School hours 7 a.m.-3 p.m. or 9 a.m.-4 p.m.?

Lex Diehl

School hours. Will students want this time to either change or stay the same? Some want more sleep in the morning, and some want to have more time for after school activities.

Beep, beep, beep…snooze…beep, beep, beep…snooze again…

Many students probably don’t like waking up so early for school, including you. Who actually likes waking up at six in the morning and having to get ready for school when the sun has not risen? 

Eighth grader Quinlan Sipes said, “I wake up at six in the morning, and it’s hard to get up.”

Some people want the hours to change.

Sipes said, “I want school to be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. because I can sleep in.”

In recent discussions about middle school schedules, there have been questions about whether the school hours should change. Some people suggest that starting later in the day would be better for students, while others think the current schedule is fine.

After considering both sides, I believe that middle school hours should stay the same from 7:45 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. Here’s why…

Starting school at 7:45 a.m. helps students begin their day early.

The current schedule leaves enough time for activities after school, but if it were later, practices would end later at night. 

Sipes said, “After school activities, would run into personal stuff.”

Whether it’s sports, clubs or time to relax at home, having an early finish allows students to have time for important parts of their lives like sports and after school activities. If school started later, students might end up finishing homework later. This won’t workout because students need their sleep and no student wants to get home late to finish their homework.

A consistent schedule helps students maintain a routine. Parents, teachers and even after school programs often rely on a set schedule to plan their day. If middle school hours were made to start later, it could cause issues for families and create confusion in after school programs, making it harder for students to stay on track. Parents would have to make adjustments to their schedules too. Maybe it would affect childcare facilities too.

In the real world, many jobs start early in the morning. By keeping the school day at 7:45 a.m., students can develop better time management skills, learn how to start their day early and get used to the concept of a full workday. A later start could make it harder to adjust to adult schedules in the future.

One reason people want later start times is to help students get more sleep. However, the key to getting enough rest is not just when school starts, but how students manage their time at night. It’s important for middle schoolers to learn how to develop healthy sleep habits and manage their schedules, so they can still get 8–9 hours of sleep without needing to change school hours.

A small shift in the school day might sound like a simple fix, but it could bring up bigger problems for students, families and the entire school system.