De Soto School District implemented a new day into the school year’s schedule: delayed start. This new system pushes back the start time of school by two hours, (7:50 to 9:50 a.m. for the high schools) and is intended to be used for inclement weather days. 

On Sept. 18, students from across the district practiced this concept and were able to arrive at school later. With school starting at a later time, students had the opportunity to spend the morning however they wanted. 

Sophomore Shelby Marquis used her extra time to go to Cause Coffee with her friends and enjoy a nice breakfast on the patio. 

According to Marquis, it was “for sure a good way to start [her] day” and be in the “company of friends and sit down for coffee.”

Junior AJ Poulain slept in and went to Cause Coffee with a friend to complete some homework assignments. 

“[It was a] good time to study and get extra work done,” Poulain said. 

While other students slept in or spent their time relaxing, other students used their time to work and get some hours in. 

Senior Adison Reinertsen, who has Senior Symposium in the morning, went to work at 6:30 a.m. and then came to school at the start of the third block. 

Many students feel that the late start is beneficial for the well-being of students. 

“I feel like it’s good for them [students] to get the extra time to sleep or do whatever they need to do. I think that it will be helpful because sleep and things like that are good ways to calm and destress,” Reinertsen said.  

Many students enjoyed having the extra time in the morning to get ready for the day. 

“It’s good to have extra time to sleep, get ready and have breakfast. I felt better throughout the day,” Poulain said. 

Although late start gave students extra time, it also caused some issues throughout the rest of the week. 

“It kind of screwed up my sleep schedule for the rest of the week. I didn’t want to wake up as early,” Poulain said. 

The schedule itself may have also caused issues with the students. 

“During the practice day, people didn’t quite know where they were going or what they were doing,” Poulain observed. “If we keep practicing this, then it should roll smoothly [when it is used during the winter].”

Late start could be used during the winter when a snowstorm is not severe enough to cancel a full day of school. 

“If it [a snowstorm] is not that bad and it gets cleared up, I think that late starts will help since we won’t have to miss so much school and content during the school year,” Reinertsen said. 

With this new system being tested, some students believe they will be more productive during the winter. 

“For me, snow days are boring. With late start, you still have time in the morning to wake up a little bit later and get work done, so it’s not a complete loss,” Poulain said.

 However, some students still enjoy having snow days throughout the winter. 

“Snow days are always a good break [from school and stress],” Marquis said. 

Overall, students had a mainly positive experience with the late start and hope to use it during the winter.