Children Missing School

With a child who has Autism and school that doesn't have a good program that fits which results in my child missing chunks of school due to the schools insistence you can't sell me on how important it is that they don't miss time for vacation. If it was that important they wouldn't be telling us, sorry we have a sub for the next three days so maybe your child should stay home.
I hope you find a different school for your child. The one he or she is at is completely unacceptable.
 
Well, it turns out I'm in this boat now. My daughter's school switched their schedule up and now instead of starting school on August 26th, they are starting on the 8th. Our trip is the 14th through the 20th. It's a program they are trying to boost the school's performance. They've aligned the calendar with a local community college. Some students will be eligible to go over to take classes for credit. But they are the only district school doing this so they will be on an entirely different schedule than other traditional calendar schools in the county including the one my other child attends. I only had 2 years left with my children on the same schedule and now the school has taken those 2 years away.
 
Well, it turns out I'm in this boat now. My daughter's school switched their schedule up and now instead of starting school on August 26th, they are starting on the 8th. Our trip is the 14th through the 20th. It's a program they are trying to boost the school's performance. They've aligned the calendar with a local community college. Some students will be eligible to go over to take classes for credit. But they are the only district school doing this so they will be on an entirely different schedule than other traditional calendar schools in the county including the one my other child attends. I only had 2 years left with my children on the same schedule and now the school has taken those 2 years away.
That is annoying. Will the policy change go into effect this month or next August? On the bright side the college credits should be useful down the road and better acclimatize the children to the next level of educational expectations.
 
That is annoying. Will the policy change go into effect this month or next August? On the bright side the college credits should be useful down the road and better acclimatize the children to the next level of educational expectations.

It goes into effect this year. My daughter is a junior. My son is in 4th grade. Although she is considering the community college for her first 2 years after high school, I doubt she'll be in this program. I am sure it will be beneficial for some. For quite a few reasons one of which being they don't share any off days outside of the Thanksgiving and Winter holidays, it's going to make my life harder. I requested a transfer.
 
It goes into effect this year. My daughter is a junior. My son is in 4th grade. Although she is considering the community college for her first 2 years after high school, I doubt she'll be in this program. I am sure it will be beneficial for some. For quite a few reasons one of which being they don't share any off days outside of the Thanksgiving and Winter holidays, it's going to make my life harder. I requested a transfer.
Oh I see we share an age grouping of children or as I used to call it "the long goodbye"; 6 year gap for me as well:). Great for planning college costs, braces and getting to spend time solo, at the start and end with each child.

It used to be so much easier to plan their summers back in the day since whether elementary, jhs, or hs there was always at least a month their vacation time overlapped. I wish you joy with the solution of this educational conundrum and am sure you'll find the right answer for your loved ones. :cool:.
 
We took my 2 nd grader out for the last week of school unintentionally last year. They were supposed to be out that tues, so he would have only missed 2 days, but we got so.much.snow.... They only went to school maybe 6 days in January.

This year we are going the last week of January. My boys will be in 3rd and kindergarten. My nephews, in another district are going too and will be 5th and kindergarten. I don't feel particularly bad about it. I think they will be ok, but hoping for a snow day in there lol. I look at it like this, it's my kid, if I want to take him out, I will. If they want to give me too much crap about it, I'll send him to a private school and they will lose the funding. However, we get like 16 days a year before it's an issue, so I think we will be fine.
 
We never hesitate to take the kids out of school for a few days if our travel plans require it, though we've never taken them out for a whole week. They are starting 11th and 4th this year, and will miss two days in May for our Disneyland trip. Because of other obligations, that's the only time we can go, so a couple days of school isn't going to stand in our way, lol!

I was a middle school teacher for 10 years, so I am very aware of the importance of education. But I also see how a few days of school fits into the grand scheme of life, and it's just not worth disrupting your plans and family time over. I'm surprised to see so many say that their school would not excuse the absence. We have been in 3 different school districts so far, and none have ever so much as batted an eye when I simply told them the kids would be absent because we were traveling. I don't really consider it their business - they don't own my kids. When I was teaching, I had multiple kids out every day, for all sorts of reasons. I never even asked why, just gave them what they missed, and if they turned it back in, they got full credit. I was never aware of any of the schools I worked in (in two different states) giving anyone a hard time about absences due to family travel.

From a former teacher's perspective - a few things to consider. Don't assume that you can get all of their work before you go. I almost never gave out makeup work ahead of time. It was rare for me to even have materials prepared more than a day or two in advance. Besides, it's not much of a vacation if you make them spend the whole time working - if you're going to miss school, at least make it relaxing! Also, remember that not everything can be "made up". They don't just sit around and do worksheets all day, that they could just as easily do at home. A lot of what they will miss is direct instruction, discussions, labs, group projects, etc. You may have to fill some of those gaps yourself with your own resources, as the teacher can't be expected to individually re-teach every lesson. I know this all makes it sound like you "shouldn't go", but again. Grand scheme of life. They'll be okay. Just set your expectations accordingly. :goodvibes
 


We have taken our daughter out for family vacation every year or every other year. She is a good student. Honestly though, as others have said, it has been our experience that it has gotten harder as she has gotten older. 5th grade was the last year it was "easy" for her to miss a week. She was in 6th last year and she only missed 3 days (planned a vacation around a Thursday and Friday school was closed) but it was still no where near as easy. She will be in 7th grade this year and I'm feeling hesitant about even 2 or 3 days. Although it will work if we do I am much more consciously trying to avoid it now.
 
We have 4 children and have taken our kids our of school twice over the years. Our youngest is 17 now and living in the Northeast and having 4 kids we were only able to make it twice to DW. With that being said we didn't want to fight lines and get the most enjoyment possible for the time that we were there. Looking back our last trip with all of them was in 2015 and we'd do the exact same thing again... zero regrets.
 
We are taking my daughter (5th grade) out of school for 4 days this fall. You will be judged no matter what you decide. There are many variables to this decision. Ultimately do what makes you happy. I think that ANYTIME a family can be together in Disney is a good time to go. Family first.

FYI. We took her out last year and it was A LOT of work to make up.
Why would you be judged for NOT taking your children out of school?
 
We are taking our third grader out of school for a week. It is her “second wish trip”. But because it is a smaller foundation than MAW, with less resources we didn’t have much say on travel dates due to cost of airfare etc.

Our daughter already has anxiety about making up her school work. We are going in October.

I am also anxious as a teacher taking the time off. We get 3 personal dates, and I will go off payroll for two days. We don’t have the flight confirmation yet, but once I do I am going to hand in all the paperwork for it to be approved.
 
We've pulled both our girls out of school for up to 5 days. This upcoming trip will be a full week of school. But it's also the week before Thanksgiving break and well into the quarter so there's less concern over missing tests. Last big trip I emailed my older daughter's teachers ahead of time, and even in 8th grade she had very little to make up. I know 9th grade will be a different story, but we're nowhere near concerned about her keeping up.

What's really going to be the most difficult is me missing a week of grad school.
 
We've pulled both our girls out of school for up to 5 days. This upcoming trip will be a full week of school. But it's also the week before Thanksgiving break and well into the quarter so there's less concern over missing tests. Last big trip I emailed my older daughter's teachers ahead of time, and even in 8th grade she had very little to make up. I know 9th grade will be a different story, but we're nowhere near concerned about her keeping up.

What's really going to be the most difficult is me missing a week of grad school.
This post just goes to show how different school systems are now from one area to another. DGD has term projects and tests due just before the Thanksgiving break. As well 7th and 8th grades are just as important as 9th depending on the high school you've an interest in for your child. Some high schools here go for 6 years, others 5 years, while some still follow the 4 year plan.

Best of achievements with grad school; I found past baccalaureate a "witch". Worthy yet serious work.
 
This post just goes to show how different school systems are now from one area to another. DGD has term projects and tests due just before the Thanksgiving break. As well 7th and 8th grades are just as important as 9th depending on the high school you've an interest in for your child. Some high schools here go for 6 years, others 5 years, while some still follow the 4 year plan.

Even within the same city, each school district has completely different calendars. And just for added fun, our school district has their parent/teacher conferences different weeks for elementary, middle school, and high school. The big breaks (fall, winter, spring) are the same - except for me, as my university has their fall and winter breaks at different times. The kiddos here went back on August 14 (just 9th grade for high school), and they'll finish on May 22. First quarter ends on October 18.

Best of achievements with grad school; I found past baccalaureate a "witch". Worthy yet serious work.

Thank you! This is my third (and final) attempt. Last semester was a beast (Life pro-tip: Don't take two sociological theory classes at once), so this semester I'm only doing two classes.
 
I'm sure things have changed, but my parents pulled me out of school multiple times for Disney trips:

  • Kindergarten (1995) missed 5 days
  • 6th grade (2001) missed 5 or 6 days—talked to teachers beforehand and got homework to bring with. Not a big deal, wasn't behind when I got home.
  • 9th grade (2005) missed 5 or 6 days—again, planned it with teachers beforehand and wasn't an issue at all. I think I had to make up one test when I got home.
  • Freshman year of college (2009) missed 1 day of finals week—arranged with professors to take exams before I left.
Every situation is different, but I never got flack from teachers about being gone. I will say that I'm lucky that my teachers allowed me to work ahead on assignments while I was gone. It would've been trickier if I'd had to catch up once we were back.

I actually think missing school for vacations increased my personal responsibility about my education because, for every trip after kindergarten, my parents told me I had to talk to my teachers about our plans and work with them to make sure I stayed on top of homework. Aside from sending notes to school excusing my absence, my parents weren't the ones making sure I kept up with everything. It was all on me.

I have a similar view about my kids and travel. I already pulled my oldest out of school for a week last year for her first Disney trip (it was preK, so not a big deal at all). My husband and I prefer to travel during off times, and neither of us have any qualms about taking our kids out for a week for any sort of vacation, whether it's Europe or Disney. Honestly, as long as the kids take responsibility for their work and there aren't any underlying developmental/learning issues, I don't see why it's any of the teachers'/school districts' business when your family takes vacation.

If your child has their own preference to not miss school, then that's a different matter and you should take their thoughts into consideration before making plans. You don't want them to be so stressed out about missing class that they can't enjoy vacation anyway!
 
This post just goes to show how different school systems are now from one area to another. DGD has term projects and tests due just before the Thanksgiving break. As well 7th and 8th grades are just as important as 9th depending on the high school you've an interest in for your child. Some high schools here go for 6 years, others 5 years, while some still follow the 4 year plan.

Best of achievements with grad school; I found past baccalaureate a "witch". Worthy yet serious work.
Where do you live with 6 yr high schools? Or that you get to have a choice in schools? Here your choice is what ever school your address is assigned to, or pay for expensive private schools, which are almost all religious affiliated.
 
Where do you live with 6 yr high schools? Or that you get to have a choice in schools? Here your choice is what ever school your address is assigned to, or pay for expensive private schools, which are almost all religious affiliated.

DD is going to 8th grade and her school is 7-12th. Public high school in our town (your public school is by your town/zip code). She is considered middle school but they follow all of the rules of the high school when it comes to grades, attendance, behavior, etc. She is in the accelerated program so she is already taking high school math and language classes which will cross into high school. So her junior and senior years she can take more courses that will count as college credits and transfer into college.
 
DD is going to 8th grade and her school is 7-12th. Public high school in our town (your public school is by your town/zip code). She is considered middle school but they follow all of the rules of the high school when it comes to grades, attendance, behavior, etc. She is in the accelerated program so she is already taking high school math and language classes which will cross into high school. So her junior and senior years she can take more courses that will count as college credits and transfer into college.
I wouldn't consider that a 6 yr high school tho. My kids school 3-8th is in the same building, but its not all considered middle school or jr high. Half the building is designated elementary school, and the other is middle/jr high. They do share a gym and cafeteria tho. When I think of a 6 yr high school I think of beyond 12th grade. esp since she specified other schools followed a 5 or standard 4 yr plan. I am just curious where she is that has that many options lol
 
I wouldn't consider that a 6 yr high school tho. My kids school 3-8th is in the same building, but its not all considered middle school or jr high. Half the building is designated elementary school, and the other is middle/jr high. They do share a gym and cafeteria tho. When I think of a 6 yr high school I think of beyond 12th grade. esp since she specified other schools followed a 5 or standard 4 yr plan. I am just curious where she is that has that many options lol

I see. I do think she's in NYC.
 

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