Just e-mailed the principal

[Andrea464]

Just e-mailed the principal to try and get credit for my daughter for three of the six days she'll miss at school from our Disney trip. I hope it works!
I wrote a one page letter detailing everything she'd be learning at all of the parks. *gulp*

 

[Andrea464]

Oh my stars, it worked!
I was expecting a few days, not all of them! She'll have to stay up to date on assignments (expected), as well as keep a daily journal with photos and pictures. She'll have to present that to her class when she returns to talk about what she saw and learned. Woohoo!

 

[ghtx]

What do you mean by "get credit" for three days?

 

[marmalade]

Oh my stars, it worked!
I was expecting a few days, not all of them! She'll have to stay up to date on assignments (expected), as well as keep a daily journal with photos and pictures. She'll have to present that to her class when she returns to talk about what she saw and learned. Woohoo!

Great news!

I want to take my kids out of school within the next few years to go in October, and I hope their school is as accommodating as yours.

 

[Andrea464]

What do you mean by "get credit" for three days?

Excused as an educational opportunity (lawful absence) vs. unexcused absence.

 

[dismiss]

Oh my stars, it worked!
I was expecting a few days, not all of them! She'll have to stay up to date on assignments (expected), as well as keep a daily journal with photos and pictures. She'll have to present that to her class when she returns to talk about what she saw and learned. Woohoo!

Would you mind sharing what you wrote?
My school is already giving me grief for 3 days in Oct.
High school 16 year old.

Please send a PM

Thanks
Dismiss

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

I found this one online & I'm debating using a versionof it. DD will only miss 2 days of 3rd grade & she's a straight-A student all the way around. It's also the very first 2 days of a new quarter, so plenty of time to catch-up. I might just skip it, call her in sick & deal with the catch-up later just to avoid the judgement. Our school is militant about non-excused absences.

http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/SE.shtml

 

[Andrea464]

Here is my letter that I wrote!

*removed*

 

[DopeyDame]

Inriguing...
What would have happened if you had just said "Annabelle will be out of school for a family vacation October 12-19, 2012."

 

[lindsmom]

I just emailed my daughter's school - 6th grade. I sent an email to her three primary teachers (math, english, reading, social studies, science) to say that we would be out (gave the dates - missing 6 days of school) for a family vacation. Told them she would be keeping a journal which she will be happy to share with the teachers, and if the teachers wanted to add anything to that we would be happy to incorporate it in her journal - also that we aren't asking for makeup work, as that is extra work for the teachers and I wouldn't expect or ask that.

Got very nice responses back, all three wished us a nice and safe vacation, told us they would give her some work to do over the time we are gone, and seemed very amenable to it.

I also sent an email to the principal and vice - principal, with a copy of the text that I sent the teachers as a head's up. I think it helps that I spent the last 5 years working on the PTA, for a few extra brownie points. LOL!

 

[Andrea464]

Inriguing...
What would have happened if you had just said "Annabelle will be out of school for a family vacation October 12-19, 2012."

It'd count as an unexcused absence. Looking at our handbook out now, it states (for my state): "It is illegal for a child to fail to be in school for any reason other than those set forth by the State Board of Education..."
3 unlawful absences: notification
6 unlawful: notification via nastygram that you might be in violation of law
10 unlawful: school can notify DA and file a complaint.

Without the prior approval my daughter would get 6 unlawful absences from this one trip. The letter might have gone overboard, but I wanted it clear that there was plenty of stuff to do that was educational.

 

[SaraJayne]

Inriguing...
What would have happened if you had just said "Annabelle will be out of school for a family vacation October 12-19, 2012."

That's all I've done and never had a problem. I'd have a big problem with an administrator telling me when I can and cannot take my kids out of school.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Would you mind sharing what you wrote?
My school is already giving me grief for 3 days in Oct.
High school 16 year old.

Please send a PM

Thanks
Dismiss

While I think her letter was fine for an younger elementary school child, don't think that would fly for a high school teen. Good luck, we found it impossible to take DS out once we hit high school.

 

[hj0519]

Would you mind sharing what you wrote?
My school is already giving me grief for 3 days in Oct.
High school 16 year old.

Please send a PM

Thanks
Dismiss

While I think her letter was fine for an younger elementary school child, don't think that would fly for a high school teen. Good luck, we found it impossible to take DS out once we hit high school.

Agreed...that letter works for a kid in elementary school, but not for a high schooler. A week in Disney World is not the equivalent of a week's worth of high school classes, even if they are "learning about other cultures" in Epcot.

 

[luvmy3]

Inriguing...
What would have happened if you had just said "Annabelle will be out of school for a family vacation October 12-19, 2012."

You should just deal with the consequences
I will preface this by saying that I have taken my kids out of school for WDW, and I wouldn't even consider trying to get "credit" for them since the trip wasn't planned as an educational trip, it was planned as a family vacation. Sure the trip would be a learning experience, but one can say that about anything. Unless the trip is planned specifically for education then its just an excuse so that parents aren't held responsible for their choice for their child to miss required school days in order to take a vacation. We have to do what is right for our families, and sometimes that means we vacation when school is in session, but we should own up to it.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The letter might have gone overboard....

You think?

The principal probably is allowing this as an excused absence just because he was impressed by your audacity! (This is not a criticism).

 

[mjkacmom]

While I think her letter was fine for an younger elementary school child, don't think that would fly for a high school teen. Good luck, we found it impossible to take DS out once we hit high school.

Lol, I was thinking the same thing! Please excuse Sally from her AP Physics lab, World History exam, and Statistics quiz, but she will present her vacation photos instead.

Dd16 would never miss 3 days of HS! Even with excused absences (illness), the students are usually responsible for getting the missed material (through another classmate). Nevermind the instruction missed.

 

[Ccann]

HS students about to graduated; They can take a few days out of school to visit a college. Maybe rent a car for a day and visit a couple of local colleges near Orlando. At that point they are excused absents.

I wanted to go to school in Colorado, we visited 2 schools one day and 2 the next. Then went to Estes Park the next 2! Just a thought if you wanted to get creative.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I have a friend who requests "educational leave" for her two when they cruise in December. They bring back a photo book with notes. Not sure how it works considering they always go to the same place every time (Nassau).

I can't take my dd out as she's Dyslexic and I wouldn't be up for the make up work. Doing her regular homework takes long enough. I did consider adding a day to fall break for a YES class I thought she'd like, but she wasn't interested in going without me. And since ds is still so young, we're doing something else that weekend closer to home.

Question: You've put so much detail in the letter regarding what your daughter will see and do. Is the principal going to hold you to seeing evidence of all that? What if your plans change?

For example, your World Showcase plans. Despite plans to see the entire thing and do the same as you documented in World Showcase plus Pick a Pearl (had the Cinderella cage necklaces, a passport, a little journal and everything) we ended up not touring WS at all. We also missed Asia in AK.

 

[mjantz]

Agreed...that letter works for a kid in elementary school, but not for a high schooler. A week in Disney World is not the equivalent of a week's worth of high school classes, even if they are "learning about other cultures" in Epcot.

My thoughts exactly. We found that even missing 2-3 days in Junior High was rough given that our son was in Pre-AP classes. I can't imagine taking him out for a week in HS. He would never recover & honestly, I don't want his classes to be so easy that a week missed is no problem. I want him to be challenged.