Newtown students will be getting more rest as school start times get pushed back.
A tweet from the Newtown High School principal is as eye-opening as a bedside alarm.
"#Newtownhs school start time next year for high school. 8 a.m. Thanks to the board of ed who truly showed they care about students!" a tweet on the high school's account reads.
Students know all about waking up early to be at school by 7:20 a.m.
"I would wake up around 6 a.m. and leave my house at 6:45," student Fiona Duplesis said. "I hate it."
That feeling is one of the reasons the school start time committee asked the board of education to readjust school start times for the high school, middle school and the intermediate school.
In a Powerpoint on the school's website, the committee presents the scientific benefits of delayed start times:
- Improved physical and mental health
- Improved safety
- Athletic performance
- Potential for improved academic performance
Since school will begin later it also will end later, stretching from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
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It's a change worrying student athletes,.including field hockey player Jordan Stofko.
"I am usually up until the last minute doing homework and then I go to bed. I really don't have that much time to do other things," said Stofko.
In an email to parents, school officials said the alarms will be rolled back this fall.
Whether the new methods actually improve student performance is something students said they will have to sleep on.
"I wouldn't feel tired, I'd feel energetic, so I think this is a good thing," Duplesis.
School officials said these delayed start times are "budget neutral."
With this delayed start, bus schedules will be changed to accommodate the changes.
