Sleep in Fairfax

05/19/2026

Great results coming in from Pennsylvania! I wonder when Fairfax will fix the middle school start times to help our children?

Preliminary data compiled by the Pennsbury School District suggests that shifting high school start times later has led to a decrease in absences and tardiness during the first half of the 2025-2026 school year. High school absences dropped 13 percent year-over-year during the first 108 days of classes.

Additionally, tardiness saw an even more significant decline of 24 percent, falling from 19,000 recorded incidents in the previous year to 14,000 under the new schedule.

The high school shifted its start time this school year from 7:20 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.

Read more: https://levittownnow.com/2026/05/15/pennsbury-high-school-reports-improved-attendance-with-new-start-time/

Start School Later Southeastern PA - RASNC Start School Later Pennsylvania

05/19/2026

Banning phones in schools may not be as effective in boosting school performance as simply letting kids sleep longer.

05/06/2026

Your advocacy matters 🎉 Check out these student stories to see how transformative it is to change school schedules to a healthier morning start time.

Andrew's Story

04/14/2026

🎙️ We’re Proud to Announce Our New Podcast!

Start School Later is launching the Start School Later Podcast, exploring how school start times impact student health, well-being, and academic success.

Our debut episode features Superintendent LaMont Cole of East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, sharing how he led the transition to later start times—from building stakeholder support to managing logistics—and what it means for students.

💬 “When students are well-rested, they show up healthier, safer, and ready to learn.”

🎧 Tune in to hear how strong leadership can turn student-centered ideas into real change.

Check out our first episode available now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-Ac6CUAamYc

03/26/2026

Fairfax pediatricians long ago signed a letter asking the Fairfax County School Board to make this change, and yet, FCPS middle schools list the opportunity for even the cost-neutral pilot due to delay after delay. Decisions that should and could have been made in December 2024 were postponed by questions about boundary changes and a lack of leadership. By February 2025, advocates pressed for the discussion that should have happened in December. After further delays to consider a phased approach, the whole effort died from delay: leadership declared it too late to make a change. Too inconvenient for adults. How many more generations of students will suffer the dark wake up calls and bus stops in the 5-6 AM timeframe?

Adolescents need eight to 10 hours of sleep each night to support healthy brain and body, emotional regulation and learning. | Opinion

03/21/2026

Permanent Standard Time brings us closer to nature’s rhythms.

03/21/2026

🍏🚸The evidence behind the need to start middle and high schools after 8:30 is clear and compelling. Adult inconvenience is not an acceptable excuse to maintain bell times that harm our children.

🚸🍏We need school leaders who put our children first. Advocacy to provide healthy and appropriate school start times won't end until Fairfax provides reasonable and appropriate school start times for all students Kindergarten through 12th grade.

🍏🍏🚸 Guiding principles from another district included:
🍏 Do the best we can for the most children.
🚸 Provide HS and MS morning start times after 8:30 AM in keeping with the evidence and calls from the AAP.
🍏 Ensure that sports and ECA's continue and don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
⏰ Make the decision by November for implementation the following school year so adults have time to adjust to the new bell times for HS, MS, and ES.
🍏 Don't allow adult convenience to overrule what's in the best interest of our children

03/10/2026

A new proposal would change what time class starts for over 60 schools. Here’s what to know.

12/06/2025

Did you enjoy the snow delay this week?

See what a difference a later start time can make. Check out this quick animation.

Getting enough sleep at the right time can affect so much about your day. Good sleep can mean better relationships, a brighter mood, a better memory, and a g...

11/20/2025

During yesterday's Let's Sleep webinar, the speaker, Dr. Rafael Pelayo, mentioned that teens are so sleep-deprived that they will sleep through fire alarms (smoke detectors) going off ...

Starting school later is a highly effective approach to meeting teens sleep needs. When schools start later in the morning, teens GAIN sleep and sleep is better aligned with their body clock.

Yet, many districts hold onto the old and harmful ways as if the status quo is reason enough for torture of teens. (Phyllis Payne)