Tigard High School’s regular start time is 7:50 am, 8:15 am on Tuesdays. School ends at 2:50 pm every day. That is 7 hours of school. Students get 40 minutes for lunch and 10 minutes between four separate periods of hard focused work.

On average, Tigard students get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep every night, going to bed at about 11:00 pm and waking up at about 6:00 am, based on a random survey from each class.

Each student has about 2-3 hours of homework a night, based on the class difficulties of the courses they are taking. If students are playing sports or are involved in extra curricular activities, that means they will have practice or meetings each day after school, which lasts about 1-2 hours. That allows them to start their 3 hours of homework at about 6:00 pm. In addition to having to attend to personal conflicts, such as work, family events, etc., and all the homework given, students are not getting enough sleep.

“It’s really hard going to school so early because I feel like I do not get enough sleep, because of all of my IB homework,” said Junior Patrick Finn.

It is not healthy for students to struggle 5 days a week based on the given information. Schools need to change starting times in order for students to meet their academic expectations and get the recommended amount of sleep each night. Staff also struggles with the start time.

“I have a family to look after, I don’t have enough time during the week to support my babies!” said Shelley Lopresti, a math teacher at the school.

Many members of the district struggle with the start time, and it would be a great alternation if it were pushed back.