New, later school start time becomes routine in Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The streetlights are still on, and the dark sky is only just starting to turn a fuzzy shade of blue as a small group of girls huddle near the side doors to Rock Bridge High School.

The doors unlock about 6:30 a.m., and the girls stagger inside, laden with heavy winter coats and duffel bags and say a quick hello to Nicole Clemens, a teacher at Rock Bridge and one of their head coaches. Though class doesn't officially begin until 8:55, the Rock Bridge Bruin Girls dance team arrives early twice a week for morning dance practice.

Last year was the first year Columbia public schools implemented new start times. Previously, high schools started at 7:50 a.m., with middle and elementary schools beginning later in the day. After switching from a two- to a three-tiered bus system and considering research that high school students' circadian rhythms caused them to naturally stay awake later and sleep in later, the order of school start times was switched.

The first year, some students and parents struggled to change their routine to fit everything in. Extracurricular activities went later than they used to, causing rushed family dinners or a lack of family bonding time. In the morning, students would often arrive late to school or, for high school students, mentally check out before their last class ended at 4:05 p.m. Clemens, as a parent and teacher, felt and saw firsthand the challenges of the new start times.

Now, one year later, many of those issues have been resolved as parents, teachers and students have created and settled into a new routine -- even if it does mean early mornings for some groups.

"Last year, everyone was just trying to figure it out," Clemens said. Dance practice is over for the day and there is still half an hour before class started, but the halls of Rock Bridge are filled with students seeking out teachers and getting situated. A line forms outside the media center as students wait for it to open.

Last year, this was not the case. But it's much more common now.

"It took a while to break everybody of some old habits and learn new habits with the start times, but I see in all areas that it's much more productive," Clemens said.

She said she sees more students involved in general, largely because of bus schedules. Originally, students had to catch a bus or wait hours for a ride. With everything running later, that's not as much of an issue for students who can't drive -- which is more than half of Rock Bridge's students.

"We also don't have nearly the tardy issues that we did last year," Clemens said. "The kids have learned 'yes, school starts at 8:55 but that doesn't mean I can sleep 'til 8:30,' which was, I think, some of our problem last year. Now they've figured out what sleeping in and still getting to school on time looks like."

When the start times were new, a large concern was student athletes getting out of their last class early to go to away meets or games. While the athletes do still leave early, Clemens said her students have all become much better at planning ahead and letting her know when they will be gone.

That aside, Clemens sees no other drawbacks to a later start time for high schools.

"If we don't even consider the massive amounts of research (for it), I still think it's a positive in that more kids are getting involved and are able to seek out any help they need," she said. "Teachers are able to have more time in the morning -- I mean, we are people too, and we all have our own kids to get on the bus and families to take care of -- and now with an 8:55 start I can get here at eight with my kid on the bus and my family taken care of and 55 minutes to get my life together here."

'The mom side of it'

Last year, Clemens had such a busy schedule, after school was a mad rush of getting her kids, Ashlyn, 9, and Elliot, 4, from day care and school to gymnastics and then home for dinner and homework and then to bed at a decent time so she could get some grading done and they would be rested enough for the next day.

"The mom side of it," she said, "was figuring out a way to get kids to activities and everyone in bed at a decent time to start it all over bright and early in the morning, hasn't gotten any easier. But that's just because my kid keeps getting busier."

The Clemens family has made changes that are "livable," though. They changed Elliot's day care and hired someone to take Ashlyn from school to gymnastics, which was a big issue for Clemens last year.

Though she doesn't get to see Ashlyn until 8 p.m. "pretty much every day, which is tough 'cause she's 9, she's not a piece of the afternoon puzzle I have to worry about anymore," Clemens said.

Now, the after-school schedule is a bit more relaxed.

After picking up Elliot, Clemens has time to run errands, get groceries or go to Target and look at the toys, Elliot's favorite hobby right now, she said. Everyone gets home at 8:30 and it's bed by 9 p.m.

On the weekends, she holes up in her favorite booth in a nearby coffee shop and "grades like a madwoman."

"It's not the best situation in terms of family time or me time or being able to see my husband time, but that's the moment we're at in our life. It's not significantly worse or significantly better because of the start time," Clemens said.

Though they've settled into a routine, getting up for morning practices is still rough, with a silver lining.

"It's so cold, and it's so dark, and that first moment when the alarm goes off I'm like, 'Oh, not today, I'm not doing this today,"' she said. "But I love my job, and once you're up, it's fine, and I love being here."

Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com