McAuliffe’s school hours are from 9:10 to 4:10, exactly 7 hours. This is a normal amount of time for kids to be at school, but many schools start earlier and also end earlier. Is this better for students at these schools, or is it better to have school start and end late?

Skinner Middle School’s hours are from 8:20 to 2:40. Their school day is 6 hours and 20 minutes long. Although their school day is 40 minutes shorter than McAuliffe, they have six classes a day and get lots done. 

If school started at 8:20, many students would have to wake up before 7 am if they drive to school. But those same students would also get home from school around 3, giving them much more time for sports and other after-school activities. With the recent daylight saving time, the sun sets at 4:35 in Denver, making it so lots of students who live farther away from McAuliffe are getting home around the time the sun sets. This gives them less time to go outside and play sports or exercise. Since sports and exercise has been proven to improve teens’ mental health, students whose school ends early may have better mental health. 

Exercise also helps kids sleep better, which is very important for teenagers. So students who get home when the sun is already down may not have enough time to go outside and exercise. This could result in bad mental health and less sleep for students. 

Overall, students who get home from school early have more time to do the activities they enjoy and can actually be healthier than kids who get home from school late.