As the bell chimes at 8 a.m. instead of 7:35 a.m., students are starting their day at a calmer pace and with fewer bleary eyes. The 2025-2026 school year marks the first year of Westford Academy’s implementation of later school start times, following nearly two years of debate since Oct. 2023. The extra 25 minutes before the start of school in the morning are a solid step in the right direction for the sake of students’ health and well-being, even if some challenges are presented with later dismissal times.
Many factors have played into why the school day is now starting at 8:00 a.m., with one of the main reasons being the consideration of student health, while also staying within the means of the budget and transportation costs.
The primary goal behind these later start times is to prioritize the mental and physical health of students in the district by following research that supports the idea that later start times will bring students closer to their required 8-10 hours of sleep.
However, this research also suggests that the ideal start time for students should be no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Adjusting this schedule even five more minutes would have resulted in higher costs for busses, so to stay within these budgetary means, the Westford Academy start time was set to 8 a.m. with an end time of 2:20 p.m.
In a recent poll conducted on the Ghostwriter’s Instagram, there was a fairly even divide among students on whether the new start times have positively or negatively impacted their lives. About 53% of responses reported that the new start times have had a positive impact on their lives, while 47% said they have not experienced a positive impact.
“I like it in the morning,” senior Jessie Tang said. “I can notice the 20 minutes, and I can get up later which is nice.”
Underclassmen are also feeling the positive effect of the extra time in the morning.
“I think the [new times] are nice in general,” freshman Spencer Godfrey said. “I get home a bit later for [boy] scouts, but that’s just clubs in general.”
Most of the negatives that students expressed pertain to how their life after school is affected by being let out later in the day.
“I work after school at 3 p.m., and getting out of school later cuts it very close making it to work,” senior Hailey LeGrow said. “I was 20 minutes late on the first day of school.”
While 25 minutes may not seem like a lot of extra time, improvement in one’s morning doesn’t have to come from drastic changes. An extra 25 minutes for a student can mean a proper breakfast, an extra assignment finished, more time to ease into the day, or even just a little bit of extra sleep. Studies show that even this small amount of time can lead to a less negative mood, longer sleep durations, improved developmental outcomes, improved sociability, and better overall behavioral and physical health.
Not only are students able to experience a less rushed morning, but teachers can also take advantage of these extra minutes in order to give themselves an easier morning. It can be especially difficult for teachers with children to get themselves and their kids to school on time, so later start times can make their mornings less stressful.
English teacher Kimberly Hart has been teaching at WA for 22 years now, and according to her, after some getting used to, the time changes are making a positive impact on her life. Hart also notes an increase in the engagement of her students at the beginning of the day.
“I’m noticing an improvement at this point in the year. […] Students seem a little less sleepy [in the morning],” Hart said. “I [also] noticed that students seem to be shutting down around 1:55 p.m. to 2 p.m., and have a sense of that’s when school’s supposed to end. One of my colleagues described it as short term pain for a long term gain, so kind of a struggle at the beginning to adapt, but now I think I’m seeing more adaptation to that later time.”
Hart’s observations from her classroom go to show how this change to the morning, although small, can alter students’ energy in the morning for the better. Although students may seem antsy in the afternoons, an increase in sleep will benefit them more in the long term, while also not being an overwhelming adjustment in the short term.
The other side of this situation concerns how students’ lives are affected after the bell rings at 2:20 p.m., and how their out-of-school obligations are impacted.
Science teacher Joe Poynton has been working at WA for 15 years, and has never experienced a schedule change such as this one before. Although he personally finds it easier in the mornings, he is also affected by the later release times and his personal life.
“[It’s] harder for me to advise a club or sport because I have to help my daughter after school by driving her around to extracurricular activities,” Poynton said. “I’ve heard [from a few other teachers] it’s a little tougher on the afternoon because they need to be home for their kids [too].”
After-school responsibilities should not be overlooked. However, there are also significant benefits to a later start time that people may not have considered.
As it is still only the first quarter of the school year, statistics regarding tardies aren’t complete, but the trends that are already being observed suggest a more positive change than negative. According to Dean Bob Ware, there have been less tardies for the sophomore class compared to last year, so it seems as if the new times are discouraging students from skipping first block like last year.
Another overlooked aspect is that fewer parents are having to drive their kids to school because kids are able to catch the bus and board on time. Students no longer have to wait outside in the dark before 7 a.m. for a ride to school, especially during the winter months. A later bus arrival makes it easier for students to get to school on time, thereby helping the flow of traffic during pickup and drop off.
This schedule shift might not be the perfect solution for all, but it is definitely progress in order to better the WA community as a whole, mentally and physically. The change the district made this year was created with these intentions of well-being, and it is a crucial step towards those goals. Challenges are bound to arise with a change like this, especially those that people are facing after school. However if the result from adapting to these challenges is mentally healthy inhabitants of WA, then the trade-off is worth it.
