February: We love our members and supporters! Here's how we've been working to show our love this month. Blogging, supporting legislation, sharing success.
|
Pictured Above (L to R): Lynn Keefe, Kimberly Damron, Corinne Tutuska Porcher, and Jana McConnaughhy
Better Together (Breaking News!)
Are we better together? Just ask Start School Later Leon County, FL! With help from Lynn Keefe, MD, our national health policy director and leader of Start School Later Okaloosa County, FL, this brand new chapter convinced their local school board to vote unanimously to give all high school students the option of starting the school day later. The board is now working to provide bus routes for those needing transportation. Next step: make unhealthy start times history for ALL students.
Chapters in Maine have banded together to form Start School Later Southern Maine, hoping that working together can help districts overcome some scheduling challenges. The first victory came this week when the Cumberland and North Yarmouth schools voted to start classes later next year. |
Four New Chapters
We are thrilled to announce:
Welcome aboard! This brings us to 64 chapters in 23 states! The benefits of joining or having a local chapter are numerous.
Read More> We are looking for a few students for interviews to be featured in a major national media outlet. If you are or know a middle or high school student who can talk about how early school start times affect their lives, connect here.for more information.
Camera-ready?
We are looking for a few students for interviews to be featured in a major national media outlet. If you are or know a middle or high school student who can talk about how early school start times affect their lives, connect here.for more information. |
|
Teen Video Contest!
The American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMP) is offering high school students a chance to win $1000 for a short video telling your story of sleep struggles. Deadline is February 29th. Details here: American Sleep Medicine Foundation.
Start School Later and Huffington Post: A Beautiful Friendship
Exciting news from our Executive Director, Terra Ziporyn Snider! Terra will be blogging regularly about school start time change and teen sleep, and working directly with Arianna Huffington and her team to help raise awareness aobut health and safe school start times. Here's the first entry.
Another Huffington Post article last week hailed "a wave of schools joining the 8:30 club" -- "In one recent example, the principal of a Chicago-area school, Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, announced a wave of reforms to its school day in response to students saying they felt overwhelmed by academic stress. First on his list is changing the start time from 8:05 a.m. to 8:30 a.m."
|
|
|
|
Crystal Ball
Do we have a crystal ball that can predict the future? No, but the experts who have been studying start time change can see when local efforts are heading into troubled waters. The district profiled last month, with the red flags? The single start time proposal put forward by the Superintendent didn't survive the school board's budget deliberations intact. Read how chapter leaders framed the positive aspects of the disappointing outcome here.
There is excellent research on how to successfully implement start time reform:
|
|
Legislative Updates
In Washington State, a new bill, SB 6429, requests Washington State Institute for Public Policy to study student achievement and other outcomes when schools have later school day start times. Sponsors: Sen. McAuliffe, Sen. Litzow
Maryland has a bill before the House Ways & Means Committee. HB39/SB224 - Orange Ribbon for Healthy School Hours is a no-cost, voluntary way to recognize school districts taking steps to address safe and healthy schedules. Contact Danielle Brooks at daniellebrooks2@hotmail.com or click here for more information on how to help. Find your delegate here.
In Massachusetts, Senator Cynthia Creem’s bill S254 calls for a state-wide task force to review the scientific literature and make recommendations regarding school start times and ways to help schools implement them. At least one member of Start School Later would participate on this task force. MA residents, find a sample letter here, and find your legislators’ contact information here.
Our website features a Legislative page with up-to-date info.
Sleep Week Begins March 6th
Watch for ideas on how to promote healthy sleep and healthy schedules all week - all accessible on the Start School Later website.
|
|
|
