Until you've had a student go through Hinsdale Central High School, it is difficult to understand the pressure put on the students. HCHS is a pressure cooker from day one and having exams after Winter Break means, for most students, that their vacation period is ruined. Most (not all) will spend a majority of their break studying for finals, that typically take place ten days after the break ends. In early January, some teachers, having finished the material for first semester before Winter Break starts, will start second semester material, even giving tests right before finals on second semester materials, and sometimes not even counting those tests as part of first semester grades. This takes valuable finals study time away from students right before the exams and adds to the stress and pressure put upon them. High School students have been asking for the district to change the exams to before break for many years. They have articulated good and sound reasons for doing so. In this community where we push and push and push our kids to over-achieve, sometimes to their breaking point, parents need to listen to what they are saying and why they are saying it. Then we need to do what is right for our kids.

As for parents making summer vacation plans as far out as August 2013, perhaps if those plans have not yet been made, they should sit tight and consider themselves on notice that those plans might need to be changed if the high school makes the calendar change.

It's kind of interesting. The way folks were talking Monday night, it seemed most parents were against the change, but our poll is trending the opposite way in favor of an earlier start. (Granted, it's a small sample size.)

In a community trying to encourage critical, creative problem solving, I believe we must look at the costs, the benefits, the pros, the cons and the alternative options before coming up with a knee jerk reaction of -- to get tests done before Christmas, we need to start August 14. There are bigger issues here, like student pressure, taxpayer dollars used to run the air conditioning, and the much overlooked and undervalued issue of how this affects everyone in the family, not just the high school student. D86 owes it to the residents to be thoughtful about a change that takes away 10 of the best weather days of the year, dedicated practice days for fall sport and activity participants, wraps finals around Memorial Day weekend, etc.

Early school starts have been considered, studied and debated in many states. A quick google search points out many of the issues and concerns about early starts, including the following (which I cut and pasted, which may account for the weird formatting):


No academic benefits from early school starts have been shown to exist. In fact, schools in top-performing states start classes later. The top 10 academic states, in four commonly used state education ranking systems, have two things in common - they begin the school year in late August or early September and administer semester finals after the winter break.

Summertime allows for outside-the-classroom education. Camps, special summer learning programs, sports, church activities all provide learning experiences to children that parents believe are critical to child development.

Summer jobs... these are not only an important learning experience for teenagers, but sometimes can make the difference in being able to go to college or buy clothes and supplies for the next school year. With an Early School Start, the hiring period may be so short that local businesses will not consider it worth the effort to hire high schoolers for summer jobs

Early Start interferes with the precious commodity of family time. Summer vacation, particularly in August, is a time for families to re-connect and spend quality time together.

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The lack of air conditioning on school buses, particularly in early August, is problematic. Children with asthma are particularly vulnerable.


Parents with extended family out-of-state may find that coordinating summer vacation extremely difficult when school started in early August. August is the traditional vacation month in many parts of the country, and with 39 states beginning classes the last week of August or the first of September, many families may have to forego traditional August family get-togethers and reunions.

Divorced families with shared custody arrangements may find early school start dates especially difficult if one parent was out-of-state. This is an oft overlooked point that merits attention when one considers the quagmire it could cause in our courtrooms. It also has the potential to create misunderstandings and resistance in relationships that are already strained


Multiple research studies have shown that public school systems will save HUGE $$ annually on utility costs alone by embracing later start dates!