Putnam City district schools enacted a time change for all schools elementary through high school. Putnam City High School changed its start and stop times from 8:00 to 8:30 and 3:10 to 3:30. Teachers and students had to both adjust to this change.
Altering the times was the administration’s job. They gathered research on how teenagers need more sleep in order to focus to the best of their abilities. There are multiple studies from accredited sites like National Institutes of Health and Sleep foundation that back up the claim.
“There was a committee formed and they talked about research and what it indicates for high school students especially. I think that originally it was about the bus times. They were having difficulties getting to the different stops and getting everyone where they needed to be but they also talked about the research as far as high school students needing more sleep,” principal Ms. Taylor said.
Changing the times is not a new topic. It has actually been up for discussion for years. Many other schools have altered their times for the well-being of their students, and Putnam City has followed the pattern. The later start time has led to a more positive attendance, something the district finds important and takes seriously.
“It’s been talked about for several years in other districts. They say it’ll help students get to school on time and has helped increase attendance,” junior principal Ms. Roach said.
However, due to some students having after school work, it can complicate their work hours. Making it to where students have to clock-in later, so they lose potential money.
“Normally I work at 4:00 o’clock after school and usually when we got out of school at 3:10 I have some time before work but, since we get out at 3:30 I had to tell my manager to schedule me at five so I can get there in time,” senior Kaitilyn Layne said.
Freshmen have to adjust to plenty of things coming from middle school to high school. The start time from middle school to high school is about an hour difference. With middle school starting at 7:30 and ending at 2:30.
“The time here is different from middle school because we start a little bit later and we have two more classes here. I like the start and end times here because I don’t have to wake up early,” freshman Yorbin Perez said.
