By Aja vonHentschel
Mashpee Middle High School students may be able to sleep in a little later beginning in fall 2017. The school district is looking at new start times for Mashpee schools.
The effort to consider new start times is driven by research showing that teenagers come to school with a lack of sleep, which affects their performance. Studies show that teenagers' biology pushes their normal sleep cycle to about 11
Mashpee Middle High School students may be able to sleep in a little later beginning in fall 2017. The school district is looking at new start times for Mashpee schools.
The effort to consider new start times is driven by research showing that teenagers come to school with a lack of sleep, which affects their performance. Studies show that teenagers' biology pushes their normal sleep cycle to about 11
PM or later, which is when their brain starts to secrete melatonin, the hormone for sleep. Most students are required to be up between 5:30 and 6:30, giving these students only 6-7 hours of sleep. This sleep loss can go on for 4-5 years, causing serious damage.
This loss of sleep can also have effects on the teens health. Early morning car crashes, depression, suicidal tendencies, binge drinking, and poor grades are just some of the effects seen in research studies.
Many schools in Massachusetts are exploring the option to switch start times to later. Nauset Regional High School made the switch and is getting positive feedback from their students and staff. Later start times also had a positive effect on the school systems. Attendance increased, standardized test scores increased, and the number of tardy students dropped.
Mashpee School District is one of the districts exploring the idea of later start times. Patricia DeBoer, the interim superintendent at Mashpee, said that they are seeing a mixture of positive and negative feedback on the idea of new start time. “The people who have comments to make are usually negative,” Mrs. DeBoer said in an interview about the committee discussing the new start times. For example, the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod and the Recreation Department are both concerned with the new times. The younger children would be getting out earlier than they do now, which would call for staff to be there earlier to take care of the younger children. Parents are also concerned that with the younger kids getting out before the high school that there would be no one home to watch them or get them off the bus. With parents who work, their kids would have no one to look after them when they get out of school.
As far as options go for new times, the Committee is looking at the high school going from 8:30 to 3:00. They have yet to decide whether the elementary and K.C.Coombs will start earlier or later than the high school.
This loss of sleep can also have effects on the teens health. Early morning car crashes, depression, suicidal tendencies, binge drinking, and poor grades are just some of the effects seen in research studies.
Many schools in Massachusetts are exploring the option to switch start times to later. Nauset Regional High School made the switch and is getting positive feedback from their students and staff. Later start times also had a positive effect on the school systems. Attendance increased, standardized test scores increased, and the number of tardy students dropped.
Mashpee School District is one of the districts exploring the idea of later start times. Patricia DeBoer, the interim superintendent at Mashpee, said that they are seeing a mixture of positive and negative feedback on the idea of new start time. “The people who have comments to make are usually negative,” Mrs. DeBoer said in an interview about the committee discussing the new start times. For example, the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod and the Recreation Department are both concerned with the new times. The younger children would be getting out earlier than they do now, which would call for staff to be there earlier to take care of the younger children. Parents are also concerned that with the younger kids getting out before the high school that there would be no one home to watch them or get them off the bus. With parents who work, their kids would have no one to look after them when they get out of school.
As far as options go for new times, the Committee is looking at the high school going from 8:30 to 3:00. They have yet to decide whether the elementary and K.C.Coombs will start earlier or later than the high school.