This may come as a shock to most of you, but some of us Townies didn't grow up here. While my family has long historical roots in Haverford Township, I didn't move here until 14 years ago. One thing I loved about HT is the walkability of it (walkscore.com gives the 19083 an outstanding score of 71 out of 100). I grew up in the Poconos where we had to catch a school bus around 6:30 am to get to school by 8:15. That's a very long commute and a brutal rise time, not just for high school but for all 12 years because we attended the catholic school. When I see kids walking to school in the morning, I get flashbacks of seeing re-runs of Happy Days and the Brady Bunch. As far as I knew, only Hollywood had kids that walked to school! But even without those very lengthy bus rides to school, the HT school day still begins earlier than most of us are leaving for work in the morning. I never saw the logic in this. If anything, we could consider at least flipping the start times. The young kids could start at 7:35, as they naturally rise earlier, and the older ones could start at 8:35 or later. After-school activities can become before-school activities for those who are interested. These flipped times correspond better with decades of adolescent psychology and neurology research. Greater Philadelphia area Cheltenham school district is being challenged over the early starts. From CBSnewslocal: CHELTENHAM, Pa. (CBS) - The conversation is still in the very earliest stages, but some parents in a Montgomery County school district are considering asking administrators to change the start time for their high school. Rhonda Feder’s daughter is in 10th grade at Cheltenham High School. Class starts at 7:30. She can’t help but wonder whether her school work is affected because she and other teens may be sleep deprived. Feder started a Facebook page to get input from other parents and says the research is out there that shows a later start date would be beneficial to … [Read more...]