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Below is a sampling of our recent efforts to raise awareness about, and help ensure, healthy sleep and school start times that give students a chance to get it.

Town Hall on Teen Sleep and Starting School Later

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Organized by Sandra Landis, chair of Start School Later's Montgomery County, MD chapter, this event followed on the passage of a February 2025 resolution by the countywide PTA advocating that Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) start middle and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. (3/27/25)

Krewe of "Sleepwalking Squirrels" at "Marchi Gras" in East Baton Rouge

The Krewe of Sleepwalking Squirrels took on Mid City “Marchi” Gras to promote later, healthier school start times for teens. Louisiana has the earliest high school start times in the nation (average 7:30 when national average is 8:00). East Baton Rouge is even a bigger outlier with a 7:10 start time. (3/11/25)

Testifying to Maryland State Committees on Statewide Legislation

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Delegation to the Maryland House Ways & Means Committee, 2/24/25
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Delegation to the Maryland Senate Education, Energy, & the Environment Committee, 3/5/25. Also pictured: bill sponsors Sen. Joanne Benson (front L) and Del. April Miller (front R).

2024 National Conference on Adolescent Sleep and School Start Times


Advocating for Healthy Sleep Policies on Capitol Hill

Championing Later Start Times with US Representative Zoe Lofgren

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SSL Representatives Ann Gallagher and Elinore Boeke join Project Sleep and other sleep health advocates for Hill Day (10/29/24).
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SSL Board Member Rafael Pelayo, MD talks later start times with long-time later start time champion US Representative Zoe Lofgren. (October 2024)

New York State School Board Association Meeting

New York chapter leaders Dr. Max Van Gilder and Vanessa Alstrup Parsons raise awareness in school board members at the annual meeting of the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA), October 2024.

SLEEP 2024, Houston, TX

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Advocates unite in Houston! Jay Pea, Indira Gurubhagavatula, Terra Ziporyn at SLEEP 2024, Houston, TX (6/3/24)

AASM Sleep Grand Rounds

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AASM Webinar (3/13/24)

Mardi Gras, Start School Later Style

Let's Sleep! Webinar, 2024

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Our Baton Rouge, LA chapter's Sleepwalking Squirrels helped spread the message about later school start times at the Mid City Gras Parade! (February 2024)
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White House Sleep Health Equity Convening
Washington, DC, November 14, 2023


Let's Sleep! Webinars 2023

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Sleep Advocacy Dream Team

Engaging with Maryland Pediatricians

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L to R: Jessica Cho, Julie Flygare, Jay Pea, Karin Johnson, Beth Malow, Terra Ziporyn, Vidya Krishnan

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Chapter Leaders Lisa VanBuskirk and Andra Williams Broadwater from Start School Later Maryland and Start School Later Baltimore County, MD attending Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics' annual meeting, September 2023

2023 Let's Sleep! Webinar

Waking Up Albany

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New York chapter leaders Dr. Max Van Gilder and Vanessa Alstrup Parsons trek to Albany to educate state lawmakers about teen sleep health and the need to start school later. (February 2023)

It's About Time in Lower Merion, PA

Our Lower Merion, PA chapter raising awareness throughout the community. (November 2022)

NY State School Boards Association Conference

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New York chapter leaders Max Van Gilder, MD and Vanessa Parsons, MA, raising awareness at the NYSSBA Conference. (10/27-29/22)

AASM Foundation Panel Discussion

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October 28, 2022

Waking Up Washington to Sleep Health

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​Joining with Project Sleep and other coalition partners on Capitol Hill, October 24-25 2022

Sacramento Superheroes and  New Book Featuring SSL

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Lisa L. Lewis, co-leader of SSL California and author of the new book THE SLEEP-DEPRIVED TEEN joined by the team of Sacramento SSL volunteers who helped make the state's landmark healthy school start time law a reality. From Left: Anne Cordts Del Core, Lisa L. Lewis, Joy Wake (SSL Health Policy & Advocacy Director), Sue Gylling

SLEEP 2022

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2022 Let's Sleep! Webinars

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Testifying at the TN State Legislature

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Start School Later Metro Nashville leaders getting ready to testify to the TN House's K-12 Education Subcommittee (3/1/22)

Celebrating Local Changemakers

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SSL Co-founders Maribel Ibrahim and Terra Ziporyn Snider, together with SSL Anne Arundel County, MD chapter leader Lisa VanBuskirk and former chapter leader Heather Macintosh. (11/6/21)

Raising Awareness Among School Psychologists

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Summit on Adolescent Sleep and School Start Times

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Start School Later spearheaded and participated in this virtual, interdisciplinary summit designed to identify the most significant, worthy, and innovative research needs and unanswered questions about adolescent sleep and school start times in the context of California's landmark new "start school later" law.

Raising Awareness in Connecticut

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Teacher Resources (via Let's Sleep!)

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2021 Webinars from Let's Sleep! for School and Community Leaders

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Ohio School Boards Association
​MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING SUMMIT

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Stacy Simera, SSL's Communication Director and SSL OH's legislative director represented SSL at the Ohio School Boards Association's Mental Health and SEL Resource Fair, educating stakeholders on the role of sleep and school start times in student social-emotional learning and health, along with one of our partners the Ohio Adolescent Health Partnership. (2/25/20)

Radnor High School Students Named to Our Student Hall of Fame

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Honored for their advocacy work regarding "more reasonable" school start times in Feb. 2020 are Radnor (PA) High School students. (l to r) Asa Hartman, Tobey Le, Owen Leonard, Rachel Marciano, Annabel Zhao and Ryan Movsowitz. (Photo by Radnor Township School District) (Feb. 2020)

School Board Testimony: West Hartford, CT

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Members of Start School Later West Hartford, CT getting ready to testify to their Board of Education (2/19/20).

On Capitol Hill

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Start School Later Board Member Ann Gallagher and other advocates for sleep health met with Senator Ben Cardin on Capitol Hill in November 2019. The group, led by Project Sleep and the Sleep Research Society (SRS) and including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network, urged Congress to support vital public health initiatives focused on sleep, including Representative Zoe Lofgren's ZZZ's to A's Act. (11/19/19)

NCES Report: School Start Time for Public High Schools

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After years of requests by SSL, the National Center for Education Statistics released a new Data Point report today, entitled Start Time for U.S. Public High Schools. This report describes the average start time for public high schools in the United States during the 2017-18 school year by school characteristics and state.

School Start Times as a Social Justice Issue

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SSL Board Member Dr. Amy Wolfson of Loyola University Maryland, testifies with Maryland and Anne Arundel County Chapter Leader Lisa VanBuskirk and other local advocates at the Anne Arundel MD Board of Education meeting on why later middle and high school start times are a social justice issue, as well as a health issue.

Adolescent Health and School Start Times Workshop -- Exton, PA

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Full house on Day 1 on our Exton, PA Implementation Workshop for school leaders and community advocates (Nov. 13 & 14, 2019)
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SSL's Implementation Phyllis Payne and leader of our Start School Later Southeastern PA - RASNC chapter Amy Goldman at the Adolescent Health and School Start Times Workshop, Exton, PA (Nov. 13 & Nov. 14, 2019).

Challenge Success -- Creating a Culture of Healthy Sleep

Testifying before the Massachusetts Legislature

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Our Healthy Hours team conducted two workshops on Creating a Culture of Sleep Health at Challenge Success's Fall 2019 Conference in Waltham, MA (10/12/19)
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Massachusetts Representative Carmine Lawrence Gentile testifies in support of H468, a resolve creating a special commission to study school starting school times and schedules. (9/4/19)

Stanford Medicine X Conference

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​At the Stanford Medicine X conference, SSL Austin, TX Chapter Leader Alexandra Wharton presented, '"Night Owls and Late Chronotypes Unite - Let's Stop Living Against Our Body Clocks!"
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Source: Society for Research on Biological Rhythms
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In her talk, Alexandra explained that a person's chronotype - when a person is "programmed" to sleep during a 24-hour period - has a genetic basis and cannot be adjusted through willpower or discipline. She urged for later start times at school for adolescents, and at work for the 40% of adults who have a natural sleep onset time of midnight or later. (9/22/19)

Working for Healthy Hours in Texas

Talking to Students About Sleep Health

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Start School Later Texas Chapter Leader Debbie Moore and other members of SSL Texas and local chapters in Austin to testify in support of HB1602-Healthy School Hours. (4/4/19)
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National Team member and certified sleep educator Brendan Duffy talking to students at New York City's Elmont High School about the importance of sleep.

Meeting with Rep. Zoe Lofgren

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Start School Later Board Members Drs. Rafael Pelayo and Amy Wolfson joined the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) today on Capitol Hill to discuss sleep health with Representative Zoe Lofgren--a long-time champion of later school start times. (4/4/19)

Sleepshow 2019

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At the Houston Sleepshow 2019 talking about teen sleep: (l to r) Kelly Ruemmele, Terri Cralle, Dr. David Brown, Dr. Emsellem, Yen Rabe

​PTA Council of Baltimore County Health and Safety Roundtable

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Start School Later Board Member Dr. Amy Wolfson, Andra Broadwater of SSL Baltimore County, and Lisa VanBuskirk of SSL Maryland and Anne Arundel County. (1/31/19)

New York State Council on Leadership and Student Activities

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Dr. Max Van Gilder, retired pediatrician and leader of Start School Later New York, talking to student leaders about sleep and school start times in Niagara Falls. (11/18/18)

Adolescent Health and School Start Times: Science and Strategies Workshop

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Half-day workshop at Hartford, CT's Trinity College for school and community leaders covering the science of sleep and school start times and strategies for handling bus routes, athletics, and other potential implementation challenges. (10/16/18)

Adolescent Health and School Start Times: Science and Strategies Workshop

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Outreach at the California Sleep Society Meeting

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At the California Sleep Society meeting, leaders of Start School Later met with Dr., Wiilliam C Dement, the founder of the Sleep Research Center at Stanford University, sometimes called the American "father of sleep medicine." (9/28/18)

Raising Awareness of Pennsylvania Sleep Professionals

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Gail Karafin, PhD, Leader of Start School Later Pennsylvania and Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, SSL's Co-Founder and Executive Director, presented in a session devoted to school start times, together with sleep physician Indira Gurubhagavatula, MD MPH and 9th grader Anya Jayanthi, who provided a student's perspective. (5/5/18)

Landmark Legislation in California

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California high school students visit the state house in support of safe, healthy school hours.
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Dr. Amy Wolfson, psychology professor at Loyola University, author of the 2014 American Academy of Pediatrics recommendationon school hours, and Start School Later Board of Director member, discussed child/adolescent sleep. (1/31/19)

New York State School Boards Association

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Max Van Gilder, MD, leader of Start School Later New York, and Brendan Duffy, Start School Later's Athletic Liaison, talk to school board members from around New York State. (10/26/18)


California Dreaming

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L to R: Joy Wake, Sue Gylling, Terra Ziporyn Snider, Tara McGee, Beth McNeill, Anne Del Core
Start School Later leaders and other advocates meet in Sacramento to discuss potential legislative approaches to ensuring safe, healthy school hours  in California (10/18/18)

Meeting with Texas Legislators

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Members of Start School Later Houston, TX meet with State Representative Dennis Paul, (6/26/18)
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Start School Later Texas leaders and students members with Patrick Philpot, Policy Analyst for Texas Senator Larry Taylor.

Raising Awareness in Pearland, Texas

Free Webinars--in partnership with the HHS (Region V), OAHP, and the Ohio AAP-Ohio

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Bringing teen sleep deprivation awareness to Pearland, TX in front of Nail Bar of Texas next to HEB on Pearland Parkway. (April 2018)
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Once again, Start School Later is partnering with Region V of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Ohio Adolescent Health Partnership (OAHP), and the Ohio American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to present a free webinars on adolescent sleep health. (March 2018)

Raising Awareness in Baytown, TX

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Yen Rabe, leader of Start School Later Houston, TX. October 14-15, 2017

Outreach to Sleep Professionals at the Alaska Sleep Conference

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Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, SSL's Co-Founder and Executive Director, talking about teen sleep and school start times at the 4th Annual Alaska Sleep Conference, Anchorage, September 24, 2017.

​Testifying Before the Massachusetts State Legislature

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Tony Mullin, a school committee member from Westwood, MA working with Start School Later Massachusetts, testifying before the state legistlature. (9/5/17)

Success in Greenwich, CT

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Wheatleigh Dunham, leader of Start School Later CT and co-leader of Start School Later Greenwich CT celebrating new bells times in August 2017.

Raising Awareness in Maryland

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Karen Allyn, host of Montgomery County, MD's Forward Motion, chats with SSL Executive Director Terra Ziporyn Snider after taping a show. September 13, 2017.

Town Hall Meeting: Pasadena, CA

Adolescent Sleep, Health, and School Start Times: The National Conference

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State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) and Start School Later Board Member Terry Cralle discuss the benefits of pushing back school start times to 8:30 a.m. (Photo by Matt Sanderson)
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Judith Owens, Phyllis Payne, and Terra Ziporyn Snider, three members of the planning team for the inaugural Sleep, Health, and School Start Times Conference, April 27-28, 2017, Washington DC

Safety Partner in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Drowsy Driving Report

ED Talk at the University of Texas Austin's Department of Education

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Start School Later, Inc. joined other public and private stakeholders in contributing to this NHTSA report on coordinated national efforts to eliminate drowsy driving. (3/20/17)
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Start School Later leaders from several Texas chapters met at the The University of Texas at Austin to attend a talk by SSL Executive Director Dr. Terra Ziporyn Snider hosted by Dr. Julie Maslowsky, Assistant Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education. Some of them stopped by to talk to state legislators at the Capitol while they were in town. (1/27/17)

New England School Development Council (NESDEC) - School Start Times Workshop

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Start School Later's Implementation Director Phyllis Payne, SSL Board of Directors Member Dr. Judith Owens of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and SSL Outreach Director Jenny Silberman
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Superintendents and staff from 12 Boston-area school systems attending a day-long workshop on teen sleep and school start time change at NESDEC headquarters in Marlborough, MA. (December 9, 2016)
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Dr. Owens explains the science of teen sleep to Massachusetts superintendents and other school leaders.

Ohio Teens 4 Health Summit

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At the first annual #OHteens4Health statewide summit, Oakley Perry interviews Start School Later's Communications Director Stacy Simera and the famous "teen who woke up her school" Jilly Dos Santos share with students ways that they can advocate for healthy school start times.

Zzz's to A's, Free Webinars Supporting Teen Sleep

Raising Scholarship Funds for School and Community Leaders

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Free webinars hosted by the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Region V Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Adolescent Health, the Ohio Adolescent Health Partnership (OAHP), and the Ohio chapter of Start School Later (SSL), and featuring OAHP's Sleep Committee Chair/SSL Communications Director Stacy Simera. Register here! (10/4/16 & 10/25/16)

Showcasing Sleep 101 at the Harvard Freshman Student Health Fair

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Incoming freshman have a chance to ask questions about sleep - try out Sleep 101, the new interactive sleep awareness program we're developing for college students.
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We are raising money for scholarships that will allow school and community leaders to attend our Spring 2017 National Conference on Adolescent Sleep, Health, and School Start Times in Washington. The conference will feature state-of-the-science findings, practical guidance on bell time change, and a forum for sharing ideas and experiences to a broad base of policymakers, educators, researchers, and advocates.

Meeting at the U.S. Surgeon General's Office

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A delegation from START SCHOOL LATER - Terra Ziporyn Snider, Melissa Stanton, Terry Cralle, and Dr. Daniel Lewin of Children's National Medical Center (not pictured), visited the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General in Washington, D.C. to discuss the need to sleep-friendly school hours with Dr. Nazleen Bharmal, MD, PHD, MPP, Director of Science and Policy. (6/9/16)

Raising Awareness of National Leaders

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Start School Later's Legislative Director Melissa Stanton and U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham (FL, 2nd District) after their chat about school start times. (9/1916)

Student Leaders Spreading the Word

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Matthew Daniels speaking to the Oxford Valley (PA) School Board about healthy school start times. (August 2016)
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​Matthew Daniels, leader of the Start School Later Unionville District, PA Student Chapter, at Chester County, PA's WCHE 1520AM studio updating listeners about the chapter's progress as well as informing them about the importance of delayed school start times. (Spring 2016)

Signing Orange Ribbon for Healthy School Hours into Maryland Law

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​College Sleep Fair at Georgetown University

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​Georgetown Universitys Health Communication Specialist Laura Marcucci moderates a panel discussion about the importance of sleep to academic success, athletic performance, and overall health & wellness. Panelists include Dr. Andrea Bonior, Kristin Musolino, Start School Later's Dr. Terra Ziporyn Snider, and student Sydney Jean Gottfried.

Working with The Huffington Post to Raise Sleep Awareness

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Start School Later Executive Director and Co-Founder, Terra Ziporyn Snider, at The Huffington Post's New York headquarters, March 18, 2016.
 
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Start School Later's Maryland team led by Danielle Brooks with bill sponsor Aruna Miller, Maryland Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, Jr., Governor Larry Hogan, and House Speaker Mike Busch. Annapolis, MD April 26, 2016. Photo courtesy of The Executive Office of the Governor.
  • BILL TEXT

Teen Sleep Forum Sponsored by Start School Later Pennsylvania

Hundreds of parents and community members from Radnor Township and other school districts, including Haverford, Wallingford-Swarthmore, Ridley, West Chester, Lower Merion, Tredyffrin/Easttown and Great Valley, heard from a panel of experts at “Sleep and the Adolescent Brain," a public forum held at Radnor Middle School on Feb. 21, 2016 that examined the critical and growing public health issue of student sleep deprivation.

Spreading the Word about Sleep

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Start School Later Houston raising awareness about teen sleep deprivation at Food Town near Dairy on Richey, Pasadena, TX, 11/24/15.
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(L to R): Dr. Lynn Keefe, SSL's Health Policy Director and Okaloosa County, FL chapter leader and Leon County Chapter Leaders Kimberly Damron, Corinne Tutuska Porcher, and Jana McConnaughhay , after successful testimony at the Leon County School Board. 2/231/16
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Terra Ziporyn Snider, Start School Later's Executive Director and Co-Founder, speaking on "Adolescent Sleep and School Start Times" at the MD/DC Society for Respiratory Society's Conference By the Sea, Sept. 15, 2015, Ocean City, MD
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Houston chapter leader Yen Rabe talks to Congressman Gene Green (US House of Rep, Democrat from TX) about the importance of starting school later.
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Stacy Simera, MSSA, LISW-S, Start School Later Ohio's Health Policy Director, at Northeast Ohio Medical Center's Sequoia Wellness Event, April 25, 2015

Third Annual Dallas Fort Worth Sleep Walk with Project Sleep

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Debbie Moore, chapter leader for Start School Later-Arlington, TX and her husband John, participate in the third annual DFW SleepWalk June 13, 2015 sponsored by Project Sleep, an international organization dedicated to educating communities about sleep health and one of Start School Later's coalition partners.

Talk at the Yale University School of Medicine

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Meeting with Maryland's State Superintendent of Schools

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Heather Macintosh, Start School Later's Publicity Director, and Founder of= Start School Later Anne Arundel County discusses the need for safe, healthy school hours with Captain Jeffrey Macris, PhD, Associate Professor of History at the US Naval Academy, and Dr. Lillian Lowery, Maryland's Superintendent of Schools.

Town Square: Start School Later, Let Teens Sleep

Start School Later Seattle, including Dr. Catherine Darley, discuss the recent release of research by the Seattle School District into optimum start times for high schools, looking at the direct correlation to the amount of sleep teenagers get and academic achievement.

Raising Awareness on Capitol Hill

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Paula K. Schweitzer, PhD, director of research at St. Luke's Sleep Medicine and Research Center with Stacy Simera, Terra Ziporyn Snider, and Phyllis Payne at the National Sleep Foundation's Congressional Summit.
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Phyllis Payne, Stacy Simera, and Kari Oakes visit Senator Patty Murray's Washington, DC office.

Start School Later Arlington, TX
Attempt to Wake Up Their Local School Board

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After a 5+ hr (note the clock reads 1:20 a.m.) Start School Later Arlington TX members Debbie Owensby Moore, Cathy Stein, Mark Schatzman & Cheryl Buckner Till finally presented their remarks to the AISD Board of Education in an effort to impress upon them the need to delay the HS start time. Currently local teens must be ready for instruction @ 7:35 a.m. Their brains are still physiologically asleep at this hour!

Screening of National Geographic's Sleepless in America

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Terra Ziporyn Snider, Start School Later's Executive Director, at the Washington DC screening of the National Geographic Channel's new documentary, SLEEPLESS IN AMERICA
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Sharing Joy with Sleep in Fairfax 
After FCPS Votes to Start School Later

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Terra Ziporyn Snider, Executive Director, and Phyllis Payne, Co-Founder of Start School Later's coalition partner, Sleep in Fairfax, following the decision of Fairfax County Public Schools to delay high school start times starting in school year 2015-16. 10/23/14
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Mandi Mader, Founder and Chair of Start School Later Montgomery County (MD) and Terra Ziporyn Snider, Start School Later's Executive Director, witnessing what can happen when communities and school leaders set a goal and work together in good faith to accomplish it.

Ohio Adolescent Health Partnership Symposium

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Start School Later Ohio's exhibition table at the 2nd Annual Ohio Adolescent Health Partnership Symposium in Columbus, September 15, 2014.
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Stacy Simera, MSSA, LISW-S, SAP, Start School Later's Outreach Director as well as Director of our Northeast Ohio chapter, explains changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns and their relation to school start times.

Forward Motion

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Start School Later's Executive Director Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD chats with pediatric sleep expert Danial Lewin, PhD of Children's National Medical Center on FORWARD MOTION with host Karen Allyn, September 2014.

Arlington, TX Kiwanis Club
Program on Teen Sleep & School Start Times

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Director of Start School Later Arlington, TX Debbie O. Moore gave a presentation on adolescent sleep and school start times, at the Arlington Kiwanis Club in August 2014. She is pictured here with Rev. Kay Lancaster.

Twitterchat on Sleep and Mental Health

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Start School Later Outreach Co-Director and Northeast Ohio Chapter Leader Stacy Simera guest hosted a national Twitterchat for @mhsmchat on Sleep & Mental Health in August 2014.

Meeting with Congresswoman Rita Lowey

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Start School Later's Executive Director Terra Ziporyn Snider and Rockland Chapter (NY) Director Jeffrey Rose meet with U.S. Congresswoman Nita Lowey in her Washington, DC office to discuss the Start School Later Movement as a national public health issue.

Signing Maryland's Landmark Start School Later Legislation Into Law

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Start School Later's Maryland team, Heather Macintosh, Ann Gallagher, Danielle Brooks, Maribel Ibrahim, and Terra Ziporyn Snider, with Maryland Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, Jr., Governor Martin O'Malley, and House Speaker Mike Busch. Annapolis, MD May 15, 2014. Photo courtesy of The Executive Office of the Governor.
  • BILL TEXT

Rockland School Health Showcase

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Start School Later's Rockland County, NY chapter leader Jeffrey Rose at the May 1, 2014 Rockland School Health Showcase.

Spreading the word on Forward Motion

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Start School Later Executive Director Terra Ziporyn Snider and Legislative Director Merry Eisner-Heidorn raising awareness about the need for safe, healthy school hours on Montgomery County Media's Forward Motion with host Karen Allyn. April 2014.

Start School Later Attends the University of Minnesota's Teens and Sleep Conference, Oct. 3-4, 2013

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Start School Later's Executive Director and Co-Founder, Dr. Terra Ziporyn Snider, traveled to Minneapolis to attend this historic conference, which, for the first time, brought together pediatric healthcare providers, school district leaders, educators, social service providers, school counselors, school psychologists, legislators, policymakers, and parents to discuss new ways to translate research into action.

Start School Later Meets with the U.S. Department of Education

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Start School Later paid a callon the U.S. Department of Education in Washington DC and had a productive hour-long discussion with Deb Delisle, the Assistant Secretary for Elementary & Secondary Education and David Esquith, the Director of the Office of Safe & Healthy Students. We discussed ways to work together to make it possible for local schools to restore later, healthier, sleep-friendly hours. 


Start School Later Serves on a Panel of a 
Race To Nowhere Screening

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Start School Later Executive Director Dr, Terra Ziporyn Snider (right) with Brenda Brown at a screening of the film RACE TO NOWHERE, Severn River Middle School, March 21, 2013

Exploring the Adolescent Need for Sleep: 
A Symposium Co-Sponsored with the Lloyd Society

Event Date: March 9th, 2013
Event Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm
Event Location: Rockville campus of Montgomery College, Room MU 124
RSVP to: [email protected]
Exploring the Adolescent Need for Sleep: 
The Consequences of and the Need for Appropriate School Start Times


Keynote speaker: Dr. Judith Owens, MD, MPH

Judith Owens, MD, MPH, is an internationally recognized authority on children and sleep. She is the Director of Sleep Medicine at Children’s National. Her research interests include the neurobehavioral and health consequences of sleep problems in children, pharmacologic treatment of pediatric sleep disorders, and cultural and psychosocial issues that impact sleep.

Dr. Owens chairs the pediatric section of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. In 2005 and 2006, she was a spokesperson for the National Sleep Foundation "Sleep in America" poll. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Owens is co-author of Take Charge of Your Child's Sleep: The All-in-One Resource for Solving Sleep Problems in Kids and Teens for parents and A Clinical Guide to Pediatric Sleep for healthcare professionals. She is the recipient of many awards, including a 5-year NIH grant in sleep education, and the AASM 2006 Excellence in Education Award.

She is board certified in developmental/behavioral pediatrics and sleep medicine, and is the author of more than 75 original research and review articles in peer-review journals, chapters, and books on the topic.

  • Read about the symposium in Education Week
  • Watch the video of Dr. Owens's presentation
  • Watch the video of opening remarks by Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, Start School Later Executive Director and Co-Founder
  • Watch the video of introductory remarks by Ann Gallaghar, Lloyd Society Board Chair

Start School Later Meets with the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

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Start School Later meets with Dr. Richard McKeon, Director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and Michelle Bechard, Lead Public Health Advisor, Division of Prevention, Traumatic Stress and Special Programs, at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the US Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS), Wednesday, July 18, in Rockville, MD. Discussion centered on creating awareness of the issue of sleep deprivation in students, school start times that are out of sync with adolescent circadian rhythms, and risk factors for mental health problems. Dr. McKeon and Ms. Bechard welcomed continued discussion about adolescent sleep deprivation and its consequences.  

Start School Later Meets with #StuVoice Founder Zak Malamed

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College Park, MD; Start School Later's Publicity Director, Heather Macintosh, and Co-Director Terra Ziporyn Snider meet with Zak Malamed, Founder of #Stuvoice to discuss ways we can support student efforts for later, safer, and healthier school hours and a better school climate in general. 

Our First "Wake Up Wednesday" in DC - 
Delivering Petition to Start School Later to National Leaders

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A delegation from Start School Later ready to deliver our national petition to members of Congress and the White House administration, the first in a series of "Wake Up" Wednesdays throughout the Spring of 2012. 
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