Late Start Wednesdays: A Love Letter

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Bella Orozco

On the surface, Wednesday may seem like a pretty “mid” day. Quite literally, in fact. It’s in the middle of the week. Hump day. Just a day that doesn’t seem too special. But to me, it's so much more. This is my love letter to Wednesdays.

Dear Wednesday,

I actually used to hate you. You were the day I started snoozing my alarm in the morning for a few more minutes of rest. That day I began to doubt if I would do my homework for tomorrow. I probably ate leftovers for dinner, too. 

Of course, you had some moments. Those being advisement club meetings and being literally the only night a week I didn’t have work or some other lengthy extracurricular.

Now you’re the light of my life. After three years of high school, I’ve finally taken a blended online class so I can leave school early three days a week, one of which is you. Plus, you now have a late start.

But what purpose does a late start even serve for our school? Students either have the option of more sleep or they can arrive at school at the normal time to complete work. Only they can’t go to ask teachers for help because they all have meetings. So how can a late start really benefit anyone?

Personally, I have no qualms about a late start. I get an extra 50 minutes of sleep. Not to mention I don’t have to be at school fourth block so I enjoy five hours of school and plenty of time to complete homework for other classes. Although, this is not the case for everyone. 

Foremost, most underclassmen don’t drive. This means they are transported to school via bus, by parents or friends. If they are driven by friends or are fortunate enough to have a parent willing to drive them to school at 8 am, then underclassmen do benefit from extra sleep. Teens need about eight to ten hours of sleep a night to be able to maintain optimal performance in their daily lives. An extra 40-50 minutes of sleep from a late start can help students get closer to that sleep goal. However, the students that ride the bus lack that benefit.

Bus riders are mandated to stay in the cafeteria and complete homework. This can be a plus because some students are only able to focus well in a school-type environment so they may be more productive. Ultimately, the study time descends into loud mayhem as soon as students arrive before 8 am and many lack the resistance to talk to their friends. Additionally, when a student actually being productive gets tripped up on a homework problem, they are not permitted to go ask a teacher. No teachers are available during this “study time” because they are busy with meetings, so students cannot benefit from much-needed help that they may have otherwise gotten in advisement.

On the other hand, the meetings for teachers can be beneficial to both teachers and students. No one truly enjoys any sort of meeting, but these weekly meetings can reduce the amount of time taken out of a teacher’s preparation block or after school hours. This means that educators can plan more for students in class learning that can benefit students’ learning outside of the classroom.

The past five weeks of late start have had ups and downs. It was a bit of a learning curve that still has a few kinks to work out as some groups have more benefits than others. To make the benefits more equitable, we could start school every day later or make advisements optional, which are understandably difficult to do. So for now a late start is a step in the right direction.

Wednesdays are very much my favorite day because I can reap the benefits more than others, but I do understand where other people may hate them. 

Thank you, Wednesday from me and I guess no thank you from many others.

<3 Bella