How do you usually feel in the morning? Do you think you wake up too early? There’s a lot of mixed emotions about school starting times. Some want it earlier, some want it later. There are a lot of benefits and also some obstacles too. In this article, we interviewed the thoughts of students and staff on campus about the school schedule.
The first person we interviewed was a junior named Jonathan Montes. He really liked that school starts at 8:30 instead of 8:00 now. He would prefer if school started at 10:30 so he could sleep in. Before school, he gets up and eats, then does his face care routine. When he gets back home, he takes a five-hour nap and then goes to the gym. He says if he had the 10:30 schedule, he would have more time to make money and get a Bugatti. His schedule already makes him feel good though, he feels better when he’s not eating junk food like donuts. Even though he prefers a later start, he doesn’t feel like it would change his grade, and neither would he like school to start at night.
The next student we interviewed was a junior named Brian Moon. He does not like the 8:30 switch. He finds it hard to wake up still. He would prefer that school start at 9 so he could sleep better. He showers before school and then when he finishes school, he plays tennis and studies. He thinks a later start would give him more free time and claims his current schedule is hard. With a later start schedule, Brian believes he would get better grades. He would just have to practice a bit later.
Rick Owen Mendoza is a volleyball player at the school. The later start change is alright to him since he can sleep more but he also comes home a bit more tired. He thinks 8:30 is perfect for school since he has time to make his bed and shower before school starts. He doesn’t want anything to change. It’s already a great schedule for him. He wouldn’t have better grades with a later start. He also would just have to practice for a bit longer.
Alaina Benavides, a junior was the last student interviewed. She felt “indifferent” about school starting at 8:30. She doesn’t care if school starts later or at a different time because she has a 0 period believing it wouldn’t affect her. Her routine after school is doing either band or JROTC practice and then going home and doing homework. Alaina claims her schedule would not change with a later school start. She also thinks if school started at night it’d be “weird because it starts even later”.
Mr. Niemeyer, a history teacher at the school, prefers a different start schedule. He thinks it doesn’t solve the tardy problem and he notices that his students are just sleepy after 5th. He would love for school to start at 8 and end at 2:30. He has no daily life because of his current routine. His routine is just “sleep grade sleep grade sleep grade”. With his preferred schedule, he feels like he would be way more productive since he normally stays till 5 on the current schedule. He thinks that school starting at night wouldn’t be practical at all though.
The last person we interviewed was the assistant principal of our school, Mr. Kaliponi. His thoughts on the later start time are as follows. “There’s positives and negatives. I think the negatives are that when we changed to 8:30, it pushed activities later, the kids stay longer, there are certain sports that are outdoors which means that they have to end practice earlier, and there’s less time to do homework. The positives are that the students get more rest which means they would do better in school, scientific evidence has shown that. Students used to miss class when school started earlier, but now they miss less class because class events start later. But they could also be tired and not achieve well or be as sharp in school. Personally, I’d honestly rather it be earlier. But it is now 8:30 by law.”
He would much rather prefer school to start at 8 or 7:30. His routine before heading to school is waking up at 5 to take his child to school early, then getting ready to head to the high school. It would be harder to drop off his kid with an earlier schedule because he has to get ready for work earlier and he wouldn’t have time to drop off his kid. He likes his current schedule because he can get more done, and have more time to help out students and parents in need. He likes school to start at 8:30 at the latest but he’s not opposed to the idea of school starting at night, around 6 to 8 p.m. He doesn’t think that a later start time would change the students’ grades or attendance.
After a thorough survey, most people are divided on when school should start. It’s a personal preference for everyone. Some prefer a later start time, others would like an earlier start, and others just adapt to the time. No matter what time school starts, it is a vital part of learning about a lot of things in life. It should be fun and engaging no matter the time.
