They changed our start time to 7:10 AM

How smart is it to make pre-schoolers wait for the bus in the dark?

I have to be at school at 6:30, as in the morning.

Ouch.

No more late nights on DU. Unless I can't sleep.

Have I mentioned lately that I work for really really stupid people? :mad:

:wtf:

So I would imagine we can leave at 2:30, which I will be doing. :)

I foresee higher profits for all those lovely daycare places that pick up little ones in the early afternoon.

So the kids are at school for 10 hour days.

Although I suppose that if there's a cost, it's still less than the commercial services.

But that's much too early for kids to be at school, I'm sorry. I would never have been able to get mine up and some sort of breakfast in them and then gotten them to the school at that ungodly hour.

They used to have to pay (but not much) when a private non-profit ran the program. But the district took it back over last year and I don't know if they charge or not.

Very long day for the kids, yeah. We start at 7:15.

or at least when we only had to work 8 hours at a crack.

All the traffic you'll see will be from prep cooks, nurses, and fellow teachers.

And yes, it's far too early for the kids. They won't be awake until 8:30.

I have to be honest. I'd love that schedule. I'm an early bird anyway, I'm at my best earlier in the day, and I'd get to go home with daylight left.

I'm the ONLY teacher I know, not to mention the families, that feels that way, though. Is this something to do with bus schedules, or to make it possible to start middle and high school later, since research supports late starts for adolescents?

Hopefully your district will have to deal with enough outraged parents, and tardies, that this schedule won't last beyond the year.

It is dark here at 7 am in the fall. It is insane to have 3, 4 and 5 year olds on street corners waiting for buses in the dark.

I think that is more important than what schedule suits my needs best.

At least, it is after the time changes in the fall.

In my area, between late November and late January, it's going to be dark at the bus stop no matter what time we start school; being rural, the bus routes are long and being further north, our shortest winter days are SHORT.

I get really tired of school starting times being dictated by bus scheduling. I know it takes more money to run more buses, but I'd like there to be enough to go around so that we could set schedules according to what works best for the actual education of the student.

7:10 is too early.

I think 8:00 or 8:30 is okay, with 9:00 probably better for the adolescent crew, since research on sleep patterns supports that.

My school has a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club; we've given them space for two portables, plus access before and after school to the playground, gym, and cafeteria. A LOT of our kids do before and after school with them, instead of riding the bus. It helps with parents' work schedules.

Some of those kids get dropped off at 6:30 am, which is when their doors open. Some are there until 6pm, which is when they are done for the day.

We're a K-8. It makes for a really long day for some of them. They do get the opportunity to do homework, have snacks, etc., of course.

I wonder if our parents would put small children on a bus that early. I'm betting that parent pressure will make a difference with your school board this year.

And honestly, not enough of them speak out for them to be a group that gets much respect.

I've found school boards to be a lot more open to what parents have to say than teachers. Perhaps some organized communication with the community is in order?

and not enough time with the rest of the district staff.

All staff, except of course administrators, have to go through channels to get their issues heard so by the time the board hears about it the message has usually been tweaked or in someway discounted by those in power. If it's not to their benefit that is. With the political climate the way it is the boards usually have a few irrational union haters and many "I'm jealous they have the summer off" members.
One example: When contracts are negotiated the administration is the go between but when it comes time for administration they negotiate directly with the board so no one tempers their requests.

Elementary kids have a 7:45 start time for the reason you cited. Research shows the adolescents need the later start time. The distict I work in has high schoolers starting first. Parents and teachers have a say in the schedule and start times.

My school start time was... 8 AM or so :(

I admit that I wouldn't mind that schedule personally, it does seem brutal for little kids.

We had a union meeting this afternoon and they said none of the elementary schools are starting this early, this must be a mistake. And usually the union knows more than the principals.

So who knows what we are going to do.

Have I mentioned that the stupid people I work for run a very dysfunctional bureaucracy? :)

This seems like something parents might want to know in advance.

Teachers report back next Mon.

Our people would be outraged if they did this here. Parents need more notice than this.

most of our parents are too busy struggling to survive to get very involved at school.

It is hard to adjust, my last school started at 8


I do like being home earlier but it is hard to get up at 5:40


Middle schools should start at 9. The first 3 hours, the kids are almost sleepwalking

. . . little ones wouldn't have to be to school so early. Our earliest is 7:55.

The problem with the later start for the older kids is SPORTS. They don't want to have to practice football in the dark! Somehow they manage.

Busing cost is one of the biggest hinderances to sensible school schedules.

...When even late October is going too far in terms of dark mornings, to hold on to DST an extra week makes for even darker mornings. Is it really that important to have an extra hour of daylight for trick-or-treaters? I always thought the whole idea of Halloween was that everything is getting cold and dark by then, and early sunsets help with the mood.

But they had to provide residences for the faculty. ( i.e. They had to spend $$$).

Now they ( the school districts ) get the best of both worlds: slave labor... without the expense of maintaining the slave quarters.

And you're complaining?

7:10 is when the coffee maker should start gently making its burbling sound. When you are still bargaining with the alarm clock for another five minutes. It's way to early to start school. Kids or grownups. I guess this is because all the parents want to drop their kids off early so they can get to work.

And we were done at 1:31. Being a morning person, it was sweeeeet.

But elementary? That's just brutal. I'm just waking up my kids at that time.