Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Sleep makes you stronger, smarter and healthier.
Although most of us will sleep more than 25 years in our lifetimes, much of that sleep will lack the essential ingredients for wonderful, rejuvenative rest. Sleep is critical for the body and the brain, and this week we’ll take a closer look on the importance of getting some shuteye. The brain goes through about five sleep cycles (90 minutes each) during a seven/eight hour sleep period. These are broken down into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and Non-REM periods. During Non-REM periods we have lower brain activity, deeper sleep and muscle rejuvenation. During REM sleep we have increased brain activity, consolidation of emotions and memories and rejuvenation of the brain. Here are some more benefits of sleep: Although these are some of the most …
Friday, July 27, 2012
Vision outlined by ad hoc committee Thursday focuses on alternatives analysis, community engagement
The Fairfax County School Board took its next step toward later start times Thursday, asking staff to issue a request for proposal for a firm that will research and develop a specific plan to push all high school start times to 8 a.m. or later. On a 10-1 vote, the board approved a document developed by the board's Ad Hoc Committee on Start Times, which outlines expectations and outcomes for the group that will guide the process. Among them: reviewing the system's own history with later start times, including 1998 and 2008 reports; developing optional approaches and alternatives to achieve a later start time; creating a "blue print for change" and leading a community engagement plan to solicit recommendations to the plan. The full document …
Friday, April 13, 2012
School board votes in favor of setting a goal to start high schools after 8 a.m.
After hearing nine members of the community speak on the issue, the Fairfax County School Board voted 10-2 on Thursday to develop a system-wide goal of starting high schools after 8 a.m. Members Kathy Smith (Sully) and Ted Velkoff (At-Large) voted against the resolution. The decision also charges Superintendent Jack Dale and the Fairfax County Public Schools staff with researching practices adopted by school districts with high schools that begin their days after 8 a.m., then reporting the findings to the school board at a June 11 work session. "A growing body of research tells us that later high school start times do result in more sleep for teen students. This is because later schedules work with adolescent body clocks rather than …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
With six new members, Fairfax County board explores time shift for system schedule
Three years after the Fairfax County School Board voted against a schedule shift that would accommodate later high school start times, members will revisit the issue next week with a vote on a resolution to develop a system-wide goal of starting high schools after 8 a.m. The resolution, scheduled to come before the board at its April 12 meeting, calls for the adoption of that goal but also directs Superintendent Jack Dale to identify and report on school divisions that have traditionally had and have transitioned to later morning start times, including neighboring Arlington and Loudoun counties along with Minneapolis, Minn; Wilton, Conn.; and Brevard, Fla. Dale would present his findings to the board at a June 11 work session. County buses…
Kathy Keith
4:43 pm on Sunday, August 26, 2012
To Diana, Of course, I have seent he kids out early at the bus stop--my own kids were among them. Of course, I don't like it. But, if you are worried about kidnapping, etc., I think my concerns would be a lot greater for elementary kids than for high school. All the options I have seen presented require for at least one level of schools (elementary, high, or middle school) to start very early. I … more ›