Frank Li ‘27

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Strake Jesuit casts a wide net over the Houston area, leading to commutes that cross counties, highways, and take an hour or more. This, in turn, leads to very early wake up times, and therefore, sleep deprivation.

“I wake up at 6:00 and try to leave at 7:00. It usually takes me around 50 minutes to get to Strake Jesuit,” Dylan Marshal ‘27 from Missouri City said of his commute. Waking up at such early times can often lead to fatigue from lack of sleep.

Sleep deprivation plagues nearly 77% of all high school students in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control, and has serious consequences. A lack of sleep increases the occurrence of depression, anxiety, stress, poor attention, poor grades, sleepy driving, poor general health, and even weight loss. For students who drive themselves to school, drowsy driving increases the risk of highway collisions. In addition, students struggling to stay awake don’t learn well, causing them to receive poor grades and fall behind. “Seeing students who are tired, all I can think of is how much more they could get from class if only they were able to ensure they get proper rest,” Mr. Kuzmin said of his experience teaching sleepy students.

One example Strake Jesuit could consider is from Friendswood I.S.D. Their schools start at 8:35 and paired with smaller commute times, students get much more sleep than if they were attending Strake Jesuit. “I couldn’t imagine having to go to school at 8:00 instead of 8:35, I’d be so tired. I’m grateful my school starts at 8:35 rather than 8:00,” Arthur Leiman, a sophomore at Friendswood High School ,commented. 

I propose Strake Jesuit somewhat follow Friendswood’s example and shift the entire school day forward by 30 minutes, to 8:30 to 3:25, while keeping the periods and community time the same. Thirty minutes of extra sleep is nothing to scoff at and is paired with minimal disruptions to after-school sports and activities. The school could introduce this new schedule for a week or two, then conduct a poll asking students and faculty if they liked it or not. Some might argue that getting enough sleep is the personal responsibility of students; that is partly true. But, should we let students just fail and fall behind? Or should we step up and give students more sleep they need to succeed?