Delayed Starts

Every other Thursday, the students of Old Rochester Regional High School walk into school with a more awake outlook on the school day in front of them. Armed with an extra hour of sleep, students feel more prepared to face the day ahead. Why? ‘Delayed starts’ – a time when students are invited to come in an hour later and enjoy the extra time for homework or much needed sleep.

A delayed start day runs very similar to any other school day, with the only real influence being on the first two classes. Busses run at the regular time for the students who can’t get a ride to the school. Students who come in early are split up by grade, with every class assigned to a different room in the school (an example being the auditorium). There, students are invited to work on any classwork they need to complete before the school day begins.

Students who can get themselves to school late must arrive by 8:30 am. From there, the school day carries on as normal, with only the first two classes being shortened to about an hour from their usual 90 minutes.

The idea for delayed starts began in order to allow teachers more time to plan their curriculum together for each subject area. As Vice-Principal Michael Parker explained, “It came out of the idea of trying to find more time for the teachers to meet with each other and talk about curriculum and things like that to improve their craft, to improve their teaching.”

Parker continued, “It’s very hard to do during the day because there’s no time. Teachers’ contracts are very structured, and there’s only about one meeting a month, so it’s very difficult to do it during the school day, or even after school.”

Another thing, said Parker, studies have shown that high school kids perform much better starting later in the day.

Every year, Principal Michael Devoll must present the plan for the delayed starts before the school committee and receive its approval. The delayed starts have been in effect since last year, and Parker said they plan to continue for the 2016-2017 school year.

As for teachers, they reap all the benefits possible from the delayed starts.

“I think it’s valuable,” said English teacher Michael Beson. “Especially on days where we kind of have a little bit more freedom to talk about what we want to talk about. With a lot of our other staff meetings … we don’t have much time to talk about … our curriculum, so that hour, even though it’s not too often throughout the year, it’s time that I think is beneficial for us.”

Planning around shortened classes may seem to be a challenge, but it’s not as horrible as one might be led to believe, explained Beson.

“I think it’s just something that we just need to remember when it goes into planning, that we’re either going to try and get through things a little bit quicker or shorten some activities for that day, or just push things back to another day,” said Beson.

For the students of Old Rochester, there is seldom a bad thing to be said about the late starts, as it provides an opportunity to begin the day in a more relaxed environment. Student Emma Cadieux explained, “I know a lot of students are peppier on delayed start days. I hear a lot of them go out to breakfast before coming to school, and most get a better night’s sleep with that extra hour.”

“I know personally, I always get ready for school more quickly on delayed start days,” continued Cadieux.

The general consensus of the student body appears to be one of gratefulness for the opportunity to either sleep in or do homework, and although it may seem unnecessary to shorten classes for the sake of planning and sleep, Cadieux explained how the delayed starts are productive in their own way.

“Students don’t need to come out of every hour of their day with pages of work to show for it. I wouldn’t say it’s productive in the way teachers and educators think of the word productive, but it’s necessary and it’s helpful,” said Cadieux.

Every student seemed to agree that late starts provide a relaxing start to their day, as explained by student Brooke Santos.

“I feel that delayed starts are helpful because it gives kids time to sleep in for once and it lets them rest and you can go out to breakfast,” said Santos. “And you have time to get out all your energy and talking before you go to school, and then when you’re there, you’re more focused.”

Despite the reduced class time, students don’t generally feel the reduced time impedes their education in a noticeable way.

Student Ryson Smith said, “For the AP classes, losing half an hour might mess up scheduling. But for other classes, it usually doesn’t affect much.”

For students, the lost hour is a price they’re willing to pay in order to improve their mental health.

“I feel like the pros, which are more sleep, for me, outweigh the cons because we’re already stressed and sleeping in helps alleviate some of that stress,” said student James Goulart.

Student Celeste Hartley had this to say, “Students are happier. The teachers first and second block aren’t as happy, because the shortened blocks can sometimes mess up their scheduling.”

Since the beginning of the late starts, many students have realized the benefits of beginning school at a later time, as Smith explained.

“I do feel that I notice a change in students during late start days, but I support changing the school day to a later start in general,” Smith said.

Delayed starts have allowed Old Rochester students to decompress and enjoy time to themselves – an infrequent occurrence in the ever-busy life of a high-schooler. Delayed Starts are here, and for the sake of staff and students, hopefully they’re here to stay.

By Sienna Wurl

 

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