I’m American, and my high school starts at 9:00 AM, and it ends at 4:25 PM. I was wondering how common this is, as I’ve heard that apparently in the US, HS tends to start at an earlier time.

I thought it made sense for high school to start later, especially in relation to other school levels so less busses are needed (my elementary was 7:50 AM-2:50 PM, and middle school was 8:15 AM-3:35 PM). Plus, high schoolers tend to sleep in/stay up later, and having a later start time is better for those who need to arrive early, like sports players.

49 comments

  2. Many many moons ago my classes started at like 7:35? 7:45? Something like that. There was also optional classes earlier than that. Done by 2:30 or 2:45 or whatever.

  3. Those hours are unheard of here. The high school where I currently work runs 8:15 till about 2:45. We are much later than any of our neighboring schools. The school I started teaching in started at 7:25.

    Are you in the western part of a time zone? Also why are athletes early? All our athletics happen after school.

  7. When I was in HS (2003-2007) I caught the bus at 6:30 and classes started at 7:20. The one year I had gym as my first period…that was a doozy to do at 7:20 in the morning let me tell you….

  8. I think mine went from 8:15-2:20. I was in a lot of extracurriculars so I always got home much later than that

  10. High school was 8:00 – 2:55

    I think middle school was the same hours

    Elementary school was ??? – 2:15. It started late because I caught the bus at 7:40. And I was home by 2:30.

  11. First class started at 8:15, last class ended 3:15 (maybe 3:30)? Not sure. For 7 of the 8 semesters I was there I made sure not to have a class in the final period so my day was over at 2:40.

  12. When I was a freshman, we had split sessions – so school was 9AM to 4:30 PM for me too!

    Turns out my class was the last one in our district to do it that way. The following year everyone was on the same schedule, 7:25- 2:40.

  15. 7:25 am- 2 pm (I’m a h.s. teacher).

    So in your school, do you do sports before school starts then? Is that the solution? That’s been the impediment here—if you start h.s. at 9 and end at 4:25, then sports/extra curriculars cut into dinner time.

    How does your school solve this? Genuinely curious.

  16. High school was 7:30 to 2:30 I think, though it’s been a couple decades.

    Sports practice was after school. There was a late bus to take kids home who had clubs or sports. Middle and elementary school started later. The reasoning on making high school earliest was that high schoolers don’t need as much help to get ready for school as younger kids and kids with jobs can get jobs easier working after school than before. But there was very definitely a problem of kids being exhausted because like you say, high schoolers tend to stay up later.

    Number of busses is the same regardless of what order middle, elementary, and high school starts.

  17. Mine starts at 8:05, the time our first period starts, and ends at 3:05. The school allows students in around 7:30.

  20. I was reminded of this recently, and had totally forgotten how early school starts here. I happened to be up really early and was driving back home and say kids waiting for a bus at like 6:55am.

    I think between 7:45 and 8:15 is the normal start time. I think my highschool was 8:00.

  21. 7:15-2:20ish

    To stagger the bus system, different schools are on slightly different schedules. I have never heard of a high school starting so late as yours.

  23. 7:50 am to 2:50 pm back in the day

    Of course band started at 6:30 so my ass was up before the sun

  24. 9 to 4. It had specific minutes but I can’t recall the exact start time. Sports practice could be before or after.

  29. I went to two different high schools

    Freshman year I guess it was 8 am to 2:39

    Sophomore year 8 to 2:35

    Transferred out junior year

    It was 9 to 3:17 pm that year

    Senior year I didn’t really have a first period and my last period class wasn’t needed to graduate

    9:55 to 2:35 or 2:40, 3:17 if I stayed for pre calculus class

  30. Mine started around 7:15, and ended at 1:30 on Wednesday and 2:30 the rest of the week.

  33. Mine started at 7:15 and got out at 2:15. In my senior year (2008-2009 school year) the start time changed to 7:10.

    I hated the start time but liked the commensurate release time because it gave me better afterschool-job opportunity. I had an awesome job at a science museum and would not have been able to work there if my school schedule didn’t line up with their shift hours.

  35. First class was 7:20 AM when I was in high school, if I am remembering correctly. I always thought it was fucking stupid to start that early. After a year of AP chemistry in first hour my junior year, I hadn’t learned the teacher’s name.

  36. From rough memory (it’s been almost 20 years), mine ran from approximately 7:45 to 2:30. Most athletics/extracurriculur activities occurred after the school day, although my sister was on the swim team and I remember they had early morning practices.

  37. First bell for home room was at 7:30 am and bell
    for dismissal was at 2:23 pm. Graduated in ‘96.

  38. My first year of high school was 6:50-1:30 – I had a “zero period” and got out an hour early. My next two years were 7:50-2:30.

    Changed states before senior year, hours were 9:00-3:30.

  41. 8:14am-2:22pm. The 2:22pm I’m not 100% on, could have been a bit earlier or later, it wasn’t later than 2:30.

  43. I want to say 730am or 8am-2:00pm. I did career center so that took up half my classes in junior, and senior year

  45. My school started classes at 8 AM each day, and ended at 3:15 PM, except on Fridays when it ended a little after 2 PM (each class period was shorter on Friday). There was also an optional “zero period”, used for making up some class work, that began at 7 AM.

    However, if you took part in sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities, you may not get done with school for another hour or few, depending on how long it took. Some activities could even take place in the morning before classes started.

  46. It was roughly 7:30-2:30 for me. Middle school started at the same time – buses were shared for my middle and high school as they’re next to each other – elementary schools start at about 9am.

  47. Originally 727-212 I think, then it changed to 744-244 when we switched to block scheduling my senior year

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