MCPS High School 7:45am for teens is to early

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC parent here. Curious how this is for your teens. We are unhappy parents at a DC public school considering moving. The start time for DCPS High Schools is 9am which is one of the only things they do that is smart. How are your kids' sleep habits with such an early start. Most research points to the reverse schedule for (older kids need to start later) and curious why MCPS is set up like this. Not sure if this issue has come up before or if they are considering changing it?

MCPS Level Time Length of Day
High School 7:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Middle School 8:15 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Elementary School Tier 1 9:00 a.m.–3:25 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes
Elementary School Tier 2 9:25 a.m.–3:50 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes

Move to Howard County. They just adjusted their start times to fix this issue. They also have parents who care about xhildren and can advocate for real change, unlike in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC parent here. Curious how this is for your teens. We are unhappy parents at a DC public school considering moving. The start time for DCPS High Schools is 9am which is one of the only things they do that is smart. How are your kids' sleep habits with such an early start. Most research points to the reverse schedule for (older kids need to start later) and curious why MCPS is set up like this. Not sure if this issue has come up before or if they are considering changing it?

MCPS Level Time Length of Day
High School 7:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Middle School 8:15 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Elementary School Tier 1 9:00 a.m.–3:25 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes
Elementary School Tier 2 9:25 a.m.–3:50 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes

Move to Howard County. They just adjusted their start times to fix this issue. They also have parents who care about xhildren and can advocate for real change, unlike in Montgomery County.

Is the change in Howard County definitely happening? I know they have put a great deal of effort into studying this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It used to be 715 start right? Even as early as a few years ago.

It was 7:25 before 2015

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teen mental health would likely improve with a later start time. More sleep is beneficial to mental and physical health.
I have no dog in this fight since my kids are juniors and seniors in HS. Any change would come too late for them anyway.
But it is frustrating that we supposedly live in a highly educated area but we are so backwards and no-can-do about many things.

All of you complaining about kids needing to get used to life and early start times have no idea about the basic developmental needs of adolescents.
Educate yourself. And the bus driver shortage only exists because MCPS is cheap and pays too little.

Doubt it. There are too many other factors at play.

I don’t understand why there is so pushback to the notion that it would be better for most teens, even if MCPS has 748484 reasons why they can’t do it. For most teens, it would help, even those who (you think) are getting through it with no issues. MCPS won’t do anything though, so consider that OP when making your decision.

Personally, it’s because the more well-meaning adults attempt to erase any trace of unpleasantness or inconvenience for kids, the more depressed and brittle they seem to become. They need to figure out how to adjust to the circumstances that are given to them. If they need more sleep, maybe an afternoon nap is in order.

It's not just erasing traces of unpleasantness, it's giving teens the better chances of success. I don't understand what parent wouldn't want that for their child. I understand that MCPS doesn't think it's possible, so given that, the kids need to adjust if they are going to attend MCPS, but to say that parents that want to give their kids better chance is the same as them wanting to erasing unpleasantness is not what's happening. And just so you understand, most high achieving kids don't have time for a nap after school on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teen mental health would likely improve with a later start time. More sleep is beneficial to mental and physical health.
I have no dog in this fight since my kids are juniors and seniors in HS. Any change would come too late for them anyway.
But it is frustrating that we supposedly live in a highly educated area but we are so backwards and no-can-do about many things.

All of you complaining about kids needing to get used to life and early start times have no idea about the basic developmental needs of adolescents.
Educate yourself. And the bus driver shortage only exists because MCPS is cheap and pays too little.

Doubt it. There are too many other factors at play.

I don’t understand why there is so pushback to the notion that it would be better for most teens, even if MCPS has 748484 reasons why they can’t do it. For most teens, it would help, even those who (you think) are getting through it with no issues. MCPS won’t do anything though, so consider that OP when making your decision.

Personally, it’s because the more well-meaning adults attempt to erase any trace of unpleasantness or inconvenience for kids, the more depressed and brittle they seem to become. They need to figure out how to adjust to the circumstances that are given to them. If they need more sleep, maybe an afternoon nap is in order.

It's not just erasing traces of unpleasantness, it's giving teens the better chances of success. I don't understand what parent wouldn't want that for their child. I understand that MCPS doesn't think it's possible, so given that, the kids need to adjust if they are going to attend MCPS, but to say that parents that want to give their kids better chance is the same as them wanting to erasing unpleasantness is not what's happening. And just so you understand, most high achieving kids don't have time for a nap after school on a regular basis.

I think I found the real problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC parent here. Curious how this is for your teens. We are unhappy parents at a DC public school considering moving. The start time for DCPS High Schools is 9am which is one of the only things they do that is smart. How are your kids' sleep habits with such an early start. Most research points to the reverse schedule for (older kids need to start later) and curious why MCPS is set up like this. Not sure if this issue has come up before or if they are considering changing it?

MCPS Level Time Length of Day
High School 7:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Middle School 8:15 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Elementary School Tier 1 9:00 a.m.–3:25 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes
Elementary School Tier 2 9:25 a.m.–3:50 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes

The problem is there are a limited number of buses. Someone has to go early. If you move back high-school, then elementary kids suffer. Either way, someone wins and others lose. The thing that has worked best for us is just setting our clocks forward 2 hours that way we can pretend it's later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC parent here. Curious how this is for your teens. We are unhappy parents at a DC public school considering moving. The start time for DCPS High Schools is 9am which is one of the only things they do that is smart. How are your kids' sleep habits with such an early start. Most research points to the reverse schedule for (older kids need to start later) and curious why MCPS is set up like this. Not sure if this issue has come up before or if they are considering changing it?

MCPS Level Time Length of Day
High School 7:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Middle School 8:15 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Elementary School Tier 1 9:00 a.m.–3:25 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes
Elementary School Tier 2 9:25 a.m.–3:50 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes

Not this again! You do realize we've been over this again and again. There's no easy solution. It's been debated to death and we've found the best compromise short of raising taxes to pay for more bus drivers. Maybe a better solution would be to reduce the amount of transportation required and stop busing kids all over the place to support outdated boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC parent here. Curious how this is for your teens. We are unhappy parents at a DC public school considering moving. The start time for DCPS High Schools is 9am which is one of the only things they do that is smart. How are your kids' sleep habits with such an early start. Most research points to the reverse schedule for (older kids need to start later) and curious why MCPS is set up like this. Not sure if this issue has come up before or if they are considering changing it?

MCPS Level Time Length of Day
High School 7:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Middle School 8:15 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes
Elementary School Tier 1 9:00 a.m.–3:25 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes
Elementary School Tier 2 9:25 a.m.–3:50 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes

Move to Howard County. They just adjusted their start times to fix this issue. They also have parents who care about xhildren and can advocate for real change, unlike in Montgomery County.

Is the change in Howard County definitely happening? I know they have put a great deal of effort into studying this issue.

Of course. They can get things done. It's Howard County.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/hcpssmd/Board.nsf/files/CM4LDN53D02B/$file/School%20Start%20Times%20SY23_24%20Final%20School%20by%20School%20Bell%20Time%20Report%20BR.pdf

[Anonymous]

I teach high school English and I prefer the early start time because then I get out earlier.
But I acknowledge it is not good for teenagers. First period is mostly a wash. Some kids come late consistently or miss first period.
Some are fine but others are in class but asleep at their desk. I let them sleep because I feel bad for them and I know they need it.
7th period isn’t great either because kids are tired by then and ready to go home. Your kids are learning less than you think at school.
The way the school day is structured wastes a lot of time.

[Anonymous]

OMG not this old chestnut again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG not this old chestnut again!

It’s gonna keep coming up as younger students age into high school. It’s not the same people coming about it now compared to 6 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG not this old chestnut again!

It’s gonna keep coming up as younger students age into high school. It’s not the same people coming about it now compared to 6 years ago.

*complaining* not coming

[Anonymous]

My kids' hs starts at 8:45 and they go until 4. Works great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It used to be 715 start right? Even as early as a few years ago.

When I taught HS, it was 7:15. We still had automatic failures after 5 unexcused absences or 15 unexcused tardies. Generally, wealthy White parents knew to write a sick note excusing the tardies, but lower income and POC parents didn’t. As a result, there were different consequences for different populations for the exact same behavior. I stopped marking tardies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS looked into this several years back and ended up adjusting times by 20 minutes. (HS used to start at 7:25 am!)

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/belltimes/index.aspx

We spent tons of $ and time to move the school day 20 minutes a number of years ago. Not worth the effort to have them adjust the schedule 10 minutes more. Central office is really opposed to significantly changing the start time for high school. Supposedly it will hurt brown people. My kids were at a majority brown school and none of those parents seemed to care, but, central office apparently has the pulse of the people!