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10am? That means they were going at 9am? That seems really late compared to when I went to school and it started at 7:30am! I can see where later would cut down

by duck 17y ago

10am? That means they were going at 9am? That seems really late compared to when I went to school and it started at 7:30am! I can see where later would cut down on absentees, but it seems to be at a cost of pushing after school activities later and taking away from family time. I think the four-day school week is a better idea. I think it would help in terms of attendance and would cut costs: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=four%20day%20school%20week&aql=&gs_rfai=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=four%20day%20school%...

andrewcooke 17y ago
i'm pretty sure school in the uk always started at (around) 9am. at least, i think it did in my comprehensive, many years ago.
philh 17y ago
10am is when lessons start. My school expected us to be in by 8:30, with lessons starting at 9.
Kliment 17y ago
Well, the data speaks for itself. Did you read the article? The official school hours are the same, they just shifted classes from the morning to the afternoon slots for that group. And they still get out of school earlier than the typical adult workday ends.
smackfu 17y ago
Another factor is that in the US, there's often a bottleneck in the bus system. It's more efficient to use the same buses for multiple levels of school, but a "bus cycle" may take an hour, and you may have three schools to service separately (high school, middle school, elementary). As a a result, the elementary school may start at 9 AM, but that pushes the high school to 7 AM. And you don't really want to reverse it.
- gwern 17y ago
  > As a a result, the elementary school may start at 9 AM, but that pushes the high school to 7 AM. And you don't really want to reverse it. Why not? I'm one of 4 children; every single one of us in elementary school would get up on our own ridiculously early. We would wake up and eagerly watch _Pokemon_ at, IIRC, 6:30 AM. Waking up in the 5s wasn't unheard of. It wasn't until high school and getting up at 6 AM that an older kid would finally start getting up before the younger kids.
  - graywh 17y ago
    The problem is having the younger children outside waiting for the bus in the dark before or soon after the sun comes up in late autumn and winter.
    - gwern 17y ago
      That doesn't sound so bad. It's going to be cold even if one waits an hour or two.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]

by duck 17y ago

andrewcooke 17y ago

i'm pretty sure school in the uk always started at (around) 9am. at least, i think it did in my comprehensive, many years ago.

philh 17y ago

10am is when lessons start. My school expected us to be in by 8:30, with lessons starting at 9.

Kliment 17y ago

Well, the data speaks for itself. Did you read the article? The official school hours are the same, they just shifted classes from the morning to the afternoon slots for that group. And they still get out of school earlier than the typical adult workday ends.

smackfu 17y ago

Another factor is that in the US, there's often a bottleneck in the bus system. It's more efficient to use the same buses for multiple levels of school, but a "bus cycle" may take an hour, and you may have three schools to service separately (high school, middle school, elementary). As a a result, the elementary school may start at 9 AM, but that pushes the high school to 7 AM. And you don't really want to reverse it.

gwern 17y ago
> As a a result, the elementary school may start at 9 AM, but that pushes the high school to 7 AM. And you don't really want to reverse it. Why not? I'm one of 4 children; every single one of us in elementary school would get up on our own ridiculously early. We would wake up and eagerly watch _Pokemon_ at, IIRC, 6:30 AM. Waking up in the 5s wasn't unheard of. It wasn't until high school and getting up at 6 AM that an older kid would finally start getting up before the younger kids.
- graywh 17y ago
  The problem is having the younger children outside waiting for the bus in the dark before or soon after the sun comes up in late autumn and winter.
  - gwern 17y ago
    That doesn't sound so bad. It's going to be cold even if one waits an hour or two.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]