North’s 9 a.m. start time sounds like a dream in theory. More sleep, more freedom to stay up late, and more time to eat a filling breakfast in the morning should result in healthier, happier students. Yet North’s shift from its previous 7:50 a.m. start has led to serious problems for students, especially those with intense athletic, academic, or extracurricular schedules.
With school ending at 3:45 p.m, student-athletes are often forced to leave class early. Many schools in the area, such as Natick, Needham, and Brookline, finish school more than an hour earlier, so North’s student-athletes are often forced to miss entire class periods to make it to games and meets. Teachers are sometimes forced to adjust their lessons around athletic dismissals, and students are left scrambling to catch up on missed academics. This creates a cycle of stress and frustration and makes it hard to stay on top of everything. As a two-season athlete, I face this challenge weekly, and I always feel pulled in two different directions.
For students who aren’t involved in sports, the later end time still cuts into the rest of the day. After leaving school and heading straight to clubs or extra academic classes, students return home in the evening exhausted. Those participating in Theatre Ink shows, for instance, stay at school for hours after the last bell rings to complete rehearsals and prepare for production dates. By the time their homework assignments are finished, it’s often late, causing that intended extra sleep to be replaced by late-night studying and burnout. It leaves less time for jobs, clubs, and time with friends or family.
The idea behind the later start was to improve students’ well-being, but it’s done the opposite. Instead of making students’ lives easier, it shifted the pressure to later in the day and piled more stress onto already full schedules.
What’s most frustrating is that this wasn’t always the case. When school started closer to 7:50 a.m., the schedule allowed for better balance. Yes, it meant getting up earlier, but it also meant having more of the afternoon to use productively, without the fear of sacrificing class time or staying up late every night.
It’s time for North to reconsider the 9:00 a.m. start. Students need a schedule that reflects their lives both in and out of school. Starting school earlier again, even just by 30 to 60 minutes, could relieve pressure on both ends of the day. If the goal is truly to support students’ health and well-being, students need better than just later mornings; they need a schedule that doesn’t offset the second half of the day and instead values students’ time, learning, and well-being.
