Lower Merion School District start times changing, with high schools starting hour later
ARDMORE, Pa. (CBS) — Students at one school district in Montgomery County will need to adjust their alarm clocks. The Lower Merion School District is making schedule changes that will affect the district's 8,600 students.
Elementary schools, which used to start at 9 a.m., now start at 9:10 a.m.
Middle schools, which used to start at 8:15 a.m., will now start earlier at 8 a.m.
The biggest change is that high schools, which used to start at 7:30 a.m., will now start at 8:30 a.m.
"We're making this change because research from various health organizations has shown the circadian rhythms of teenagers change," Lower Merion School District spokesperson Amy Buckman said. "It's harder for them to go to sleep early at night."
That meant students were late to school, like Carrie Stricker's son. She's been fighting for a later start time since 2019.
"I'm a nurse practitioner and I have a PhD in nursing science," Stricker said. "So I've been really grounded in the biology of this."
Many students CBS News Philadelphia spoke with were in favor of the changes.
"I'm happy about it because I get to sleep in more," Lower Merion High School sophomore Stella Sommer said.
But not all families are on board with the changes.
"Before, it used to be the older kids were early and they got out early," Sema Loughran, whose granddaughter attends Lower Merion High School, said. "The younger kids, we let them sleep a little longer. Now it's everything flip-flopped, so it seems odd to me they're changing all the times for everything."
One potential problem: later start times could conflict with athletics.
"I play golf and we're going to be dismissed midway through the day," Lower Merion High School sophomore Matteo Sommer said. "So I'm going to miss three classes, which is really bad."
Details on how to balance competing activities will have to be sorted out. The first day of school is Sept. 3.
