204 Center Street

Springfield, NY 13468

November 7, 2025

Mrs. Anita Juarez, President

Otsego Unified School Board

534 Lincoln Street

Springfield, NY 13468

Dear Mrs. Juarez:

Beginning:
The beginning effectively leads up to the thesis statement (underlined). I’m writing with a concern and a suggestion about school start times. Currently, elementary schools in the district start latest, with classes beginning at 8:30, and the high school starts earliest, with classes beginning at 7:30. This schedule ignores the sleeping patterns of students and makes mornings difficult for working families. I would recommend that we change to the following start schedule: elementary at 7:30 a.m., middle at 8:00 a.m., and high school at 8:30 a.m.

Middle:
The first middle paragraph explains the problem. Such a shift in schedule would better match sleep patterns. According to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, adolescent sleep patterns shift two hours later than children’s patterns. That means that instead of falling asleep at 9:00 p.m. on average, teenagers can’t sleep until about 11:00 p.m. On top of that, teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night, more than children or adults. That means, at minimum, teens should be able to sleep until 7:00 a.m., which is not possible with the current start times. As a result, most teens are sleep deprived, which leads to physical and mental health problems as well as less learning and lower grades.

The second middle paragraph argues for a solution. In addition, our current start time makes mornings difficult for working families with young children. Students in elementary school tend to wake up early, so they have extra time in the morning. If parents are working, many of them need to be at work at 8:00 a.m. The elementary start time of 8:30 a.m. means that many parents have to drop their children off at school by 7:40 a.m., making students spend 50 minutes per day in the cafeteria waiting for school to start. If the elementary start time were moved to 7:30 a.m., the schedule would work better for these families.

This middle paragraph answers objections to the proposal. Some might object to shifting school start times, saying that high schoolers need time for after-school sports and activities as well as jobs. These are important concerns, but they are not as important as a student’s education and health. If high schoolers are struggling to stay awake in the first two hours of the school day, they will not be learning much. Also, the shift will reduce after-school time by just an hour, which means that most activities will be unaffected.

Ending:
The ending paragraphs review the benefits of the solution and call the reader to act. A shift in start times would solve numerous problems. It would help high schoolers have more healthy sleep patterns and struggle less in class. It would also help working families of young students drop off their children and get to work on time.

Please consider my suggestion of swapping school start times to have elementary schools start at 7:30 a.m. and high schools start at 8:30 a.m.

Sincerely,

Douglas Previn

Avoiding Middle School Cliques

Beginning:
The writer introduces the topic and states her opinion. Every middle schooler want to have friends and to belong. Those are normal desires. But when the wish for friends turns exclusive, focusing on status and who’s in and who’s out, a clique has formed. Cliques use peer pressure to force their members to think, talk, act, and even dress in a specific way. Cliques may seem like friendship and belonging, but they really are the opposite, and students need to learn how to avoid them.

Middle:
This paragraph analyzes the problem. Cliques are basically middle-school tribes. Are you a jock, nerd, prep, goth, metalhead, popular girl, or what? At first, you might be attracted to hang with your tribe because of similar interests and attitudes. But when the group begins to control you, telling you what music to like and what people to talk to, you know that now you are in a clique.

The next paragraph shows the harm done. Cliques harm people both inside and outside. Those on the inside work hard to stay in. They live in constant fear that they will be banished from the group. Those on the outside look inward, wishing they could belong. People who aren’t in cliques are more likely to be bullied by others, but people who are in cliques often are bullied by their so-called “friends.”

The writer argues for ways to avoid cliques. The first way to avoid cliques is to seek real friends. They care about you rather than about what you can do for them. Real friends let you be yourself and don’t demand that you act a certain way. When “friends” make demands on you, tell them you can make up your own mind how you’ll look and act and think. If those people reject you, they were never friends to begin with.

The writer offers three solutions. Don’t be afraid to be independent. That can be really hard in middle school, but if you look around, you’ll see a lot of other students being independent as well. Make friends with them. Care about them. Really connect. And when another student comes along who does the same, make friends with that person.

Show compassion. If someone is having a rough day, do a little something nice to help the person out. Offer an extra pen or a sheet of paper. Help someone understand a tough concept. If you show compassion to whoever happens to be around, you’ll find you have real friends in many different groups, and your friendships will be bigger than any cliques.

Ending:
The writer sums up the problem and solution. Cliques cause a lot of pain for those stuck inside them as well as those excluded from them. If you can stand on your own feet and befriend others who are doing the same, you’ll be getting rid of a problem for yourself and for everyone around you.