Jordan School District to offer optional late start for grades 11, 12 starting next fall

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RIVERTON — Come fall, Riverton High School student Kinsley Zaugg plans to start her school day 1 ¹⁄₂ hours later under a pilot program that will give Jordan School District juniors and seniors the option of taking two online courses.

Those who participate will have the option of starting school at 9 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m., which Zaugg said will suit her well.

“I need my sleep in the morning. I do, I do,” she said.

Zaugg, who will be a junior next fall, said she believes the option will result in more sleep and help her better manage her busy schedule of classes and extracurricular activities.

“I see a lot of upsides. I really like the way this is going to go. We’re going to get sleep in the morning or leave school early. Everyone wants to leave school early, all the time,” she said.

Jordan School District officials announced the new option during a press conference at the high school Friday.

“We’re really excited about our blended learning program. This is a one-of-a-kind in Utah,” said Superintendent Anthony Godfrey.

Late start blended learning will be offered at all Jordan District high schools starting this fall. Because it is optional, the school district will not provide transportation for students who choose the late start option, Godfrey said.

However, it will work with students who want to participate but do not have technology at home, he said.

Godfrey, host of Jordan School District’s podcast “Supercast,” explained in a recent episode that blended learning is “an online course that still allows students the choice to interact in person with the teacher as necessary.”

Thirty-six teachers will teach 13 different courses “that will allow students that level of flexibility that hasn’t been available before,” he said. The district will offer core and elective classes online, he said.

A student could take just one course or arrange their class schedules so they can end their school day earlier, Godfrey said.

The late start/blended learning model gives educators options, too, Godfrey said. Working parents may elect to start their work day later so they have time to drop off their children at school and then work a little later into the afternoon.

Research clearly shows late school starts mesh better with teenage sleep rhythms, which should be a boon to students’ physical and emotional health, Godfrey said,

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “insufficient sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks, such as being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.”

The CDC’s 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Report says 2 out of 3 young people fail to get sufficient sleep, a proportion that has remained constant since 2007.

Only Logan School District has implemented a late school start in its schools, and Salt Lake City School District’s study of the issue is ongoing after a recent series of community meetings.

Rep. Suzanne Harrison, D-Draper, who is a physician, has introduced legislation that encourages Utah school districts and charter schools to consider the benefits and consequences of a later start to the school day for high schools.

HCR3 has been assigned to the House Health and Human Services Committee.

Riverton High School biology teacher Bethany Alston, who is developing a biology course to roll out next fall, said the late start/blended learning option gives students more autonomy, but as counselors help students register for their classes they will explain “this is not a free sleep-in period.”

Alston said she has observed that her morning classes “tend to be a little more sluggish, but by the time they hit lunch or just before lunch they’re definitely more alert,” so she supports giving options to students who struggle from a lack of sleep.

“But they also need to be aware that as blended learning courses where attendance may not be required every day, that they’re going to have to step up and make sure they get the work done even if they decide to sleep in,” Alston said.

Asked if she has concerns about students falling through the cracks when their class attendance is not required, Alston said as fewer students elect to take classes at school, “that frees up some time for teachers to check in with kids we haven’t seen or heard from in a while.”

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/36S1JOw