BARNSTABLE – School officials in Barnstable will hold a forum tonight to discuss the possibility of starting high school later in the morning.
Officials cite numerous studies that show teenagers brains are not fully functioning at the current start time of 7:20.
“I think there is some very sound research that shows that at 7:20 AM [an older] adolescent’s brain is not wide awake,” said Barnstable High School Principal Patrick Clark. “Would there be better learning minutes at 2:30 in the afternoon as compared to 7:20?”
Clark said as they float around the idea of a later start time, they will have to examine how it impacts families, “If you change the curriculum for mathematics, it doesn’t really change the routine of a parent. This topic is one of interest and gets a lot of attention because it impacts the household.”
The forum is tonight at 6:30 the Barnstable Intermediate School.
