For the 2023-2024 school year, Niles North has implemented a new scheduling system: Introducing a late start every week on Wednesdays. The real question is: Are late starts better than early release?
One of the biggest benefits of having a weekly late start is allowing students to sleep in. Adolescent sleep deprivation is a big issue students face. Sleepfoundation.org collected a series of trusted data discussing sleep concerns among all people. 72.7% of high school students get less than the recommended amount of sleep for their age. There are many negative effects of young adult sleep deprivation. Population reference bureau.org states that inadequate sleep is one of the many factors affecting teenagers’ mental health.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.org explains in detail how sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain. When you are sleep deficient, you may experience trouble making decisions, controlling emotions and behavior, or solving problems. Teenagers might have problems getting along with others. They might feel angry, impulsive, have mood swings, lack of motivation, or feel sad. Lack of sleep affects your ability to pay attention, affecting your grades and stress levels. Sleep sufficiency is essential for everyday success.
When we sleep, especially undisturbed, we help the brain process and retain information that it takes in. When someone experiences sleep deprivation, their attention span and memory are likely to become impaired. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences states that every hour of lost total average sleep was linked to a 0.07 reduction in end-of-term GPA. Clearly, our sleep hygiene is key to supporting academic success.
Aside from the academic benefits, late starts give student-athletes a break from early morning workouts and practices. Due to spacing and other constraints, sports are sometimes forced to move their practice times to before school. This can be difficult for athletes when it comes to certain things such as rides.
Late starts do not only benefit students but educators as well. “Staff have actual consistent, weekly time to collaborate with each other to improve student learning,” Niles North Principal James Edwards said. “In the past, we’ve had sporadic late starts once a month, the days would be different, but now everybody knows that it’s Wednesday and all the staff know what their roles and responsibilities are from 8 o’clock to 9:40.” Early releases don’t benefit students as much because there is less motivation to use that time productively. Students can use time in the morning to prepare themselves for the day.
Overall, late starts provide many benefits to students and faculty. If we had early release, we wouldn’t have the same opportunities we do with our late starts.
