Welcome to Start School Later Pennsylvania!
PA School Districts and Beyond
Investigating Changing School Hours
Prior to March 2020 (Pre-Pandemic), many school districts in Pennsylvania had officially initiated school start time studies and have posted information on their websites. We will continue to add to this list as other district webpages are created and/or information is given.
Allegheny County
School District of Philadelphia - plans to move their high school start time from 7:30 to 9:00 AM beginning the 2022-2023 school year. The District, the 8th largest in the nation with over 200,000 students, is making the change to help high school students be rested and ready to learn. It will also help students who have to make their own way to school, and it will make travel safer in the morning and afternoon, the district said in a letter to school staff. The change affects all schools except for four of them that are attached to partner institutions and follow that institution's schedule. High schools with middle grades in them will also change schedules, the letter read. Pre-K programs in the affected schools will keep their current schedule, as will all other elementary schools. NOTE: The District abandoned its plans in May of 2022 prior to implementation. Article CLICK HERE
- Fox Chapel SD - Sleep Committee Page
- Allegheny SD
- Bensalem Township SD - Resources and Articles
- Bristol Township SD
- Centennial SD
- Central Bucks SD - Rethinking School Start Times & Infographic
- Council Rock SD - School Start Times
- New Hope Solebury SD - Administration having initial conversations on investigation of later school start times
- Pennridge SD
- Pennsbury SD - School Start Times Page
- Quakertown Community SD
- Owen J Roberts SD - Changed Sleep Health (Chester County)
- West Chester Area SD
- Derry Township SD
- Garnet Valley SD - Changed Delayed Start Times for Secondary School Students
- Reimagined Start Times for Schools (Changing School Start Times 2021-2022 School Year)
- High School - 60 minute difference (7:35 AM to 8:35 AM), Middle School - 30 minute difference (7:30 AM to 8:00 AM), Elementary School - 15 minute difference (8:35 AM to 9:10 AM)
- Haverford Township SD - Sleep and Secondary School Start Times
- Upper Darby SD - Changed
- Article & Video - Upper Darby HS to Adopting New Start in the Fall 2021 In-person teaching will begin at 9:45 a.m. for students. Prior to that, the school will utilize asynchronous learning-a series of short offline 20-minute companion courses the students will take that coincide with each one-hour in-person class later in the day-starting at 7:30 a.m. at home. The school day will still end at 2:41 PM.
- To Improve kids' mental health some schools start later - Article and Video - CLICK HERE (May 2023)
- UDSD Video - Middle Schools Parent Presentation Bell Schedule CLICK HERE (March 2023)
- Wallingford Swarthmore SD
- Ephrata Area SD - (Voted to Change February 2020)
- Hempfield SD
- Solanco SD
- East Penn SD - Article - East Penn Agrees to Study Later Start Times
- Hatboro-Horsham SD
- Lower Merion SD - Changed Sleep and School Start Times
- Perkiomen Valley SD
- Springfield Township SD
- Upper Dublin SD - Multimedia - Adolescent Sleepiness Discussion
- Upper Merion Area SD - Adolescent Sleep and Secondary Start Times
School District of Philadelphia - plans to move their high school start time from 7:30 to 9:00 AM beginning the 2022-2023 school year. The District, the 8th largest in the nation with over 200,000 students, is making the change to help high school students be rested and ready to learn. It will also help students who have to make their own way to school, and it will make travel safer in the morning and afternoon, the district said in a letter to school staff. The change affects all schools except for four of them that are attached to partner institutions and follow that institution's schedule. High schools with middle grades in them will also change schedules, the letter read. Pre-K programs in the affected schools will keep their current schedule, as will all other elementary schools. NOTE: The District abandoned its plans in May of 2022 prior to implementation. Article CLICK HERE
NO districts we’re aware of in PA have changed back AFTER implementing healthy school hours because results have been so good. There are two districts that reversed their decision BEFORE implementation due to community outcry because those districts didn’t successfully generate buy in. The school boards and community in those districts were apparently not actively educated about the issue, nor aware of or engaged in the investigation process.
Example: Quakertown SD Article - CLICK HERE
Example: Quakertown SD Article - CLICK HERE
Other Neighboring States
Delaware
- Appoquinimink School District - Sleep & School Start Times At the Appoquinimink School Board meeting held May 11, 2021 and after much feedback and discussion, the Board reached a compromise that will change Secondary start times to 8:00 am-2:40 pm, and Elementary start times to 9:00 am-3:40 pm beginning in August 2021. This decision will be revisited by the Board during the first quarter of 2022. School Board Meeting Video - Sleep/School Times Update & Vote / Tom Poehlmann, Director of Safety, Security & Operations / Time stamp 3:10:55/3:58 - School Meeting May 11, 2021 on District YouTube Channel
New Jersey
A bill introduced in 2022 in New Jersey calls for a statewide later start time for the secondary school day to boost mental health and wellness among teenagers, said its sponsors, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, and Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, chair of the Education Committee. The bill calls for a start time of 8:30 a.m. or later. Currently, most state high schools have a starting time between 7:20 and 7:40 a.m. Read More Here
A bill introduced in 2022 in New Jersey calls for a statewide later start time for the secondary school day to boost mental health and wellness among teenagers, said its sponsors, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, and Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, chair of the Education Committee. The bill calls for a start time of 8:30 a.m. or later. Currently, most state high schools have a starting time between 7:20 and 7:40 a.m. Read More Here