Pros and Cons of Our New Schedule

Pros and Cons of Our New Schedule

By Miriam Berman, Class of 2026

As you may have heard, Lower Merion School District considered new school start times.  They collected opinions from parents, high school students, and middle school students.  As a middle schooler, you filled out a form about your thoughts on the new schedule.  Here are the start times:

Middle school would be first, starting at 8:00, high school starting at 8:40, and elementary school would be starting at 9:20.  A good number of Black Rock students live over 20 minutes away, meaning some would have to wake up at nearly 6:30 A.M.  I know many students wake up even earlier than that by their own choice, but it’s unfair to the majority of students who prefer to sleep later.  According to the survey, the majority of people said that they don’t think this schedule would have a positive or negative effect.  Let’s talk about some pros and cons of this schedule.

Starting with the cons, it has been proven that teens ages 10-14 need 9-12 hours of sleep.  So if we were to get the minimum amount of recommended sleep and wake up at 6:30, you would have to go to bed at 8:30 P.M.  To many people, that’s a con.  It’s different for everyone, but many teens and tweens get tired later in the evening, towards 9:00 and 10:00.  Not getting enough sleep can lead to mental issues, having a hard time focusing, grades declining, and health problems.  The bottom line is that we need sleep to learn, and this schedule could prevent that from many people.  Another huge thing is how 4th Graders would be starting at 9:20 A.M. one year, and then 8:00 the next.  That’s a large adjustment.

There are many good pros, such as getting out early, making time in a student's schedule for sports and after school activities.  “I want it to start earlier so we can get out earlier.  I just want to be able to, like, take a nap, and be able to do some stuff and it not be 6 o’clock and dark.” says Alexia Pendergrass, 5th Grade.  This ties in with starting earlier.  Do you want to sacrifice sleeping in for time in the evening?  It would be an adjustment, but it is pretty similar to our schedule right now.  Also, this may surprise you, but many people like getting up early!  I will never understand those people, but it does have its benefits, like preparing for high school and college.  

What do you think about this decision?  It impacts everyone differently, but there are many benefits and drawbacks.  This schedule was approved by the district on Mar 19, 2023 by the district officials.  It will go into action in the fall of 2024.  I think people will benefit from this but also have some dislikes.