Recent national press coverage on teenage sleep patterns has forced school districts everywhere to re-evaluate when their schools start in the morning. The recent research into adolescent sleep patterns has consistently shown that most teens need nine hours of sleep, yet cannot go to sleep earlier than 11 p.m. With most high school starting times in the 7:15 to 7:45 a.m. range, students are essentially being forced awake before their brains are. 

"I’m really excited about the possibility of getting more sleep. It pains me deeply to see my sister so tired in the mornings, and I’d be really thankful if I could get out of that situation," said eighth grader Annie Bank. Numerous schools across the country have already implemented later start times, including Arlington County which as of the 2001-2002 school year will delay start times of its high schools to 8:15 a.m.

While the Falls Church City school board has not yet decided to take such a step, it has set up a School Day Starting Time Task Force. The group, which began meeting in December, is currently reviewing findings on whether the idea of delaying the start time of George Mason is a feasible one. The importance of such a review and the many factors involved mean that if a plan were approved, it would be enacted at the earliest in the 2002-2003 school year. "This plan, if it goes through, will be affecting everyone involved with the FCCPS system, so we have to make sure we take into account all the factors," said school system superintendent Mary Ellen Shaw. "The real purpose of this investigation is to see if changing the start times will aid the students in learning better," she said.

One impact of the later start time could mean later sports practices and such.

"I think it’s fine how it is. I wouldn’t want to have to stay at school for after-school-activities until 7 or 730, I couldn’t get any homework done," said sophomore William Henneburg. Fellow sophomore Aysha Twose shares his view, citing her experience with late start times during her years in the United Kingdom. "My mum was always annoyed because we’d have to eat supper late every night after my practices, she said.

Others simply find that they cannot go to sleep early, supporting the findings of sleep researchers.

"I’m quite a nocturnal individual, so it’s hard to get to bed anytime before 10 o’clock, even if I’ve completed all my work. I’ll lie awake in my bed listening to National Public Radio until I fall asleep an hour later, and then my mom wonders why I’m so tired in the morning," said sophomore Tony Clark.

"Since the amount of sleep a student gets correlates strongly with academic performances and social behavior, it’s important for high schools to have later start times," said William Dement, director of the Sleep Disorders Center of Stanford University. There is by now a reservoir of knowledge about the sleep patterns and needs of adolescents, but recognizing a plan of action to amend the situation is much easier than implementing one. While conducting its own review of changing high school start times, nearby district Montgomery County found that $30 million would be needed to pay for the changes in busing. While such a sum won’t be involved in the potential changes, it will be an important aspect that the task force will have to address. 

"Our small size means that all the schools in the FCCPS system share the same buses, so a change in start times would prompt a reorganization of the buses, or possibly the need to buy new ones, and that’s a factor we’ll have to weigh in," said Shaw.

Those students who would have most or all of their high school careers affected by this potential change show most enthusiasm for the idea. As a current sophomore, Mark Murchie would be a senior when the later start time would come into effect. "I’m already feeling the strain of an IB-schedule so some extra sleep would be swell," he said. 

Whether or not students take advantage of the opportunity to get more sleep, if and when it comes, a later start time could enable students to come to school mentally rested, if not prepared.