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Why Covid School Schedules Are Better For Some Students

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Prior to Covid, the majority of K-12 schools were running on schedules that didn’t serve students well. In the latter half of the 20th century, school start and end times were designed around bus schedules. To use the same fleet of buses for all students, schools in suburban areas created schedules with high school students as the first arrivals.

Yet study after study shows that early school starts don’t work best for adolescent sleep needs. Data supports the fact that later start times (after 8:30 am) are best for adolescents’ mental and physical health and generate improved academic performance. Researchers have also discovered teens who start school later in the day experience fewer car crashes, have a more even temperament at home, and are less prone to depression.

A more recent rationale for early start times relates to parents’ schedules. In more than 80% of families at least one family member is employed, and in nearly half of families both parents have jobs. The school schedule had to accommodate getting kids to school and parents to work on time. When Covid created more work-from-home options, the morning race to school and work was eliminated for many parents.

Now we have an opportunity to consider scheduling that supports how students best learn. 

If you want to understand the pros and cons of virtual learning, you just need to ask students. While some complain of distance learning Zoom fatigue, lack of access to proper technology, poor wi-fi connections, and unbearable hours of homework, many students are talking about how grateful they are that at least school is starting later and ending earlier.

Abi Erle, a high school junior in San Diego, has been doing school remotely since March. Prior to Covid she was getting up at 6:30 a.m. in order to catch the bus and travel 20 minutes so she could be in class at 8 a.m. Now she sets her alarm for 7:20 a.m. so she can be online at 8:40 when her classes start on Zoom. They last until 1:40 p.m., which gives her time to spend with her six family members and to work on her business, Smile It Forward, which provides care packages to children going through chemotherapy. She misses her friends but she says her Covid schedule has “a silver-lining because I can sleep in and have more time to exercise and work on my physical health and extracurricular activities as well as do things that I enjoy such as working on my business and giving back to my community.”

In Chappaqua, New York, high school freshman Emma Wasserman is doing a hybrid model at Horace Greeley High School. The school divided the students into cohorts. Some groups come to school in the morning and some come in the afternoon. In order to accommodate the transition there's a 70-minute break.  Prior to Covid, the school provided only a 30-minute lunch break. Wasserman says this extended break provides “time to cook healthy meals, practice piano, play with my new puppy, work on my business The Sweet Project, and honestly just relax. The break really helps me de-stress.”

The new schedule also allows time for students to pursue other interests, whether it’s signing up for a virtual course, trying out new physical activities, or even getting a job. Takota Clarke, a high school junior in St. Louis, Missouri is able to wrap up her school day early and with the extra time, she got a part-time job at a local fast-food chain. In just a month she was promoted to a closer. “I really love being able to work more hours, plus it gets me out of the house,” she says. “It’s hard not seeing my friends. I like being around people, especially during this time.” Getting more hours at her job has given Clarke the opportunity to pay her bills and still have some spending money.

While it is unclear how Covid school shutdowns will impact learning in the long run, students recognize the benefit of a modified school day schedule, a later start time, and a shorter school day. With these modifications, a teen’s circadian rhythms are more aligned with their school schedule. When the pandemic ends, let’s encourage school leaders to seize an opportunity to design school hours to enhance learning and to meet the needs of teens.