The Dilemma
Every morning, EHS students drag themselves out of bed, many times even before the sun is up, to make it to school on time. However, by the time the 1st period bell rings at 7:40, many of us are still tired from a lack of sleep the night before and struggle to focus on the ongoing lessons. Additionally, the exhaustion from the previous school day’s hectic nature adds to this cycle of fatigue, making it even more difficult for many students to stay focused in class.
It is no secret that teenagers have different sleep patterns than most adults or children due to hormonal shifts, yet many high schools across the nation, including Edison High, choose not to acknowledge this science. Studies have shown that later start times tend to lead to improved academic performance and better mental health, leading one to question why school officials ignore these studies and whether it really is the time to rethink the starting time of the modern school day.
The Data
The CDC recommends 8-10 hours of sleep for teenagers, but when a study was done by the National Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, a part of the CDC, it was revealed that nearly 70-90% of high schoolers do not meet the recommended sleep amount. This chronic sleep deprivation has severe consequences. In fact, the Stanford Magazine on Medicine goes even further to say that sleep problems among adolescents are major risk factors for suicidal ideation.
This tendency for insufficient sleep is largely attributed to the differences in teenage sleep cycles rather than poor time management or staying up to complete homework, as many might assume. The Child Mind Institute relates this shift to changes in the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, during the teenage years. “It’s a major contributing factor to sleep deprivation which is unique to adolescence, ” says Dr. Allison Baker, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. “The typical high school student’s natural time to fall asleep is 11 p.m. or later. We really need to adjust the environment instead of asking teenagers to adjust their physiology,” she explains. This shift in understanding has been subject to varying opinions from both students and teachers, leading to an ongoing debate about the best course of action when it comes to high school schedules.
The Debate
Students at EHS have expressed their support for a later school starting time with Bhavya Shah ‘27 citing the current starting time as a source of making him more sleepy and lazy to learn during the day.
“[A later start to school] would help me get more sleep and a later start to the day would definitely help me be more focused while in school since I would be more well rested,” said Shah.
Other students at EHS agreed with Shah’s reasoning.
“Starting at 8:30, just an hour later, would be great for my mind and body because I would not only be able to have more hours to rest but also to finish more of my upcoming school work without having to worry about getting at least 8 hours of sleep,” said Gnaneshwar Allu ‘25.
Students aren’t the only ones who have a stake in later start time, however. Many teachers at Edison High share differing perspectives on how such a change could impact the school environment.
“I would keep the school time at 7:30” said Ms. Cailin Murelli, a chemistry teacher at EHS. “Personally, I am a morning person, and I would rather come to school early and be able to leave early rather than come later and leave more into the afternoon.” “In my opinion a later starting time would help not only the students, but also teachers, me personally, because I would be more productive throughout the day due to getting more sleep,” said business teacher Mr. Michael Piccolo.
Time for Change
Throughout the history of education, there comes a point where long-standing routines and traditions must give way to new understandings, from something as simple as daily scheduling to something as impactful as school start times. Early school start times, meant at first to align with factory schedules and now with the logistics of buses, no longer endorse what science has revealed about adolescent sleep. Research from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers get 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night, yet teenagers often do not meet this criterion due to biological shifts that delay their sleep times, putting their overall well- being at risk. In fact, studies suggest that drivers aged 16–19 are more than twice as likely to crash when sleep-deprived (National Sleep Foundation). These costs of sleep deprivation are too significant to ignore, and the benefits of starting school later are too well-documented to dismiss.
Considering a large school district such as Edison, a later school time would not only be beneficial for students, but teachers as well. Many teachers at Edison High often travel from various regions across New Jersey to get to school, requiring them to wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. This early start time contributes to the same fatigue that affects students, making a shift to more reasonable morning hours a meaningful step towards better productivity for students and teachers alike.
In the end, school officials must recognize that when both students and teachers are forced to begin their day exhausted, the system is no longer serving the people it was designed to support. Rethinking school start times isn’t just a matter of convenience any more —it’s a necessary step toward a healthier, more effective learning environment for all.
“Research is pretty clear on the point that focus is enhanced by more sleep,” said Mrs. Aimee Baer, a veteran English teacher. “I believe a delay of the school time by an hour will make students much more attentive during class. However, I feel like we are a long way from this shift, as schedules for extracurriculars and other activities would need to be considered in the process too.”
