Does The Time School Starts Affect Student Performance? By: Audrey Rubach

The start time of school is something that all students feel affected by. The time the first bell rings can impact a student's academic performance, mental and physical health, and sleep schedule. Adequate sleep schedules are something a lot of students’ lives are missing and their performance in school shows that.

The lack of sleep students receive is easily associated with an early start to the school day. Doctor Nilong Vyas from the sleep foundation stated, “Teenagers aged 13–18 need between 8 and 10 hours each night. However, studies have demonstrated that most American adolescents are not getting enough sleep, nearly 70% of high schoolers do not get enough sleep on school nights.” Hillgrove student Quinn Reames shared how she feels during school due to her sleep schedule, “I have so much less energy during school, because I wake up early and I go to bed really late because of homework”. The starting time of school, especially early starts, can clearly cause disruptions in students' sleep and can even cause poorer academic performance due to this.

Sleep plays a large role in the academic performance of students. This lack of sleep can impact the ability of students to focus and be alert in class, especially in the morning. Hillgrove student Elizabeth Troy shared how she is affected by sleep in morning classes, “Earlier in the morning, academically, I don't do as well, especially if it's, like, a harder class.” Another student at hillgrove, Sophomore Emily Peninger also said how her school days are impacted, “It's hard for me to work when I don't have much sleep.” Many high school students pride themselves on academic success, but with lack of sleep, that may be harder to achieve. 

Numerous students believe it would be beneficial to have a later start to the school day to help combat this issue.  Researchers from the American Phycological Association state, “Research from psychologists and others indicates that later school times correlate with more sleep, better academic performance, and myriad mental and physical health benefits.”  Hillgrove student Quinn Reames explained what she would do to make the school start time more beneficial, “I would change it to a later start time so people can wake up later and have more energy at school.”

School start times impact all students, most importantly, their academic performance.