Later School Start Time Pays Off With More Attentive Students

It’s a no-brainer — not getting enough sleep makes it harder for kids to learn. And a new study finds that starting school later in the morning can help teens be more alert during the day.

In 2017, the Cherry Creek School District in Greenwood Village, Colo., changed start times from 8 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. for its middle school students and from 7:10 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. for high school students.

That change gave middle schoolers 31 more minutes of sleep, while high schoolers got 48 minutes more, the researchers said.

“Biological changes in the circadian rhythm, or internal clock, during puberty prevents teens from falling asleep early enough to get sufficient sleep when faced with