Seattle high school to let pupils sleep in

Come September, students at Seattle's Nathan Hale High School will have an extra hour to sleep in the morning.

That's because school officials are pushing back the day's traditional starting time one hour, from 7:45 to 8:45 a.m. The move, which has encountered mixed reactions from teachers, students and parents at the 1,100-student North End school, makes Hale's start time the latest among Seattle's 10 comprehensive high schools.

School officials said they hope that with an extra hour of sleep, Nathan Hale students will arrive in class more well-rested, and the results will show up in their grades.

"Ultimately, we'd like to be like the other districts that have had success with it," said assistant principal Kathryn Hutchinson, who has spearheaded the late-start push. "We'd like to see kids sleeping in later and performing better."

While Hale officials feel a later start will result in improved learning and higher attendance, many are concerned about the impact on sports, before- and after-school activities, student jobs, transportation and family obligations.

Because the end of the school day also has been pushed back an hour, to 3:15 p.m., many are concerned that team sports, such as baseball and fast-pitch softball, will not have enough daylight to finish their games, or that they will conflict with classes.

Time conflicts for playing fields also may arise. In some instances, home games will start later, but some are concerned students will be pulled out of their final class period too often to travel with their teams.

"I don't really like it," said junior Kyle Ferris. "I play three sports. For baseball, we have games at 3:30. Even for our home games, I'll have to miss some class."

The concept of a later school day at Hale is nothing new. The original idea came about at a principals' meeting in 1996, when Superintendent John Stanford asked if anyone was interested in trying it. Hale Principal Eric Benson volunteered.

Since then, the school's two governing bodies, the Site Council and Senate, consisting of staff, parents, administrators, students and community representatives, have studied the issue and addressed concerns about how a scheduling change might affect sports and transportation. The change was approved by the Senate by a slim margin in October.

The concept of later start times for high schools has gained momentum in recent years and has been initiated in nearly 20 states. Locally, Mercer Island High School moved its start time from 7:20 a.m. to 8 a.m. last fall.

Seattle School District spokeswoman Lynn Steinberg said there's no indication other Seattle secondary schools are considering similar scheduling changes.

Some researchers have suggested that when children enter adolescence, their bodies want them to go to sleep later and wake up later, but because of early school start times, they're going to school tired.

One body of research that persuaded Hale officials to give students more time to sleep involved the Minneapolis School District, a large, urban district that moved its high-school start times from 7:15 a.m. to 8:40 in 1997.

Initial findings from that study, conducted by Kyla Wahlstrom of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, found that students who started school later reported fewer feelings of depression, attended class more often and fell asleep in class less often. The center also noted a reduction in dropout rates.

Hale also consulted with Dr. Michael Vitiello, the senior scientist of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences' Sleep Research Group at the University of Washington. At a meeting in the fall, Vitiello presented information to teachers, parents and students about the sleep needs and patterns of adolescents. Optimal sleep, he said, enhances attention, performance and mood.

By requiring students to get to school at 7:45 a.m., "you're leaving them chronically sleep-deprived and during the early hours of the school day, they'll be sleepy and that will interfere with their ability to learn," Vitiello said.

But the scheduling change has met resistance.

Parent Ashley Lommers-Johnson said it is hard to prove that later start times lead to better grades. Also, he worries about students who have after-school jobs, and families who count on high-schoolers to supervise younger siblings in the afternoons.

"To me, this is an issue that needs to be addressed by families, not by the schools saying, 'You're going to get an extra hour of sleep,' " he said.

Hutchinson, the assistant principal, acknowledges that not all teachers support the move, and two surveys show a majority of students don't approve it, either.

"It's totally messed up," said freshman Danny Allen. "I can tell you I'd stay up later. I'd stay up until 2, just because I could."

Freshman Wes Potter disagreed. "I do need the sleep. It would be nice to get an extra hour or two," he said.

Like many, teacher Erin Lynch just hopes everything gets ironed out by next year.

"It's hard not to want to change it so the environment is better for students," she said.

"It might be disruptive, but as a teacher, I have to put learning first. Right now, you've got to work all day long and push yourself and I don't think we're creating well-rounded, healthy kids."

J.J. Jensen: 206-464-2386 or jjensen@seattletimes.com.