Editor:
My kids finished high school over 30 years ago, so I’m not in the current loop, but I hope a bunch of you current school parents will go to the School Board and not just request, but demand a change in the school bus schedule.
When I see kids getting out of school at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., then realize that many of them had to awake before 6 a.m. to catch a bus, I wonder why. Why do they have to start the day so early?
Starting school at 7:40 a.m. is not an optimal time for children to learn and try to meet the “No Child Left Behind” or other goals. Studies have shown that children are not at their best so early in the morning – including high schoolers. And why should the whole school, such as Hawthorne, have to start so early just because some kids come in on a bus? What about all those who walk or bike to school? They have to start early too, just because of the bus?
When my kids rode the bus, it was not supposed to be longer than an hour to the farthest point. To start classes at 7:40, the bus should unload by about 7:15 at the very latest because of the breakfast schedule. If the farthest child rode for nearly an hour, allowing a mere half hour to get dressed and out the door at home, this child is out of bed by 6 a.m. or earlier. That’s too early for kindergarteners!
A majority of children have a real struggle with that… their circadian rhythm (daily body rhythm) says they should still be sleeping for another hour or so. How many mothers have noticed this? Many adult jobs start at 8 a.m. or later, so why should young children start earlier?
The whole point is, the school schedule should begin one hour later, and dismiss one hour later, to provide a much better learning environment. Without the early morning struggle, the mood is set on a better tone for the learning adventures of the day.
If the argument is that the after school hours are needed for extracurricular activities, then more of those activities can be optional or before school, but don’t require the whole student body to conform their hours to those activities. I go back to my first premise: What is best for the kids?
Parents, these are your children, and you want them to get the best education available. It will improve considerably just by starting the whole school schedule an hour later. Let the school board know you care, so they can make appropriate changes.
Joan Scofield
Sweet Home