Your Note to Teachers About Missing School...

[neeka27]

Did you ask for the homework while they are gone to be given before you leave? I guess I just wanted some input on how to write this letter to my kids' teachers to make it the most pain-free for everyone.

 

[Huff]

Yes, we always ask for any homework or reading assignments and give ample notice so teachers aren't rushed to put such together. Some teachers tell us our child can do the work when they return. It's up to the teacher to decide.

 

[lovin'fl]

Good luck!!! We've had issues with this in the past.

 

[taterheads]

Did you ask for the homework while they are gone to be given before you leave? I guess I just wanted some input on how to write this letter to my kids' teachers to make it the most pain-free for everyone.

My suggestion is to not make a note but if possible to speak to the teacher in person. Then, ask her what works for her concerning the work that your child will miss. If it's easier for the teacher to give it when your child returns then thank her and roll with it. Since you are choosing to remove your child make it as easy on her as possible. Asking for her prepare assignments in advance so your family can travel may be burdensome and backfire. Although, that may be her preference. Expressing thanks to her for her understanding and any help she gives will go far. Also, notes are impersonal and allow for miscommunication.
We are going in February. I spoke with both of my childrens teachers explaining why we chose to go that week. (They already have 1 day off and 2 days early out for parent teacher conferences). I explained that I was doing my best to make sure they were missing as little school as possible, that I would be willing to come in whenever they wanted me for the conference we'd be missing, and that we would do whatever worked best for them concerning homework. Both teachers were very nice about it and are working out plans so everything works well and we can vacation with their blessing.
Good luck!

 

[MomofIndigo]

My suggestion is to not make a note but if possible to speak to the teacher in person. Then, ask her what works for her concerning the work that your child will miss. If it's easier for the teacher to give it when your child returns then thank her and roll with it. Since you are choosing to remove your child make it as easy on her as possible. Asking for her prepare assignments in advance so your family can travel may be burdensome and backfire. Although, that may be her preference. Expressing thanks to her for her understanding and any help she gives will go far. Also, notes are impersonal and allow for miscommunication.Good luck!

We had a conference last semester and informed the teacher we were going on vacation and that it was surprise. I emailed her to remind her of the vacation and then scheduled a conference with her a few days before we leave to pick up any work that she will need to do while we are gone.

 

[disney1990]

Good luck!!! We've had issues with this in the past.

It has never worked for us in Maryland. We were told that missed work, quizzes, tests, etc could not be made up and the student would receive a zero for each.

 

[SEA333]

Man, I'm glad I don't live in some of your school districts!! We have lived in three different school districts since my oldest was in Kindergarten, and I have to say that I have ALWAYS had a very good relationship with all of my kids' teachers and schools.

Here is the email string from October when I told DS7's 2nd grade teacher we would be gone. It reads from the bottom up, so you will see Ms. Teacher's responses first:

That sounds like so much fun! I am jealous (take me with! I will have to think about a little project he could do. I will let you know!

Ms. Teacher
On Nov 1, 2013, at 3:25 PM, Mom wrote:


Thank you so much!!

We are taking them to Disney  I will be down south on business that week so we are going to kind of piggyback a quick couple of days for the kids. We werent sure until last week that we were going to be able to pull it off, so we never told the kids about it, and now we just decided to keep it a secret and surprise them. Its only for 5 days, and over the weekend at that, because we didnt want them to miss a lot of school, but we think they will still love it!

If you want him to do something while we are down there to present back to the class, I would love to help him with the project&my husband and I are always making them learn stuff even when they are having fun LOL

Thank you again!




Hi! I would love to get some things together for A, but I will not have them until a little closer to the date. Send me a reminder that week and I will make sure to send him with a little something. The rest he can complete when he gets home. My curiosity is killing me, do you mind if I ask what you are surprising him with?

No problem about the Halloween party...we had it covered! The kids were really good! Have a great weekend!

Ms. M

On Nov 1, 2013, at 12:28 PM, Mom wrote:



Good morning!

I hope the Halloween party went well! I wish I could have been there, but I switch every other year as the room parent between A and his big sister, and it was Es turn this year J Her class was crazy, so I didnt even get a change to pop in to say hi to A this time!

I know we will talk at conferences as well, but I wanted to let you know how pleased I was with As report card  he did a wonderful job in so many areas!

I also wanted to let you know that Alex will be out of town on the following dates 

Thursday Nov. 14
Friday Nov. 15
Monday Nov. 18
½ day Tuesday Nov. 19th

He is not aware that he will be away on those days, and he will not know until the morning of Nov. 14th  if you would like him to complete any work while he is gone, would you be willing to send it home with him at any time in the next two weeks and I will make sure he completes it and returns it to school the day he comes back? Otherwise, I will take the following weekend with him to work on anything he missed while we are away.

I will also make sure to notify the attendance office of his absence.

Thank you  and if you have any questions, please feel free to email or call! Again, this is a surprise to A, so he will not know anything about it.

Kind Regards,
Me

 

[SEA333]

Man, I'm glad I don't live in some of your school districts!! We have lived in three different school districts since my oldest was in Kindergarten, and I have to say that I have ALWAYS had a very good relationship with all of my kids' teachers and schools.

Here is the email string from October when I told DS7's 2nd grade teacher we would be gone. It reads from the bottom up, so you will see Ms. Teacher's responses first:

That sounds like so much fun! I am jealous (take me with! I will have to think about a little project he could do. I will let you know!

Ms. Teacher
On Nov 1, 2013, at 3:25 PM, Mom wrote:


Thank you so much!!

We are taking them to Disney – I will be down south on business that week so we are going to kind of piggyback a quick couple of days for the kids. We weren’t sure until last week that we were going to be able to pull it off, so we never told the kids about it, and now we just decided to keep it a secret and surprise them. It’s only for 5 days, and over the weekend at that, because we didn’t want them to miss a lot of school, but we think they will still love it!

If you want him to do something while we are down there to present back to the class, I would love to help him with the project…my husband and I are always making them learn stuff even when they are having fun LOL

Thank you again!




Hi! I would love to get some things together for A, but I will not have them until a little closer to the date. Send me a reminder that week and I will make sure to send him with a little something. The rest he can complete when he gets home. My curiosity is killing me, do you mind if I ask what you are surprising him with?

No problem about the Halloween party...we had it covered! The kids were really good! Have a great weekend!

Ms. M

On Nov 1, 2013, at 12:28 PM, Mom wrote:



Good morning!

I hope the Halloween party went well! I wish I could have been there, but I switch every other year as the room parent between A and his big sister, and it was E’s turn this year  Her class was crazy, so I didn’t even get a change to pop in to say hi to A this time!

I know we will talk at conferences as well, but I wanted to let you know how pleased I was with A’s report card – he did a wonderful job in so many areas!

I also wanted to let you know that Alex will be out of town on the following dates –

Thursday Nov. 14
Friday Nov. 15
Monday Nov. 18
½ day Tuesday Nov. 19th

He is not aware that he will be away on those days, and he will not know until the morning of Nov. 14th – if you would like him to complete any work while he is gone, would you be willing to send it home with him at any time in the next two weeks and I will make sure he completes it and returns it to school the day he comes back? Otherwise, I will take the following weekend with him to work on anything he missed while we are away.

I will also make sure to notify the attendance office of his absence.

Thank you – and if you have any questions, please feel free to email or call! Again, this is a surprise to A, so he will not know anything about it.

Kind Regards,
Me

 

[taterheads]

We had a conference last semester and informed the teacher we were going on vacation and that it was surprise. I emailed her to remind her of the vacation and then scheduled a conference with her a few days before we leave to pick up any work that she will need to do while we are gone.

That sounds like it was a great plan!

 

[lovin'fl]

ooops...not sure how I triple posted

 

[lovin'fl]

oooops

 

[lovin'fl]

It has never worked for us in Maryland. We were told that missed work, quizzes, tests, etc could not be made up and the student would receive a zero for each.

Yup! My principal honor roll girls were told they'd get a zero on a midterm last year if they missed it when we scheduled a trip to WDW over semester break (and bad weather was a possibility during midterms the days prior to the trip. If they missed those days we found out they'd then make them up during the break which we'd be in WDW). I regretted telling the teachers beforehand (I told them because we planned to pull them out a few hours early on the last day before break) and wished I'd taken a friend's advice to just send in a sick note if they did miss any days. And because of the response I got from the teachers, I paid through the nose to change our flight until later that day so I wouldn't have to pull them out early either.

 

[taterheads]

Yup! My principal honor roll girls were told they'd get a zero on a midterm last year if they missed it when we scheduled a trip to WDW over semester break (and bad weather was a possibility during midterms the days prior to the trip. If they missed those days we found out they'd then make them up during the break which we'd be in WDW). I regretted telling the teachers beforehand (I told them because we planned to pull them out a few hours early on the last day before break) and wished I'd taken a friend's advice to just send in a sick note if they did miss any days. And because of the response I got from the teachers, I paid through the nose to change our flight until later that day so I wouldn't have to pull them out early either.

I think it's harder to pull kids out of school after grade school. I still think it's sad when educators don't respect families rights concerning education and work with them. I just don't think authoritarian threatening is a good way of building bridges between educators and parents. On that note. Back to the subject at hand. Don't want this to become another thread of opinions about taking kids out of school for vacations and if it right or not. OP- you get more flies with honey than vinegar. Be sweet and flexible and hopefully your child's teacher will return the favor. I hope your family has a Magical trip!

 

[MSSANDRA]

The first thing I would do is to be aware of what the school or districts policy is so you will know whether you need to deal with administration or just the teacher. When DS was in elementary I simply dealt with the teacher, in middle school I had to deal with administration. For elementary I mentioned to the teacher at our first conference (oct) that we would be traveling to Florida toward the end of the Semester. Everyone year they just asked me to remind them. I followed up with a letter 2-3 weeks before we went (always dec-jan). Some years I used the words WDW, and sometimes I said Florida. By waiting to the first meeting, they had a change to see that DS was a good student and I was the type parent that would follow up on make up work. I always assured them that he would make us any work they choose to send with him or to assign when we returned. Some gave us stuff before we went, a few waited until we returned and a couple said to forget the make up work and have fun. In middle school I wrote a similar letter to the administration and copied all his core teachers on it. NEVER asked for permission to take him, but informed them that we were going. Never had an issue. Took oldest DS out K-8 and will do same with little guy.

 

[sweetlovin']

Did you ask for the homework while they are gone to be given before you leave? I guess I just wanted some input on how to write this letter to my kids' teachers to make it the most pain-free for everyone.

I wrote a note to the school once we got back, "Please excuse my children from school. They had a severe case of Disneyitis and needed a week to recover."

 

[LittleMissDisney]

Check your district handbook-chances are there is a section in there on absences (most vacations will be counted as unexcused). It's not personal, it's just business. Schools are reimbursed for the number of kids is attendance each day it is nothing personal about you not getting to spend time at Disney with Johnny.

While you're in your district handbook there should also be a section on makeup work due to vacations. Please do not put your child's teacher in a position where they are asked to go against district policy.

 

[scoutie]

I still think it's sad when educators don't respect families rights concerning education and work with them.

Please know that the majority of the time, the rule doesn't come from the educators, but rather from the state.

In our state, it's actually illegal to not allow kids to make up tests and quizzes. My students are always taking vacations, and I'm happy to give them the work ahead of time. They'll learn a lot of valuable things on those trips. When the kids get back, the class enjoys hearing where they've been and what they've learned.

As a teacher, I appreciate being given advance notice. Last year, a student told me the day before that he was leaving for India, and could he please have the work he'd miss for the next four weeks?

 

[LittleMissDisney]

Please know that the majority of the time, the rule doesn't come from the educators, but rather from the state.

In our state, it's actually illegal to not allow kids to make up tests and quizzes. My students are always taking vacations, and I'm happy to give them the work ahead of time. They'll learn a lot of valuable things on those trips. When the kids get back, the class enjoys hearing where they've been and what they've learned.

As a teacher, I appreciate being given advance notice. Last year, a student told me the day before that he was leaving for India, and could he please have the work he'd miss for the next four weeks?

Hey, It's nice you got a day's notice. I've had a student gone since 12/9. Mom calls him in every day from Bangladesh but won't confirm when they'll return.

 

[Biff88]

Check your district handbook-chances are there is a section in there on absences (most vacations will be counted as unexcused). It's not personal, it's just business. Schools are reimbursed for the number of kids is attendance each day it is nothing personal about you not getting to spend time at Disney with Johnny.

While you're in your district handbook there should also be a section on makeup work due to vacations. Please do not put your child's teacher in a position where they are asked to go against district policy.

I found the statement that "it's just business" amusing. Actually, it's just bureaucracy, which is very different from business. Only government would think it was reasonable to force someone to consume a service they are offering, in order to avoid losing the funding that is given to them so that they can provide that service. You would never find something like that in business. That's why, on balance, the private school parents on these threads seem to have a much easier time with these situations.

 

[4xmom]

I took my kids out for a week in Sept. (3 in elem/ 1 in middle). We have family vacation forms that have to be filled out and approved by the principals. So I went to them as soon as school started and let them (the principals) know that we were taking a surprise trip. About 2 weeks before we left, I took in all forms and met with each individual teacher. I picked up all their work in the office the day before we left. When I got to the middle school, there was no work waiting. The office called the head teacher and she said they just wanted him to have fun and that she and the other teachers were wondering if I had room for 5 more. They worked with him when we got back to make up all his work.