Big changes coming to school schedules in Bridgewater-Raritan for September

📚 Bridgewater students will experience new school start times this fall, promoting better alignment across grade levels.
⏰ The high school will start 40 minutes later at 8 a.m., while middle schools will start earlier.
🎒 Full-day kindergarten is being introduced across the district, enhancing early education.

BRIDGEWATER — Students in the largest district in Somerset County will be getting ready for school to start at a different time starting in the fall.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional school district is one of the largest suburban districts in the state, with about 8,000 students.

District students attend seven primary (K-4) schools, two intermediate (5-6) schools, one middle school and one high school.

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Grade configurations, full-day K add to changes

In time for September 2026, Bridgewater-Raritan is carrying out “significant changes to grade configurations” and introducing full-day kindergarten, district-wide.

With the new school year, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School will see its start time pushed later by 40 minutes to 8 a.m., Bridgewater Schools Superintendent Robert Beer said in an announcement on Dec. 16.

The middle school, housing grades 7 and 8, will start 40 minutes earlier at 7:30 a.m., while the intermediate schools for grades 5 and 6 will start 75 minutes earlier at 8 a.m.

Primary elementary schools — with the start of district-wide, full-day kindergarten — will start 25 minutes later at 9:20 a.m.

Pleasantville schools adopted similar start time

The staggered times are similar to a large district in South Jersey adjusting its school day earlier this year.

Since September, students report to Pleasantville High School by 8 a.m. instead of 7:45 a.m.

Pleasantville Middle School starts at 8:30 a.m, instead of 8:05 a.m. — and the district’s four elementary schools start five minutes later at 8:55 a.m.

Scientific research touted by experts, such as the American Psychological Association, suggests later school times are linked to more sleep, better academic performance, and other mental and physical health benefits.

Compounding this is evidence that sleep patterns of developing adolescent-aged kids are hormonally influenced, often involving not being able to fall asleep until a later time at night.

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