School Start Times

February 13, 2025

Dear Williamsville Central School District Families, Students, and Staff,

During Tuesday night’s Board of Education Meeting, the Board did not receive a motion to approve the School Start and End Time Proposal, as presented. Therefore, the current school start and end times will remain the same.  I want to sincerely thank the School Start Time Committee for their work on this important health initiative.

Another plan we are working on relates to the “Distraction-Free School Zones” proposal by the Governor.   You can review the proposal and legislation on the Governor’s website.  As shared earlier this week, all school districts are required to submit a policy to the New York State Education Department by August 1, 2025 for implementation for the 2025-2026 school year.  The District will have representation from the elementary, middle, and high school levels, including parents/guardians, students, teachers, and administrators, to work on the District’s plan.

Finally, please continue to review your building newsletters as there is important information regarding events and activities such as Game Day with APD over the February break and the upcoming spirit day with UB basketball men’s and women’s programs!

Please, enjoy the Mid-Winter Recess, beginning next week, and we’ll see you in and around our schools soon!

Sincerely,

Dr. Darren J. Brown-Hall
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Williamsville Community,

I want to thank you for the feedback you’ve provided regarding the School Start and End Times Proposal.  Over the last few weeks, the District and Board of Education have received more than 1,600 responses.  The comment period will close today at 5:00 p.m., allowing the District and Board of Education to review feedback from the past week.

As a District, we are committed to additional refinement and engagement with our community.   It is also worth noting, as a I shared during the Virtual Forum, that a legislative bill regarding school start times was reintroduced a week after we submitted our proposal. We will continue to examine potential pressure points and also maintain our commitment to this important health initiative. 

As such, there will be a School Start Time item on the February 11th Board agenda.  I will recommend to the Board of Education that the item be tabled/held to allow for more deliberation and study.

I want to encourage you, if you have not already done so, to watch the Virtual Forum to hear from the national and local experts regarding sleep as it relates to health and academic advantages for our students.

Sincerely,

Dr. Darren J. Brown-Hall
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Williamsville Central School District Families, Students, and Staff,

As we continue to gather feedback regarding the School Start and End Times Proposal, the District will be hosting a virtual forum on Tuesday, February 4^th from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.  This is an opportunity for stakeholders to hear from experts as it relates to sleep, academics, and school start and end times.  Panelists will also be able to answer questions that are pre-submitted.

The forum will be held via Zoom Webinar, and while our current capacity is limited to 3,000 virtual attendees, the webinar will also be LIVE streamed on the District YouTube channel.  Questions can be pre-submitted through this form or submitted during the event in the webinar.

We look forward to hosting this event!

Sincerely,

Dr. Darren J. Brown-Hall
Superintendent of Schools

Virtual Forum – School Start and End Times

When: February 4, 2025

Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84589954845?pwd=YkqWK7kaiEkXckRo4Sne7xAHZIuJid.1

Passcode: yd2L6M

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4yYhWafB06n25wZC8pup6A

Dear Williamsville Central School District Students, Families, Faculty and Staff,

During last night’s Board of Education Meeting, the School Start Time Committee formally presented its proposal for new school start and end times for the 2025-2026 school year. This proposal is the culmination of research and planning that began in the fall of 2023 and continued through December 2024.  The Committee’s work has been thoughtful and thorough, and I appreciate their dedication to this important health initiative.

The proposed new school start and end times for the 2025-2026 school year are:

• Dodge, Heim, Forest and Maple East Elementary Schools – 7:50 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Country Parkway and Maple West Elementary Schools – 8:20 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Casey, Heim, Mill, and Transit Middle Schools – 8:20 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• East, North, and South High Schools – 8:50 a.m. – 3:40 p.m.

While not part of the research or studies associated with school start times, the District also explored the length of the school day.  Additional time at the Elementary Level allows teachers to continue to deliver a comprehensive, high-quality instructional program to our youngest learners.  Understanding those parameters, the length of school day proposal will see an additional 10 minutes added to the elementary school day.   The middle school length of day will remain unchanged.  At the high school level, there will be a 10-minute reduction in the length of the school day.

To accommodate the 6-hour and 50-minute student day at the high school level, time will be taken from elongated periods and passing times.  While there will be no change in period length at Williamsville North or Williamsville South, the proposal will result in a reduction of one (1) minute per period at Williamsville East.  Additionally, the bell schedules will now be similar across the high schools. 

The comment period for community feedback is open until Friday, February 7^th.  Comments can be submitted through the feedback form available on the District website and app. 

Stakeholders can also review the presentation by the School Start Time Committee, an informational video on the health and academic benefits associated with the proposed school times, and a frequently asked questions document (FAQ) addressing transportation, athletics, and extra-curricular activities, among others, on the School Start Time Informational Page.  Also available on this page are the timeline, research, and information that helped inform the School Start Time Committee proposal.

While understanding any change to operations as a District can be challenging, this health initiative is supported by the research and the logistical solutions prepared and reviewed by the Leadership Team, administrators, and health professionals.  Adjusting the school day is in the best interest of students.

Based on the studies, when schools start prior to 8:30 a.m., secondary school students suffered from sleep deprivation, had poor attendance and increased tardiness.  Secondary schools starting prior to 8:30 a.m. also noticed a decline in academic performance, increased depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, decreased emotional regulation, and increased risk-taking behavior, among other negative effects.

By shifting to later school start times (8:30 a.m. or later), students experienced improved mental and physical health, including a decrease in anxiety and depression and an increase in emotional regulation.  Academically, later school start times improved attendance, attentiveness in the educational setting, academic performance, graduation rates, and athletic performance, among others. 

As a District, we also recognized that by adjusting the middle and high school start and end times would also require an adjustment at the elementary level to accommodate for before and after school care and transportation.  The research for elementary aged students’ indicated sleep and wake times are earlier than secondary school aged-students.  Studies showed that adjusting the school start time at the elementary level increased student attentiveness.  It also allows the ability for schools to maximize the components in the master schedule.  The District thoroughly reviewed and discussed the impact an earlier school start time would have at the elementary level.

We will continue to be thorough in our communication, keeping our school community informed regarding school start and end times.  We look forward to your feedback and continuing our work with this important health initiative.

Sincerely,

Dr. Darren J. Brown-Hall
Superintendent of Schools

August 30, 2024

Dear Williamsville Central School District Families, Students, and Staff,

The summer has certainly flown by, and it is hard to believe that school will be starting in a few days.  I hope that your summer was full of memories and moments you won’t soon forget!

I want to encourage you to stay up to date with your school and the District.  Through the new District app, website, or WITS, there is a wealth of resources and information available on open houses, orientations, school start times, cell phone policies, and much more!  We pride ourselves on keeping all of our families, students, and staff, engaged and informed throughout the year.

In preparation for the start of the school year, I also want to reiterate our commitment to safety and security.  While there are many enhancements throughout the District from the School Security Improvement Project, implementation of the Raptor Visitor Management System, and an incredible partnership with the Amherst Police Department (APD) and Vista Security, we can all be proactive in keeping our community safe on a daily basis.  “See something, say something,” is a simple, yet effective strategy everyone can utilize.  Whether it's on social media or even something out of the ordinary you spot while driving, walking, or busing through our school community, don’t hesitate to share this information with a peer, a teacher, building administrator, an APD officer on patrol, or one of our three School Resource Officers.

When students and staff are safe, both physically and social-emotionally, they are able to engage in enriching, immersive learning.  

Please enjoy the last few days of the summer break and make a few more memories. I look forward to welcoming everyone back on September 3rd!

Sincerely,

Dr. Darren J. Brown-Hall
Superintendent of Schools

July 10, 2024

Dear Williamsville Central School District Families, Students, Staff,

As shared during the July 2^nd Board of Education Meeting, the portal to be part of the District’s School Start Times focus group is now open in WITS.

We are looking for parents/guardians, students (grades 7-12), and staff members to provide input and perspective as we continue to review research and analysis.

When individuals log in, they will see the following dialogue box under Notifications:

The focus group portal will close on July 31^st.  Depending on the interest, the District may hold a lottery to determine who is selected to participate in these focus groups.

Please visit the School Start Times webpage to review the timeline, information, and submit feedback regarding school start times.

Sincerely,

Williamsville Central School District

CLICK TO WATCH THE DISTRICT UPDATE AND READ THE DISTRICT NEWSLETTER!

Welcome to the final District Update of the 2023-2024 school year.

It has been awesome to see the amazing accomplishments of our students, the programs and initiatives in action at our schools, and the passion and dedication our teachers have shown throughout the year.

While school is letting out for the summer, our work will continue with several, impactful initiatives for our District.

First, Foundation Aid and the formula used by the state to allocate funding to school districts is being reviewed.  You have an opportunity to be part of the public forum that will be held in Buffalo by the Rockefeller Institute.  Students, families, teachers, school staff, and administrators are invited to provide feedback through their website or by attending the public forum on July 25^th.  The forum will be held at North Park Community School and will begin around 2:00 p.m.

Next, as I shared at the Board of Education meeting in June, school start times, cell phone policies, and homework and grading are three priorities we’re reviewing as we gear up for the next school year.  On the District website is information and research that our committees have gathered for school start times and cell phones. A presentation for homework and grading will be done in August.   Please take the time to review the articles and research posted.

On the school start time page, we also have a feedback form for stakeholders to provide feedback regarding school start times.

I want to take a moment to congratulate Williamsville East 10^th grader Aashi Parashar, who qualified and will represent the United States in the World Karate and Kickboxing Championship in Portugal in October.  We look forward to celebrating her and supporting her on her journey in the tournament!

The New York State School Boards Association has asked us to recognize two students as their “Tomorrow Leaders Today.”  They are Williamsville North senior Sunya Afrasiabi and Williamsville East senior Grant Wang. 

Sunya was named a Prudential Emerging Visionary for her #MyStory program.  The #MyStory program highlights immigrant and refugee stories through various means such as photography.  Her project has been featured throughout the United States. 

Grant’s use of artificial intelligence placed him in the Top 40 of the Regeneron Talent Science Search, which is the oldest science contest in the U.S.  Grant’s A-I application detects offensive and targeted language on social media sites.  His model is also able to detect this in more than 100 different languages.

Congratulations to both!

Speaking of seniors, while I know we had to reschedule the Memory Walk due to the excessive heat in our region, it was great to see the red, green, and blue cap and gowns visit the elementary school today – as one final send off.   You are an inspiration and great example for our younger students.

Don’t forget, graduation is in just a few days, and I look forward to celebrating the Class of 2024 at East, North and South!  As a reminder, graduation will be at East High School on Thursday, June 27^th at 5:00 p.m. on the athletic field.

North starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday and will also take place on the athletic field.  South wraps up graduation on Friday, June 28^th at 6 p.m. at the front of the school.

Each year I am continually impressed with the character and caliber of our senior classes.  I know, whether they plan to continue their education, go to trade school, the work force, or the military, that they are prepared and ready to be the future leaders of our community – and as I’ve mentioned previously – some already are.

I also want to congratulate our 4^th graders who had their moving up ceremonies as they enter middle school and our 8^th graders who will be joining our high schools next year.

Please enjoy the summer – stay safe and engaged in learning.  We’ll see you again next year!