Start and End Times

The start and ending times for school will be changing for the 2017-2018 school year. A chart with a list of those times can be found here. The reason for the change is research based, and it was made considering what is best for children.

Research regarding adolescents and sleep consistently indicates that later school start-times are beneficial to the health and well-being of middle and high school students whose sleep cycles shift as they enter adolescence. Being mindful of this research and the attendance trends of our students, TCISD secondary principals asked central administration to explore the possibility of later school start-times for TCISD’s middle schools and high schools.

In March we conducted a parent survey to evaluate general opinion on issues regarding school start-times in TCISD. We received more than 1,200 responses to the survey. While the majority of those answering the survey indicated they were supportive of the research on late start-times for adolescent students, when asked their family’s preference for a start-time, the majority of parents – regardless of grade level – chose an 8 a.m. start.

Unfortunately, we cannot start all of our schools at 8 a.m. daily. So, we began the process of working with our campus and district leadership team – made up of principals; directors of athletics, CTE, fine arts, special education, curriculum & instruction, transportation; and senior administration – to create a schedule of start-times, which would address the needs of our older students and still provide for the safety of all of the children of TCISD.

On April 11, 2017, the TCISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved our leadership team’s recommendation for 2017 – 2018 school start and end times. It is important to note that the later start will not affect athletic competition or impact any of the opportunities offered by community programs before or after school.