7:28 a.m.: the first bell rings at Bethpage High School, letting students know they have only four minutes to get to class. Time to run.

By 7:32, all students are expected to be in class ready to work and learn after a long night of sports, extra-curricular activities, and often overwhelming amounts of homework.  

Many high school students don’t get the sleep they need having to wake up very early and go to bed extremely late most nights. Emily Wilson, a junior at BHS said, “I am more tired in the morning and can’t focus that well at seven a.m.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that high schools should start around 8:30 a.m. Forty-two states have reported that about three quarters to all of their middle and, or high schools actually  start at the recommended time. Proving that starting school later can benefit the students because, with more sleep, they can perform more effectively throughout the day. Jamie, a sophomore at BHS said that students, “will get more hours of sleep and probably wouldn’t be late to class as much.” About 87 percent of students in high school are chronically sleep-deprived, according to a survey from the National Sleep Foundation.

Bella Caradona, a sophomore at BHS says that it’s “easier to focus” later in the day and therefore students will be able “to get better grades.”

The change won’t only benefit students but teachers as well. The morning commute to your job on Long Island is traffic filled, which can make it stressful. With the late start, teachers will also be able to drop their kids off to school in the morning. There would be more gas saved which in turn means more money saved because the running cars won’t be sitting, waiting in traffic to get to work every morning. Since the school day would be starting later there would be less people on the road.

Jericho, the number one ranked school district on Long Island according to Newsday.com, begins their day at 8:59 am. Bethpage starts over an hour later. With thirty minutes to each period this has clearly been effective due to the success of the Jericho High School school district.  With this late start, they only get out an hour later than those at Bethpage High School.

Many students in BHS believe that school starting later has many positive effects, and will be highly beneficial.