– According to recent biological research, a change in the level of the hormone melatonin in the brain of teenagers results in a shift of their circadian rhythm, pushing them to go to bed later at night and get up later into the morning. For this reason, the later high school classes begin in the morning, the greater the improvement in the students’ academic performance.

– Kyla Wahlstrom, director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, published in February an extensive report about the study involving over 9,000 students in eight public high schools in Minnesota, Colorado and Wyoming. The conclusion is that school schedule indeed affects learning performance. After a semester of research, it was observed that when classes started at a later time, grades earned in English, math, science and social studies had an average increase of as much as a quarter step (halfway from B to B+, for example).

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