CT events • student advocacy • fall bell‑time shifts

• global context • new research

September 2026 Newsletter 

Volume 15, Issue 9

Dear Friends of Start School Later,

The start of a new school year always brings renewed attention to when the day begins—and this year, it also brings signs of this attention turning into action.

Districts across the country are moving bell times, student leaders are organizing, and new studies continue to confirm what we’ve long known: even modest delays in start times improve sleep, alertness, and adolescent

Internationally, too, the conversation is widening—from studies of global perceptions of start times to reflections on why change has been so challenging in the U.S.

As we look ahead to our October workshop in Hartford and our October 1 event in New Haven with Wendy Troxel, we’re grateful for everyone helping turn evidence into action.

Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Start School Later

Join us at this FREE one-day workshop to find out how to turn "we can't" into "here's how."

In this inspiring story of student advocacy from the Charlotte Observer, Patrick Kneib, director of client services for the school transportation consulting firm TransPar Group, says the biggest misconception about changing school start times is that it must be either easy or impossible. “It’s neither,” he says.

Districts in at least 8 U.S. states have announced plans to start some of all of their middle and/or high schools later this fall.

How early are schools starting around the world?

Your Support Helps Changemakers Make Change

A Call for Multilevel Action, Including Later Start Times, to Improve Teen Sleep

This is Our Story!

An insider's look at the long, often uphill battle to align school schedules with sleep science, featuring the work, setbacks, and successes of the advocates who built this movement.