TJ student sleep hours

[Anonymous]

I have gone over pros/cons of TJ with 2 parents of a freshman and a junior. It seems the common con maybe students sleeping less. One of them saw there child stay awake at 2:30 one day. Another one says it goes it till 12am-1am before a test. Both parents still think TJ has been a great experience in terms of opportunities available and keeps their children out of trouble. Is this kind of experience common. Can some parents with children at TJ share their experience?

[Anonymous]

This was my #1 concern before accepting TJ's offer. My top priorities were (1) 8 hours of sleep and (2) ample free time and let grades and college admissions fall as they may. I was told that if the student is very strong academically, then it should not be a concern.

My child is able to get to bed by 10 PM until sophomore year and 11 PM in junior year, except for maybe 4-5 nights when HW took longer than expected and they went to bed maybe 1-2 hours later. Senior year, it is more socializing that keeps child up rather than HW or tests.

Ended up being top 5% of class and a couple of HYPSM admits.

Because sleep is one thing I keep pestering my child, this is a constant source of discussion. "All my friends go to bed 2-3 hours after me, why do I have to go to bed so early?" I did learn from child that most students stay up very late at night like 2 or 3 PM.

[Anonymous]

Course workload, extracurricular activities, sports participation, study habits, phone/social media use, and time management skills all impact sleep time.

FYI, since we live in a participating county, our student’s bus to TJ leaves at 7:30 AM and returns around 5 PM.

During freshman year, as a family, we made it a priority to ensure our TJ student consistently got at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep on weekday nights, regardless of tests or homework deadlines. Weekends were less structured, and she typically slept about 9 hours per night, totaling around 55 to 60 hours of sleep per week. During the sports season, which lasts about 8 to 10 weeks, practice or games took up an extra 2–3 hours on most weekdays, disrupting her sleep schedule. However, she compensated by sleeping more on weekends.

Despite the busy schedule, she maintained near-perfect grades in freshman year and has since taken on a slightly more rigorous course load. Simultaneously, we also chose to step back somewhat, allowing her to manage her own time with occasional reminders about aiming for 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Even with increased distractions like online socializing with TJ friends, project classmates, and tighter evening sports schedule, and family time, she still averages around 55 hours of sleep per week.

There are some nights when she stays up closer to or past midnight, but she balances it out by catching up on sleep the next night or over the weekend. As long as she continues to maintain good grades, stays involved in extracurriculars, and enjoys an active social life, we aren't concerned about the occasional late nights.

[Anonymous]

I only have a 7th grader, but I love to learn about how parents help kids handle sleep hours, balance academics, sports and rest, esp for high-achieving students. The above information parents shared is very insightful, TJ or not. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was my #1 concern before accepting TJ's offer. My top priorities were (1) 8 hours of sleep and (2) ample free time and let grades and college admissions fall as they may. I was told that if the student is very strong academically, then it should not be a concern.

My child is able to get to bed by 10 PM until sophomore year and 11 PM in junior year, except for maybe 4-5 nights when HW took longer than expected and they went to bed maybe 1-2 hours later. Senior year, it is more socializing that keeps child up rather than HW or tests.

Ended up being top 5% of class and a couple of HYPSM admits.

Because sleep is one thing I keep pestering my child, this is a constant source of discussion. "All my friends go to bed 2-3 hours after me, why do I have to go to bed so early?" I did learn from child that most students stay up very late at night like 2 or 3 PM.

Out of curiosity, to be top 5% is that getting all As and not a single lower grade? If so, huge congrats to your DC-that’s amazing!!! Oh, and should say still amazing even if it means some Bs since harder to maintain grades there.

[Anonymous]

My kid still does zero homework and plays 3 season sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Course workload, extracurricular activities, sports participation, study habits, phone/social media use, and time management skills all impact sleep time.

FYI, since we live in a participating county, our student’s bus to TJ leaves at 7:30 AM and returns around 5 PM.

During freshman year, as a family, we made it a priority to ensure our TJ student consistently got at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep on weekday nights, regardless of tests or homework deadlines. Weekends were less structured, and she typically slept about 9 hours per night, totaling around 55 to 60 hours of sleep per week. During the sports season, which lasts about 8 to 10 weeks, practice or games took up an extra 2–3 hours on most weekdays, disrupting her sleep schedule. However, she compensated by sleeping more on weekends.

Despite the busy schedule, she maintained near-perfect grades in freshman year and has since taken on a slightly more rigorous course load. Simultaneously, we also chose to step back somewhat, allowing her to manage her own time with occasional reminders about aiming for 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Even with increased distractions like online socializing with TJ friends, project classmates, and tighter evening sports schedule, and family time, she still averages around 55 hours of sleep per week.

There are some nights when she stays up closer to or past midnight, but she balances it out by catching up on sleep the next night or over the weekend. As long as she continues to maintain good grades, stays involved in extracurriculars, and enjoys an active social life, we aren't concerned about the occasional late nights.

This is not how sleep works. You can not make up sleep. You can return to normal sleep routines after an interruption and the damage to your body will be recovered, but if you keep staying up then it returns to being sleep deprived. Kids should be in bed by 10pm and the acceptance of them staying up regularly until 11pm-2am is awful.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP - my DD got accepted but said will not stay up after 10pm even if that means B grade. I kind of agree with it. I think she will thrive in TJ, but am curious how common is staying up late. Is it more than half the kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the OP - my DD got accepted but said will not stay up after 10pm even if that means B grade. I kind of agree with it. I think she will thrive in TJ, but am curious how common is staying up late. Is it more than half the kids?

You and your student have already agreed on her 10 pm bedtime. Why worry about when other kids go to sleep? Whether they sleep at 9 p.m. or 11 p.m. shouldn’t concern you or your child. Comparative parenting only creates unnecessary stress and misery for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Course workload, extracurricular activities, sports participation, study habits, phone/social media use, and time management skills all impact sleep time.

FYI, since we live in a participating county, our student’s bus to TJ leaves at 7:30 AM and returns around 5 PM.

During freshman year, as a family, we made it a priority to ensure our TJ student consistently got at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep on weekday nights, regardless of tests or homework deadlines. Weekends were less structured, and she typically slept about 9 hours per night, totaling around 55 to 60 hours of sleep per week. During the sports season, which lasts about 8 to 10 weeks, practice or games took up an extra 2–3 hours on most weekdays, disrupting her sleep schedule. However, she compensated by sleeping more on weekends.

Despite the busy schedule, she maintained near-perfect grades in freshman year and has since taken on a slightly more rigorous course load. Simultaneously, we also chose to step back somewhat, allowing her to manage her own time with occasional reminders about aiming for 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Even with increased distractions like online socializing with TJ friends, project classmates, and tighter evening sports schedule, and family time, she still averages around 55 hours of sleep per week.

There are some nights when she stays up closer to or past midnight, but she balances it out by catching up on sleep the next night or over the weekend. As long as she continues to maintain good grades, stays involved in extracurriculars, and enjoys an active social life, we aren't concerned about the occasional late nights.

This is not how sleep works. You can not make up sleep. You can return to normal sleep routines after an interruption and the damage to your body will be recovered, but if you keep staying up then it returns to being sleep deprived. Kids should be in bed by 10pm and the acceptance of them staying up regularly until 11pm-2am is awful.

Where in the pp response did they say their kid stays up that late regularly?

[Anonymous]

You can’t catch up on sleep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Course workload, extracurricular activities, sports participation, study habits, phone/social media use, and time management skills all impact sleep time.

FYI, since we live in a participating county, our student’s bus to TJ leaves at 7:30 AM and returns around 5 PM.

During freshman year, as a family, we made it a priority to ensure our TJ student consistently got at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep on weekday nights, regardless of tests or homework deadlines. Weekends were less structured, and she typically slept about 9 hours per night, totaling around 55 to 60 hours of sleep per week. During the sports season, which lasts about 8 to 10 weeks, practice or games took up an extra 2–3 hours on most weekdays, disrupting her sleep schedule. However, she compensated by sleeping more on weekends.

Despite the busy schedule, she maintained near-perfect grades in freshman year and has since taken on a slightly more rigorous course load. Simultaneously, we also chose to step back somewhat, allowing her to manage her own time with occasional reminders about aiming for 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Even with increased distractions like online socializing with TJ friends, project classmates, and tighter evening sports schedule, and family time, she still averages around 55 hours of sleep per week.

There are some nights when she stays up closer to or past midnight, but she balances it out by catching up on sleep the next night or over the weekend. As long as she continues to maintain good grades, stays involved in extracurriculars, and enjoys an active social life, we aren't concerned about the occasional late nights.

This is not how sleep works. You can not make up sleep. You can return to normal sleep routines after an interruption and the damage to your body will be recovered, but if you keep staying up then it returns to being sleep deprived. Kids should be in bed by 10pm and the acceptance of them staying up regularly until 11pm-2am is awful.

Where in the pp response did they say their kid stays up that late regularly?

In the bolded part about the sports season

[Anonymous]

Is staying up late the ‘cultural’ norm? Does the level of competition directly or indirectly promote it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is staying up late the ‘cultural’ norm? Does the level of competition directly or indirectly promote it?

it’s been this way for decades

[Anonymous]

OP - not comparing with other kids. I am in the medical field and am aware of problems associated with sleep deprivation. Want to understand what I am signing up my kid for. Is staying up late is the ‘cultural’ norm? Does the level of competition indirectly promote it as acceptable?