D. A. Moodie principal urges later start time

Kimberly Lochhead, EMC

Changing the start time of D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School to 9:30 a.m. from 7:50 a.m. would improve student learning and has been an interest of the community for the past decade, said Principal Heather Graham.

The later start to the day would result in a 4 p.m. finish.

While D. A. Moodie school's current start time is the earliest in the entire Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, official approval of the change has yet to come from the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA), as school start times are based on bus schedules.

Ms. Graham said she is not aware of the OSTA's timeline regarding the matter, but expects the decision to be finalized in time for September 2010.

"The first two periods are a waste for some children, not all," she said. "We start at 7:55 ... and a lot of times we have to re-teach those concepts later in the day. At 10:15 a.m., all of a sudden, they are engaged and willing to learn."

Before bringing the issue to light, Ms. Graham conducted a series of surveys to poll staff, students and parents on their opinions. Parents of Grade 6 and 7 students were invited to a meeting, while the student council polled their peers. Grade 5 parents from the feeder schools were also asked to provide comment.

Results of the process concluded that almost 100% of staff were in favour, as well as 71% of Grade 6 and 7 parents, 100% of Grade 5 parents and 30% of Grade 6 and 7 students.

Ms. Graham said the students cited many reasons for not supporting the change but the main reason was their loss in unsupervised free time after school. She also noted that the Ottawa Police Service indicate the peak time for youth crime in Ottawa is between 2 and 7 p.m.

"For reasons of safety, I want to reduce the amount of unsupervised time students have," said Ms. Graham. "The students like their unsupervised free time after school and I don't blame them. They have concerns around the fact that they are supposed to baby-sit their younger siblings and some have competitive sports that start in the later afternoon and are worried about homework time."

She added some people were concerned with daylight hours in December. Ms. Graham posted information from Environment Canada, which clearly showed greater darkness in the morning on Dec. 21 than after school hours, making it less safe for students at 7:50 a.m. than 9:30 a.m.

"Change is hard and I recognize sometimes doing the right thing is not popular, but no one was able to convince me that it was safer or better for student learning at 7:50 a.m.," she explained. "They had personal schedule concerns and they worry about their children not getting up if they aren't around and at work, but that is a convenience issue."

In regards to staff of D. A. Moodie, Ms. Graham said most agreed it was the best change professionally as well as the right thing for students, despite the impact on their own personal schedules.

She also noted various studies regarding adolescent sleep patterns and their need for later school start times for both better mental and physical health. One of the studies, conducted by Dr. Mary A. Carskadon, states teens with less than seven hours of sleep report feeling tired during the day because they need an average of nine-and-one-quarter hours of sleep per night.

"A vast majority of students who are at-risk here struggle with the early morning time and the kids who are earlier morning people and do well are going to do well no matter what start time they have," said Ms. Graham. "Every decision I make in this building is based on student learning and student safety."

More information about the proposed change can be found at

www.daubreymoodieis.ocdsb.ca