It’s been almost an entire school year since the new 8:00 a.m. start time was implemented at Westford Academy, and its positive outcome can already be seen throughout the halls and classrooms of our school as students and staff have adjusted their schedules to this change and gotten used to the extra time in the mornings.

In prior years, students like myself had to wake up at an absurdly early time, rush to get ready for the upcoming school day, and make it to their bus with dreary eyes while constantly yawning. However, now that the new start time has been pushed back to 8:00 a.m., students have the ability to do a myriad of things, including eating a heartier breakfast, spending more time preparing for the school day, or simply just getting more sleep. Due to this, the later start time has been extremely beneficial for both students and staff.

Although the addition of 25 minutes to a person’s morning may seem too small to be meaningful, this extra sliver of time has proven to be more useful than what meets the eye. What used to be a frantic rush to make it to school on time by students is now a relaxing and slow-paced start to a student’s school day.

“I believe the 25-minute later start time has significantly benefited the WA community,” principal Dan Twomey said.

On top of this, many students who have numerous after-school extracurriculars may be prone to waking up on the earlier side in an effort to complete their homework and study for upcoming assessments, rather than doing these tasks during after school hours. As a result, these early-rising students now have a larger window to get their schoolwork done before the bell rings.

The positive effect of this later start time for the school day isn’t just seen in students alone, as its benefit can also be seen in teachers’ lives.

“I’d say it’s helped the staff, just starting a little bit later in the mornings, with their overall well-being [by] getting another half hour of sleep,” Twomey said.

Although many teachers and staff members are still prone to arriving early to school in order to get work done and prepare for the day, the delayed start time is still beneficial. Teachers are given more time to get said work done before students arrive in class.

“As a teacher, I didn’t change the time that I come into school, so I have a little bit of extra time in the morning to get prepared for the day. So I actually like the later start time,” business teacher and head varsity softball coach Gina Mustoe said.

In addition to having more time to get ready for the school day during their morning routines, students have also been allowed more time to commute to school and make it to WA before the bell rings. This implies that the amount of tardies accumulated over the year has decreased compared to past trends.

Another aspect that has made the delayed start time beneficial is that, in previous years, WA struggled with scheduling sporting events with other schools in the Middlesex area who have already enacted a later start time as these schools would dismiss their students at later start times.

“As a coach, the majority of our opponents have later start [times] and we [ended] up having to schedule our games later,” Mustoe said. “It was definitely a period of adjustment at first, but I think my softball team is used to the new schedule already.”

Now that WA has finally followed the trend of a delayed bell schedule, it is easier for sport teams from WA to organize events with other schools.

“The shift to the 8:00 a.m. start time has definitely created some noticeable changes for both the athletes and myself as a coach,” head boys’ volleyball coach and digital art teacher Brandon Eang said. “Compared to last year, the later start has given many of the boys a bit more time to get settled, which has helped with their overall energy and focus during practices.”

Although WA’s later start time has overall succeeded in benefiting its students and staff, there are still some areas of conflict. For example, many individuals who partake in other extracurricular activities after school have been impacted by this time change dramatically, for the most part in a negative direction. The events that they usually participate in now have later start times which may have negatively impacted these students after school routines, as their activities now end at later times, giving them less time to spend on school work.

As a track athlete myself, practices have been prone to ending relatively late in the day, making it difficult to organize completing homework and handling other tasks outside of school and extracurriculars. However, having an extra sliver of time in the morning to sleep or get work done has definitely balanced the struggles of starting homework later in the afternoon due to sport events.

“From a coaching standpoint, the later end to the school day means we often have less flexibility with practice schedules, especially when sharing gym space with other teams,” Eang said. “It also means athletes get home later, which can impact their ability to complete homework or rest properly before the next day.”

Although this new bell schedule does impose difficulties when it comes to completing school work after extracurriculars, which now end later in the afternoon due to this time change, the extra time given in the morning could be utilized by students to get this work done. However, simply using this time to just get more sleep can also help rest from the extended time of after school activities.

The triumph of the new 8:00 a.m. start time can also be seen throughout the student population of WA, as 73% of the respondents of a recent poll answered that the delayed schedule change has benefited them.

When it comes to the extra time given in the morning to do things ranging from getting extra sleep and improving mental health, to getting work done and being productive, or just simply having the opportunity to spend more time getting ready for the school day, this later start time has been extremely profitable over the course of the year.