High School Starting at 10:30

Adolescents on average need 9¼ hours of sleep per night, but average only 7½ hours of sleep per night (with 25 percent sleeping 6½ hours or less).

Sleep debt affects mood and the ability of teens to regulate mood.  People do not “get used” to less sleep. 

Sleep debt affects teens’ ability to think, perform and react appropriately and safely.

The biological clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle shifts to a later sleep and wake time as children become adolescents.

Melatonin, the sleep hormone is released later at night, making it difficult for teens to fall asleep before 11 p.m.  Teens may be more “awake” at 10 p.m. than they are earlier in the day.

This same hormone makes it hard for teens to wake and be alert before 8:00 a.m.

Millions of adolescents are despondent. Some are on medication for depression.

Creativity and problem solving are directly linked to adequate sleep. (Nature, Jan. 21, 2004)

Building up a sleep debt over a matter of days can impair metabolism and disrupt hormone levels. Sleep debt can contribute to obesity.

Most FCPS high schools start at 7:20 a.m. with students arriving at 7 a.m. Middle schools typically start between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. Hormones released by the adolescent brain make this a drowsy time of day.  The FCPS Task Force that studied this issue in 1998 recommended that FCPS start secondary schools later.