With a population of just over 11,000, Dobbs Ferry, New York State is your typical sleepy town, except for one thing.

When the first school bell rings, kids are wide awake.

Last September, Dobbs Ferry School District joined a small but growing cluster of schools around the United States that have started pushing back their middle and high school start times in an effort to combat student grogginess.

Sleep science research says pre-teens and teenagers are some of the most sleep-deprived people and would actually do better in school with more rest.

Dobbs Ferry Superintendent Dr. Lisa Brady tells Business Insider that prior to the 2015-2016 school year, middle schoolers started at 8:15 a.m. and high schoolers at 7:30 a.m. Under the new policy, each school now starts and ends 45 minutes later. Both schools have experienced tremendous benefits, Brady says. Following a survey issued at the end of the last school year, Brady says “it was clear from both the parents and the kids, overwhelmingly, that the mornings were just less stressful.”

Many of the kids reported having more time to eat breakfast and get ready for school, while parents said they didn’t have to drag kids out of bed or yell at them to hurry up. Once students got to school, they felt more alert. At night, they reported going to bed at the same time, even though the new schedule freed up an extra 45 minutes.

The trend has been building up steam for the past few years. At the advocacy group Start School Later, employees have been compiling an ongoing list of U.S. schools and districts that have made the move to push back the first bell.

One of those is Solebury School, in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where Director of Studies Rick Tony has pushed for a robust set of changes to the typical school schedule.

Beginning this academic year, kids at Solebury, a private boarding and day school, don’t start until

8:30 a.m. On Wednesdays, it’s

9 a.m. That’s a full hour later than in years past, when the first bell sounded promptly at 8.

“Every time we ask for feedback, the results come back 10 to 1, positive to negative,” he tells Business Insider.

纽约州的多布斯费里仅拥有11000多人口，是典型的睡不醒的小镇，不过一件事情除外。当学校的第一声铃声响起时，孩子们是完全清醒的。去年9月，多布斯费里校区加入了推迟上学时间的美国学校的队伍，这些学校现在还是少数但队伍正逐渐壮大，它们推迟初高中上学时间以免学生们无精打采。

睡眠科学研究表示，青春期前的儿童以及青少年是最缺乏睡眠的人群。实际上，他们在得到更多休息后在学校表现更好。多布斯费里校长丽莎•布雷迪博士告诉财经内幕网说，在2015-2016学年前，初中生早上8点15开始上课，高中生7点30开始上课。新政策下，现在每个学校的上课和放学时间延后45分钟。布雷迪称，学校都受益匪浅。

上一学年末发布了一份调查后，布雷迪称“大部分的家长和孩子都明确表示这样早晨压力更小。”

据报道，许多孩子有更多的时间吃早饭，准备上学，而家长称他们不需要把孩子从床上拽起来或者吼他们动作快点。学生们到了学校后也感觉思维更敏捷。即使新课表延后了45分钟，晚上他们往往还是在原来的时间睡觉。

过去几年里这一趋势开始发展壮大。“晚点上学”游说团体的员工汇编了延迟上学的美国学校和地区名单，该名单在不断发展。其中一家是位于宾西法尼亚州新希望镇的索尔伯瑞中学。教务主任瑞克•托尼推动了该校传统课程表的一系列强有力的改革。索尔博瑞是一所私立寄宿和日间学校，从本学年开始，这里的孩子早上8点30才开始上课。星期三是早上9点上课。这比过去几年晚了整整一小时，以前8点就准时响起第一次铃声。

他告诉财经内幕网：“每次我们寻求反馈时，积极和消极回应的比例是10比1。”(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【没精神】méijīngshén grogginess being dazed and weakened, as from lack of sleep

    【声势壮大】shēngshì zhuàngdà build up steam become more active, important, or full of energy