Schools

Parkway Middle Schoolers Sleep In This Year

Middle school will start almost an hour later this year. Principals say teachers have prepared all summer for students, and they're excited to start class.

Parkway middle-schoolers get to sleep in this year.

In March, the Parkway School Board approved changes to school start and end times, including moving middle school start and end times back almost an hour.

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For the 2011-12 school year, Parkway middle schools will start at 8:15 a.m. and end at 3:10 p.m. Last year, the middle schools, which house students grades six through eight, started at approximately 7:25 a.m.

The changes are part of the "Project Parkway" plan underway from 2011 to 2016.

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According to Parkway school officials, parents and teachers had expressed concern over the early start time for middle school students. Many parents also expressed that concern to Town and Country-Manchester Patch.

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In a press release, the district cited multiple studies of sleep patterns in middle school-age children and said a task force concluded that a later start time would be beneficial to overall health and academic success. The district said the change finally came after much research on the idea. It's a move supported by many school principals.

"The reason why we initially did this is the physiological need. This age student, they require more sleep and they perform better not first thing in the morning," said Angela Frye, assistant principal of "This decision was made through Project Parkway, so there was research and there were parents at the table during the process."

Both Frye and Principal Chelsea Watson told Town and Country-Manchester Patch that they have not received a lot of feedback from parents since the decision was made to move back the times.

"I think the district did such a good job communicating with our parent community throughout the process that they understand that this is research based and a sound decision," Watson said. "It's better for kids this age to begin class later in the day because students will be more alert and awake at 8:15 than they were at 7:30."

Frye told Patch that even with the school day change, school lunch times are close to the same. However, she said it has changed faculty meeting times and may impact intramural and after-school activities.

"We won't know all the impacts until we actually start living it," Frye said. "As the year unfolds, I'm sure we'll see more of how this impacts the school, but we are excited and optimistic about it."

That is a sentiment shared by both principals. Both Frye and Watson told Patch that teachers and school staff have worked hard throughout the summer to make this an exciting and productive school year.

"We are excited to have our students come back and fill the halls," Watson said. "Teachers have been planning, and we are ready. There is so much energy in my building this year, but it's going to be a great year of learning."

"Enjoy the extra hour of sleep," Frye said as a message to students heading back to class. "And we look forward to the new school year. This ought to be a really interesting year. I'll be curious to see how the year unfolds. I'm excited. Change is good."


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