(from NPR) Two years after moving times to extend the sleeping hours of middle and high school students, the Seattle School District is seeing better grades, less tardiness, fewer absences. In the 2016-17 school year, the district moved the official start times for middle school and high school from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., in the hopes that students would get more sleep and therefore be prepared for the school day. A study by researchers at the University of Washington found that students got 34 minutes more sleep on average, and a select group of students also received higher grades in a first-period class than a similar group had the previous year, under the earlier start time. In addition after the time switch, students showed a greater ability to engage in deeper thought and scientific discourse, and the number of students who were tardy or absent decreased significantly.
Previous studies found nearly 3/4 of high school students sleep less than the recommended eight to 10 hours a night. The American Academy of Pediatrics for some time has recommended that classes start no early than 8:30 a.m.
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