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

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I wish parents could attend period 1 at MCPS high schools for 1 week.
They would change their tune quickly.
I’m a HS teacher and don’t mind the early start as I am an early riser.
But I feel terrible for my students. First period is so different from my other classes. Half the students arrive late. They trickle in all throughout period 1.
The remaining kids are either half or fully asleep. Most states have moved high school start times to 8 am or later but MCPS is not progressive in this regard


+100. Another HS teacher here. I teach on-level physics and chemistry at a very diverse school and I often only have 4 students out of 30 at the start of period 1. By the end of period 1, maybe we are at 15-20 students max out of 30. Period 1 starting at 7.45 am does not work. It is a wasted period.


What has changed, other than the internet and social media, since the 1990s? My high school started at 7:45. With the exceptions of late busses, trains, or crazy traffic, everyone was there at 7:45. And no, half the class wasn’t asleep in 1st period. So why are 2023 teens unable to do this but 1990s/2000s teens were?


Well, since the 1990s, kids have been getting less healthy, more obese, depressed, and anxious - and that was before social media. It's not about whether they are able to get up, but whether that is best for their health and learning.

And to the person who said that they need to get ready for the real work world, when they are in the real world, they won't be teens anymore, meaning that their sleep needs will be different.

Bussing logistics and money are reasons why start times haven't changed. However, if you are against changing for any other reason, you are ignoring unanimous agreement from experts that later start times are healthier.

I don't live in Montgomery County, but in my county, the high school start time doesn't even tell the full story of how early teens are forced to get up. My kid has a 7:25 a.m. start time, which required him to be at the bus stop at 6:25. The bus got them to school between 6:50 and 7:00 a.m. so that the driver could leave to pick up middle school kids who had a 7:40 start time. Basically, kids have wasted time spent milling about outside in the earning morning simply to save money on buses. They aren't working, exercising, or learning - just killing time before school and spending their days exhausted.


Or, you could just drive your kids to school. Seems simple enough to me. Surely you could drive your kid.. or are you the lazy one?

Your kids may not be doing much but some of our kids are. My kids have activities every day right after school so a later start time would be an issue with getting them to activities on time, then homework, shower, dinner and bed. Just because you have an issue in your home you refuse to fix, does not mean the rest of us should cater to you.

Really, drive your kid.

Why are you even posting here if it has no impact on your child if they aren't MCPS? The issue isn't the same here as what you are saying. Kids aren't going to school early.


Activities could shift to before school. Those are optional. School is not and should be at a time that prioritizes the well-being of students.


Activities are largely run by teachers, often those who have children of their own. What are they going to do with their babies, preschoolers, and ES kids at 4:30 AM?


If school started at 9:25 as the late-starting ES do now, you could have activities start at 8, which is later than teachers start teaching now. Sports would start earlier with of course paid coaches.

Obviously it can be done. Other school districts do, as does the entire state of CA. MCPS just chooses not to do it.


Many kids are in outside activities so how would that work when coaches and others have other jobs? And, if you have activities early that is the same thing as school early. This is not CA. CA is very different than MCPS.


Ya, I don't understand why we should aspire to be CA.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seems like another argument for splitting up MCPS into smaller districts. Easier to coordinate buses.


How would that help. You still need the same number or more buses.


You wouldn't because fewer students would be traveling, and fewer as far.

What?? You need to get off this thread because you clearly don't understand how the bus system works. You could split the county into 25 districts (one per HS) and have the same problem because each bus is running the same basic routes within one HS cluster everyday. HS-MS-ES1-ES2 in morning, then HS-MS-ES1-ES2 again in afternoon. The only way to have fewer run slots (and compact the overall schedule) is to have more buses (regardless of the start times order).
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seems like another argument for splitting up MCPS into smaller districts. Easier to coordinate buses.


How would that help. You still need the same number or more buses.


You wouldn't because fewer students would be traveling, and fewer as far.

What?? You need to get off this thread because you clearly don't understand how the bus system works. You could split the county into 25 districts (one per HS) and have the same problem because each bus is running the same basic routes within one HS cluster everyday. HS-MS-ES1-ES2 in morning, then HS-MS-ES1-ES2 again in afternoon. The only way to have fewer run slots (and compact the overall schedule) is to have more buses (regardless of the start times order).


Actually there's another way, which is: reduce the fraction of students who need bus service, by improving walk/bike routes to school and using public transit instead of school buses on public transit routes.
Anonymous
I just moved to MoCo and am shocked by the late elementary start time! That's going to be a major adjustment. My kids will enjoy the long morning at home, though- I think.

Also, I went to a HS that started at 7:30 and that was just awful. I remember being tired all the time and constantly late. Makes zero sense.
Anonymous
I went to hs in the 90s and our start time was 7:10. I wasn’t on a cell phone. It was brutal and looking back I strongly believe my hs years and my entire friggin trajectory in life would’ve been better if I didn’t have to wake up by 6am. I won’t do this to my kids.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I just moved to MoCo and am shocked by the late elementary start time! That's going to be a major adjustment. My kids will enjoy the long morning at home, though- I think.

Also, I went to a HS that started at 7:30 and that was just awful. I remember being tired all the time and constantly late. Makes zero sense.



+100. Welcome to MCPS.
Somethings about MCPS suck but people here hate change and declare any improvements to be impossible.
Opposite of a can-do mentality

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I just moved to MoCo and am shocked by the late elementary start time! That's going to be a major adjustment. My kids will enjoy the long morning at home, though- I think.

Also, I went to a HS that started at 7:30 and that was just awful. I remember being tired all the time and constantly late. Makes zero sense.

+1. It was incredibly common for kids to fall asleep in class. I was moody and depressed because I couldn’t fall asleep before 11pm which meant I only ever got 6.5 hours of sleep on a good night.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just moved to MoCo and am shocked by the late elementary start time! That's going to be a major adjustment. My kids will enjoy the long morning at home, though- I think.

Also, I went to a HS that started at 7:30 and that was just awful. I remember being tired all the time and constantly late. Makes zero sense.

+1. It was incredibly common for kids to fall asleep in class. I was moody and depressed because I couldn’t fall asleep before 11pm which meant I only ever got 6.5 hours of sleep on a good night.


I had this problem too until realized I could set my clock forward to hours and was cured!
Anonymous
Sucks for kids to wake up so early and it's unnatural. Shame on MCPS for not figuring out how to switch it. Many other school districts have done this and there are studies showing how the kids learning improved. Who is running this place? We go to an area private that starts at a healthy 9am.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I just moved to MoCo and am shocked by the late elementary start time! That's going to be a major adjustment. My kids will enjoy the long morning at home, though- I think.

Also, I went to a HS that started at 7:30 and that was just awful. I remember being tired all the time and constantly late. Makes zero sense.


It's shocking! Well not really because they use the same busses they can't all start at 9am.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Sucks for kids to wake up so early and it's unnatural. Shame on MCPS for not figuring out how to switch it. Many other school districts have done this and there are studies showing how the kids learning improved. Who is running this place? We go to an area private that starts at a healthy 9am.


Unnatural like in the olden days when people had to rise with the sun etc oh wait that is natural.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sucks for kids to wake up so early and it's unnatural. Shame on MCPS for not figuring out how to switch it. Many other school districts have done this and there are studies showing how the kids learning improved. Who is running this place? We go to an area private that starts at a healthy 9am.


Unnatural like in the olden days when people had to rise with the sun etc oh wait that is natural.


Sunrise this morning was at 7:27 am. If you rise at 7:27 am, you will not be on time for a school day that starts at 7:45 am, even if you live next door to the school.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Sucks for kids to wake up so early and it's unnatural. Shame on MCPS for not figuring out how to switch it. Many other school districts have done this and there are studies showing how the kids learning improved. Who is running this place? We go to an area private that starts at a healthy 9am.


How nice for you. This is the Montgomery County Public Schools forum, where the topic of this thread is "MCPS High School 7:45 am for teens is too early."
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sucks for kids to wake up so early and it's unnatural. Shame on MCPS for not figuring out how to switch it. Many other school districts have done this and there are studies showing how the kids learning improved. Who is running this place? We go to an area private that starts at a healthy 9am.


Unnatural like in the olden days when people had to rise with the sun etc oh wait that is natural.


Many HS students have to be at their bus stops before the sun rises.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Sucks for kids to wake up so early and it's unnatural. Shame on MCPS for not figuring out how to switch it. Many other school districts have done this and there are studies showing how the kids learning improved. Who is running this place? We go to an area private that starts at a healthy 9am.


I agree it's dumb, but MCPS will never figure out how to change it. They just won't. "Too big", not enough creative problem-solvers at central office, etc. It's also terrible for the ES kids like mine who naturally wake up earlier but don't start school until 930am.

My sister teaches and sends her kids to school in a district that reversed the schedule and says the change is so much better all around.
post reply Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Message Quick Reply
Go to: