The Greencastle-Antrim School District is committed to promoting and sustaining the safety, academic achievement and mental and physical health of our students. Over the past several years, there has been significant mounting scientific evidence that chronic adolescent sleep loss has become a public health issue.
In testament to these findings, many major prominent national health organizations (see "Resources" below) have issued related official policy statements and recommendations. More recently, the following national organizations have issued the same declarations: the National Parent Teacher Association; the American Academy of Sleep Medicine; and the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
In August of 2018, our Superintendent Dr. Kendra Trail, named the exploration of student sleep needs and school start times as one of her 2018-19 goals in response to board and administrative concern. A recommendation is to be released by administration for school board consideration in the spring of 2019. The recommendation will follow an investigation on the topics of student sleep and school start time by a committee comprised of GASD staff members, parents, students and board members.
Up-to-date information on the progress of the School Start Time Study and general information on these topics will be shared on this webpage.
The GASD School Start Time Committee was formed by district administration to take a deeper look into the research and to provide feedback on what is best for our students in relation to school start times.
What does current research say about adolescent sleep patterns?
What do you think would be beneficial about starting high school later in the morning?
What are the concerns you have about starting high school later in the morning?
In an effort to capture the thoughts of the Greencastle – Antrim Community regarding Adolescent Sleep / School Start Time, the committee has created an email address to gather community input.
Please send comments to sleep@gcasd.org. The committee will consider all comments as part of its ongoing research.