School Start Times

School Start Times 2019-20*

Elementary schools:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m
• Wednesday: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Middle schools:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8:45 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.
  
• Wednesday: 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.

High schools:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
  
• Wednesday: 8:45 a.m. to 2:05 p.m.

Marshall, Skyline and Realms High Schools:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9 a.m. to 3:25 p.m.
• Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Realms Middle School:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8:50 a.m. to 3:25 p.m.
• Wednesday: 8:50 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

*Note: Individual schools may have slightly adjusted start and release times and will contact families with information. Hours for Westside Village Magnet at Kingston School and Three Rivers School will remain the same as in 2018-19.

Why change start times?

A substantial body of research shows that teenagers would biologically benefit from later start times. Our secondary school students currently begin as early as 7:30 a.m., which the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says is too early.

The AAP says shifting back middle and high school schedules is “an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss and has a wide range of potential benefits to students with regard to physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement.”

We believe this change will benefit our students' physical health, emotional well-being and academic successes.

We are not alone in making this move. Many districts around the nation are also pushing back school start times for middle and high school students. Among Oregon's largest districts — Portland, Hillsboro, North Clackamas, Eugene and Medford — all have secondary start times at 8:30 a.m. or later.

In order to facilitate pushing back our secondary start times, we will be starting elementary schools at approximately 8 a.m. We know that this is in line with other local school districts. Elementary schools in Sisters and Crook County school districts both begin around 8 a.m. and our own Three Rivers School has started elementary school at 8:20 a.m. for many years.

The process

We dug deep on this issue, knowing how much it would affect and impact not only our families, but our staff and community partners as well.

The two-year decision making process included work by a 20-member School Start Time Advisory Committee of parents, certified and classified staff, business leaders, athletics representatives and more. We also conducted a community forum on start times and a broad based survey. In all, we heard from more than 5,000 voices. Support for changing start times was consistent across all groups — including staff, students, parents and community members.

Changing school start times is not a decision we made lightly. Rather, this is a decision based on what we believe would best serve our students today and into the future. When we keep students at the heart of our decisions, we know we are on the right path.