Dear Future President,

“BEEP” “BEEP” “BEEP” the alarm clock goes off at 5:30 a.m. At 5:30 I have to roll out of bed because it’s pitch black outside and it’s too early for a high school student to be up. A lot of students I know have to wake up this early because the buses come at 6:30 or earlier. Being a student in high school and having to wake up at 5:30, and get ready then having to catch my bus is not fun. If high school were to start later in the morning students would improve in school in many ways.

First period half of the students aren’t paying attention to the teacher because the students are so tired. Students should be getting 8-10 hours every night, most students are not getting that many hours of sleep. If the high school started later in the morning students would more likely pay attention in class. There is benefits to starting later in the morning. Which include an improved academic performance, improved memory, alertness and attention according to “startschoolater.net”. Also a later start time can also improve athletic performance. According to “sleepfoundation.org” if you don’t get enough sleep it limits your ability to learn, listen, concentrate, and solve problems. It can also make you forget important information.

The elementary schools in our district shouldn’t start so late because it’s a big jump difference in time for the new sixth graders. It’s not fair for the elementary schools in our district that starts at 8:45 a.m then have to go to a new school that starts 7:25 a.m. My elementary school started at 8:45, then having to go to a new school that starts an hour and 20 minutes earlier was awful. For me the first day of middle school was awful because I was not used to waking up that early. Why have the elementary school start so late and have the middle and high school start early? We should have the high and middle school start at 8 and the elementary schools start at 8:30, so it’s not such a big time difference for the new sixth graders.

Having a high school and middle school starting so early is not good. Students don’t get enough sleep when they need 8-10 hours. So I think you should either have high school start later in the morning even if it’s 20 minutes it will improve in so many ways. Students will be more prepared for school. A later start would make a difference in an academic way in our district.

Sincerely,

Gabriella

Works Cited

"Teens and Sleep." National Sleep Foundation. National Sleep Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

"What's the Big Deal?" Start School Later. Start School Later, Inc., 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.