LWSD School Start Times

"The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later to give students the opportunity to get the amount of sleep they need, but most American adolescents start school too early."

The Advisory shared 3 recommendations for the district to consider in planning for any potential future changes in school start times:

1. Recommend that the district consider the range of Preschool programs and Elementary school start times to begin no later than 9:00 a.m.
2. Recommend that the district consider the range of middle school start and end times to remain similar to the 2018-19 ranges. (after 8 AM)
3. Recommend that the district consider the range of High School start times to begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m.

The big hang-up for our district is geography. The LW High School principal gives their students Orca passes. My wife and I recommended Microsoft Connector buses.

Next Steps:
The Superintendent will examine the recommendations to determine next steps and feasibility for any changes. Any revisions to the existing schedule would not take effect until the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Additional materials, including survey data results, verbatim survey comment themes, and student listening session themes can be found at the Start Time Advisory webpage.

By Bob Yoder, Redmond Neighborhood Blog