(ABC 6 News) — As Rochester Public Schools prepares to start the 2024-2025 school year next week, students and their families are preparing for new school start times. 

High school will be starting and ending later in the day while elementary schools will be starting and ending earlier. 

High school students will start their day at 8:50 a.m., middle school students at 8:35 a.m. and elementary school students at 7:55 a.m. 

The change comes after studies have shown that later start times for highschool students improves test scores, attendance, GPAs and more. 

The switch was years in the making, and RPS superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel said it makes sense, but there will be some bumps to work out. 

“The times make a lot of sense, educationally, but we got to get all of our busses to and from our schools on that new schedule, and believe me that’s going to be a challenge,” Pekel said.

However, the change leaves some parents with younger students concerned with making things work. 

“Their normal wake up time is not what it’s going to have to be for them to get on the bus on time and get to school,” Tim Carey said.

Tim and Lisa Carey have two elementary school students and one middle school student in the district. 

They said they are looking at dropping their kids off at their schools in the morning to make sure they are at school and ready to go. 

But for some families like the Carey’s , who both work full time, the new start and end times will make it difficult. 

“I’m no longer able to manage it on my own, as I’ve always been able to, and relying on a second parent for pick-up and drop-off is a hardship on a family,” Lisa Carey said.

The new start times go into effect next week when school starts for RPS students.