Kyla Wahlstrom, associate director for the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, says all the typical problems noted by other districts were easily overcome once the new times were put in place in 1997. Sports practices were shortened 15 minutes, with no reduction in team victories, so students could get to after-school jobs or go home a little earlier. Parent committees addressed safety by selecting one parent each evening to meet the children at bus stops. Now the younger children can go to bed earlier, and the older kids can go to bed later, Wahlstrom says. The younger children stay longer at day care after school but don't have to be dropped off at day care in the morning before class.
Kids are more rested, less moody.
Parents say family time has increased, not decreased as many thought it would. They say it is wonderful to have contact time with their children before the day begins, to eat breakfast together. Wahlstrom headed a study in which she compared 471 students in Minneapolis schools with 599 students starting earlier in another urban school district. The study found that the Minneapolis teens were less depressed, had fewer sick days and fell asleep in class less often. But the study also found that student council members didn't show any improvement in those areas.