For over 25 years, Rocklin High School (RHS) has started at 7:45 and ended at 2:40. However, this year is different. The change comes from Senate Bill 328, which requires “the school day for middle schools and high schools, including those operated as charter schools, to begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.” There are numerous studies done to provide reasons as to why starting later benefits teenagers. Terry Cralle, a registered nurse, provided evidence stating that, “one study showed a modest delay in school start time was associated with significant improvements in alertness, mood, and health.” Due to that bill, Rocklin High now starts an hour later at 8:45 and ends at 3:40. This is the first time something like this has happened and there are mixed feelings about this schedule between both the students and staff.
Dale Eckenburg, a teacher and tennis coach at RHS, said that he definitely prefers the early start schedule because the early start, “works well with athletics and for extracurricular activities and just students in general.” Personally for Eckenberg, the late start has affected the time he gets home and the amount of time he spends with his family causing it to, “definitely affect family time and dinner.”
Of course, Mr. Eckenburg does believe there are some positives about the schedule such as, “students might be more awake during the early part of the day.” Since this schedule is relatively new, he still thinks it’s too early to decide saying, “you know I have been getting to school at 7 o’clock. I’ve got a good hour and 40 minutes in the morning so it’s actually not as bad as I expected.”
On the other hand, Mateo Lopez, a sophomore at RHS said that he actually prefers the late start schedule because he, “has more time to do more things in the morning and the evenings aren’t so valuable.” Since the schedule is an hour later everything including lunch is pushed back and Mateo says that due to that, “It feels weird because I gets hungry earlier and before I’d be hungry at third block but now I’m hungry by second block.”
Although many students get more sleep in the morning thanks to the new schedule, Mateo, who participates in extracurricular activities, said that the late start hasn’t affected his after school schedule saying that, “nothing I did before is really influenced by time much so rearranging the order doesn’t do much.”
Richard Lee, a freshman at RHS said that he prefers the late start schedule as well and said that, “I think it’s better that we start later because you are able to wake up later and have a more focused mindset and you’re not as tired throughout the day anymore.” He also talked about how it helped him improve his mental health saying that, “it’s given me a bit more time to reflect on myself the day before and what I will do from now on.” Richard does extracurricular activities such as cross country and soccer and he still has to do homework. The new schedule has given him some time to do some extra work in the morning stating, “I am able to wake up later and if I have work from last night I get to finish it up in the morning.”
Overall, the late start schedule is relatively new and there are positives and negatives to it, regardless there will always be people who love it and some who don’t like it as much. Some students and staff have benefited from it and others not so much but as of right now there is still room for opinions to change.
By: Milana Kozlova, Editor-in-Training