With every new school year comes new changes. This year, the changes are more significant than most.
On March 20th, 2023, Lower Merion’s School Board voted to push back school start times for the 2024-2025 school year. The idea was initially proposed to the school board in late 2019 by the All Forward Research and Development Committee. The goal was to maximize academic performance, increase the safety of students, and maximize optimal sleep time. The original plan would have elementary school going first, high school second, and middle school last. This change was put on the back burner due to COVID until October 2020, when the school district agreed to make that shift if they got lights on Arnold Field. Although the lights were not approved then, Lower Merion authorized the district to proceed with the plan.
The New Schedule
The following is the new LMSD school start schedule:
Middle School – 8:00 a.m. to 2:35 p.m.
High School – 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Elementary School – 9:10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
The new Harriton/LM bell schedule.
The new bell schedule cuts 25 minutes off the school day. To account for this time, the 3 minutes in the middle of L&L has been cut, and classes are a few minutes shorter.
The old Harriton/LM Bell Schedule.
Late Buses
Although Lower Merion has not made any public statement or distinguished when late buses are set to depart, HarritonTV received information that the first late bus will leave at 4:45 p.m. One can infer that the 5:40 buses will also be pushed back ~15 minutes, meaning they will most likely leave between 6:00 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. The 4:30 late bus left 110 minutes after school ended, and the 5:40 was 180 minutes. Students will only have 90 minutes before the first late bus and around 165 minutes before the second one.
Central Montco Technical High School
Based on current schedules released by LMSD, Montco Tech Students who attend the school in the morning will be required to be at Montco Tech at 8:00 despite the time change. Afternoon students will arrive back at Harriton 25 minutes before the day ends. Those students will have a study hall during that time.
Athletes
LMSD Identitfed the following sports as those that will be impacted by the later 3:15 dismissal (assuming 3:45 game start time): soccer, field hockey, JV football, freshman football, cross country, golf, volleyball, squash, tennis, freshman basketball, swimming & diving, lacrosse, baseball, softball, and track & field. Teams not affected are the following: cheerleading, varsity football, wrestling, junior varsity and varsity basketball, ice hockey, indoor track and field, crew, and ultimate frisbee. It is likely that some athletes may miss 2 classes in the afternoon depending on the location of the event.
This article will be updated once more information regarding late buses and athletics is received and verified.
