Adjusting School Hours: Promoting Better Sleep and Student Well-Being through Circadian Rhythm Alignment

Sleep is very critical to the health and academic success of high school students. However, many adolescents struggle to get enough sleep due to the misalignment between their natural sleep patterns and early school start times. This misalignment is driven by circadian rhythms, which regulate the body's sleep wake cycle. During adolescence, these rhythms shift, causing teenagers to fall asleep later and wake up later which conflicts with early school start times. Adjusting school hours to better align with student’s circadian rhythms can significantly improve their sleep, well-being, and academic performance to better prepare them for college or their future careers. Circadian rhythms are the natural, internal processes that regulate the sleep wake cycle and repeat roughly every 24 hours. For teenagers, these rhythms shift during puberty causing a natural delay in their sleep patterns. This means that adolescents tend to fall asleep later in the evening and wake up later in the morning (Dunster et al., 2018). Despite this, many high schools in the United States start before 8am, forcing students to wake up during their biological night, leading to chronic sleep deprivation (Groen & Pabilonia, 2020).

Adequate sleep, particularly REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, is crucial for cognitive functioning, including memory consolidation and emotional regulation. When student’s get more REM sleep it could result in improved mood and memory recall that could be beneficial to their academic performance. Studies have shown that when students get enough sleep their grades and test scores improve (Gabaldon-Estevan et al., 2024). Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, can impair cognitive abilities, reduce attention, and negatively affect mood. Adolescents who are sleep deprived are also more prone to physical health issues, such as obesity (Perfect et al., 2020). Many high schools in the United States begin classes before 8:00 a.m., despite recommendations from health organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics which suggests that schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. (Au et al., 2014). Unfortunately only a small percentage of schools have adopted this recommendation.

There are school districts that have successfully adjusted their schedules to align with student’s circadian rhythms. For example, Seattle Public Schools moved their start time to 8:45 a.m., which resulted in high school students gaining an average of 34 minutes of additional sleep per night and improvements in academic performance. Additionally, schools that have made this change have seen increased attendance and decreased tardiness, as students are more likely to attend school regularly when they are well rested  (Dunster et al., 2018). While the benefits of later start times are clear, some logistical challenges remain. Concerns include adjusting transportation schedules, potential conflicts with after school activities and parent’s work routines. However, these challenges are able to be adjusted because schools can work with transportation providers to modify bus routes, and after school programs can be rescheduled to accommodate later dismissal times.

As the evidence continues to grow it becomes increasingly clear that adjusting high school start times to align with student’s circadian rhythms is a critical step toward improving their health, well-being, and academic success. It’s essential that researchers, educators, parents, and policymakers consider these findings and advocate for changes that support student’s sleep cycles. By making these adjustments, we can foster a healthier, more productive environment for students to thrive. Which would essentially help them be better prepared for college and their future careers.

References

Au, R., Carskadon, M., Millman, R., Wolfson, A., Braverman, P. K., Adelman, W. P., Breuner, C. C., Levine, D. A., Marcell, A. V., Murray, P. J., O’Brien, R. F., Devore, C. D., Allison, M., Ancona, R., Barnett, F. S. E., Gunther, R., Holmes, B., Lamont, J. H., Minier, M., . . . Young, T. (2014). School start times for adolescents. PEDIATRICS, 134(3), 642–649. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-1697

Dunster, G. P., De La Iglesia, L., Ben-Hamo, M., Nave, C., Fleischer, J. G., Panda, S., & De La Iglesia, H. O. (2018). Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students. Science Advances, 4(12). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau6200

Gabaldón-Estevan, D., Carmona-Talavera, D., Catalán-Gregori, B., Mañas-García, E., Martin-Carbonell, V., Monfort, L., Martinez-Besteiro, E., González-Carrasco, M., Hernández-Jiménez, M. J., Täht, K., Talavera, M., Ancheta-Arrabal, A., Sáez, G., Estany, N., Pin-Arboledas, G., & Reis, C. (2024). Kairos study protocol: a multidisciplinary approach to the study of school timing and its effects on health, well-being and students’ performance. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1336028

Groen, J. A., & Pabilonia, S. W. (2020). School start times, academic achievement, and time use. Monthly Labor Review, 1–2.

Perfect, M. M., Frye, S. S., & Williams, S. B. H. (2019). The mind–body connection in sleep health: Conducting assessments and interventions in school settings. In American Psychological Association eBooks (pp. 335–353). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000157-023