Tuesday, August 5, 2014

What is a good time to start school? (#K12 #education)


Kids often do not want to go to bed when they are supposed to, and that often makes for a difficult morning time. Most of us are aware that school kids should be getting a lot more sleep than they do.

My question is what time should school be starting? What is the optimal time to balance the kids’ needs, the parents’ needs, and the schools’ needs?

I recently read this article, and I thanked my lucky stars we do not have to drive far to get to school:

“Hundreds of N.Y.C. Schools Will Start the Day Earlier This Fall”

“Many New York City students will be waking up for school a little earlier come September, as hundreds of the city's schools adjust their start time.”

“The changes in schools' start times stem from a requirement in the city's new contract with the teachers' union to set aside blocks of time for professional development and parent engagement. The contract extended the parameters for the teacher workday so that it now ends by 4 p.m. at the latest on Mondays and Tuesdays (workdays will continue to end no later than 3:45 p.m. the rest of the week), but many schools are also tweaking their start time to accommodate the changes, according to the New York City Department of Education.”

“One Brooklyn parent, Dzianis Kapylou, found out that his 6-year-old daughter's school, the Talented & Gifted School for Young Scholars in East Harlem, moved its start time from 8:50 a.m. to 8:05 a.m. His daughter will now have to wake up at 6 a.m. to make it to school on time, he told the New York Daily News. He added that if he had known this would be the start time, he would not have considered the school.”

“In fact, Kapylou started a Change.org petition to protest the change in schedule for the five citywide gifted and talented schools, since families commute to those schools from all over the city. So far, it's gathered more than 800 signatures.”

What are your thoughts on this subject?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam


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