Olympic High School underwent late start pilot program
With a late start pilot program implemented at Olympic High School so students can get more sleep, ramifications might occur throughout the district if the pilot program proved successful.The late start program allowed for an arrival time that was an hour later than the usual time of 8:15 a.m.. Teachers at Olympic, during the pilot program, had a prep period from 8:15 a.m.-9:15 a.m. rather than in the afternoon from 2:30 p.m.-3:30. p.m.The faculty at Olympic voted unanimously to extend the late start program for the rest of the year. In the first four weeks of the program, 24 classes at Olympic saw improved attendance, while 14 did not. However according to student surveys, the majority of students at Olympic felt that the later start time helped them.Olympic High School science teacher Anthony Fuller was in charge of the program and said that the concept of a later schedule has been in the works for sometime.“The other faculty members and I at Olympic High School have been talking for years about ways to improve attendance by possibly modifying the school day,” Fuller said.According to Fuller, teens' hormonally changing bodies have a much harder time with the circadian rhythm or sleep cycle.“Studies show that teens go to bed later than adults and children, so melatonin gets released much later,” Fuller said. “Thus, kids going to sleep later, need the same amount of sleep as they did when they were children, which is 8-9 hours depending on the individual.”The body releases a chemical called melatonin as the sky darkens, which signals sleep, and as the sun rises, the body releases a chemical called cortisol that signals wakefulness. Teens have reduced amounts of cortisol in the morning, and delayed melatonin levels at night thus making it harder for them to go to bed on time, and especially hard to get up early.The National Institutes of Health suggest that teenagers get nine to 10 hours of sleep per night. Although, in a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 12 states, which surveyed approximately 72,000 individuals, 35.5% of teens reported getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night.Samo Principal Eva Mayoral said that a later start time would be ideal and would allow for more rested and healthier students.“I’m all for it,” Mayoral said. “ I think adolescents have very different internal clock settings, and it would be awesome to allow for this difference, and start school later.”At Samo, AM classes begin at 7:07 a.m. and the regular schedule begins at 8:15 a.m.. If Samo started school an hour later, at 9:30 a.m., school would have to be let out at 4:30 p.m., which could impact some student’s after-school activities.According to Ben Stackel (’16), a late start program would have to be adjusted so that impact on other activities would be minimal.“I would mind getting out later, because of extracurricular activities,” Stackel said. “I’d rather have it start later and end half-an hour-later, just not too late.” Stackel said.Ben Spillman (’16) believes that Samo’s AM schedule and regular start time negatively affects students throughout the day.“AM affects my ability to function properly towards the end of the day,” Spillman said. “It kicks in during 5th period. It is entirely possible to have an AM and still function if you can manage to get to sleep by nine.”Samo’s general policy is that students will not receive more than three hours of homework a night, but getting to sleep in time for a good night’s rest, more than 9 hours of sleep, is not always possible.“We all know getting to sleep by nine isn’t possible because of the massive work-load we receive,” Spillman said. “Realistically, I can get to sleep by 10. That’s if I’m lucky. Free time is out of the question, which also hurts my abilities in school.”According to Henry Felstener ('16), the new program may cause some difficulties for athletes."The extra sleep would be beneficial to our in school activities," Felstener said. "But being an athlete, you would have to stay at school for a long time if the schedule wasn't adjusted, and I don't think most athletes would like that."gziaukas@thesamohi.com