleep in the morning.
Research from the University of Minnesota found that student tardiness decreases when high school start times are later, and there is evidence from our school that suggests this is true. Back in 2014 when school administrators moved the start time from 7:25 to 7:23, the number of tardies increased by about 20 percent, from 995 to 1,197 over the first two months of school, according to information provided at the time by administrative assistant Theresa Sarrazin. Imagine what would happen if we moved high school start times in the opposite direction – the data suggests it would result in fewer tardies and more time on learning for students.
A number of schools in Hampshire County have heeded the research and done just that, with Northampton High School electing to start 90 minutes later at 9:00 a.m., and Amherst Pelham Regional High School pushing their start time forward by 75 minutes to also start at 9:00 a.m.
The results have been positive. According to an Amherst-Pelham school survey, the majority of students and staff stated they were happy with the later start times. Teachers found that students were more alert in their classes, and superintendent Michael Morris reported that parents had observed improved mental and physical health in their children after the implantation of later secondary school start times.
Amherst and Northampton’s start times are in line with the recommendation from The Society of Behavioral Medicine, which calls for school officials to start high school classes at 8:30 a.m. or later. Now, just because Amherst and Northampton implemented substantially later start times does not necessarily mean we have to. When our neighbor to the south, Holyoke, decided to change their start time, they pushed it forward by a half hour, from 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. A similar 30-minute change for South Hadley High School would be a step in the right direction, and something the majority of students and staff have said they would support.
In a survey administered to 158 students during the 2022-2023 school year, more than two thirds of students said they would support starting school at least 29 minutes later. In the same survey administered to 41 staff members, over half said they would be in favor of pushing the start time forward by at least 29 minutes, with 12 faculty advocating for starting an hour later.
The research is compelling and the voice of students and staff is clear: our high school would benefit from a later start time. It’s time for school and district leaders to establish a committee to formally examine this issue and create a plan that would allow students to reap the many benefits of a later high school start time.
