Middle school students around the U.S. wake up early in the morning to go to school with lack of sleep and low energy, but things might change for 2025-2026 students in FCPS district.
FCPS is considering to push back middle schools’ starting time.
According to FCPS website, FCPS decided to switch high school and middle schools starting time in 2014. Before that, high school started at 7:30 and middle school started at 8:00. But because high school students stay up later than middle schoolers, they decided they should switch the starting time.
Every afternoon students are coming back home looking tired from waking up early, and having to go to school for seven hours a day starting at 7:25 a.m.
According to sleep foundation.org, nearly 60% of middle schoolers do not get enough sleep on school nights due to extra activities outside of school along with several pages of homework.
Many students made a commitment to other activities outside of school like sports. With less time to sleep, athletes have a higher chance of injuring themselves. It might also affect them by not wanting to go to their activities.
Assistant Principal Mr. Chris Powell said school starting time change involves a lot of investments and would be complicated to change.
“Buses drop off students at middle school and then go to high school and after elementary,” he said.
Sienna Baltrym, Trailblazer, seventh-grade, wishes middle school started later.
“I think middle school should start at 8:15 a.m., so it gives us a little more time to sleep in,” she said.
Sienna is also an athlete who plays soccer after school and finds herself too tired to go to her soccer practices.
Mrs. Tammy Alred, a Majestics math teacher, wakes up even earlier than many students. Mrs. Alred wakes up at 5:15 to get ready for her classes, but some days of the week, she has to wake up extra early to get her son to his football practices. Even if her son’s football season is over, he still has weight lifting training at 6:30 a.m. and Mrs. Alred has to drive him to school.
After that happens, Mrs. Alred gets ready for her first class of the day.
She said, “I think the students could take advantage [of a change] — it could help them stay focused better. However, if you get to wake up later, some people stay up later.”
TJ Kim, Voyagers, eighth-grade, also would like to see a change.
“I wake up at 5:30 every morning because my bus comes at 6:40,” he said.
TJ said sometimes he falls asleep during classes because he gets tired.
“When I fall asleep, my teacher gets mad,” he said.
