Sleep is something that all students need. According to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, adolescents are recommended to get approximately eight to ten hours of rest every night, yet it’s usually not their highest priority. The most common response received when asked how much sleep a student receives in a night was 6.5 hours or even less. The cause for the lack of sleep is mostly due to the vast amount of homework, studying for tests, and procrastination.

When asked about MHS’ start and end times, Lilly Houser, ‘20, believes having a later start time would be helpful, but the difference of time would not have practical significance.

Houser says that “[she does not] think that would be beneficial. [she] wakes up at 6:30 and [is] still dead tired by 8:00,”

Saanjhi Shahdadpuri, ‘22, is a freshman student at Wayzata High School, which begins twenty minutes after Minnetonka.

Shahdadpuri states that“even with school starting at 8:20, I’m still always tired. I have to stay up very late most nights and usually only get six hours of sleep at the most. I know that we do start later than some schools, but for me starting later would help more.”

Even with a later starting time than Minnetonka, students still don’t get enough sleep and schoolwork is almost always the root of that problem. It is common for students to debate if it is healthier to stay up and study or to get to sleep early.

Emily Joslin, ‘19, said “I typically do better when I get more sleep and instead quickly review my material in the morning, although I end up staying up late when I study most of the time.”

Sleep simply is essential to student’s performance.

Counselor Jennifer Stout said “Sleep is our brain’s time to transfer what we’ve learned that day into our long-term memory. It’s harder to pay attention when you’re sleep deprived anyway.”

Even if sleep might seem less important than studying, it’s always worth it. Your test scores and brains will thank you.