5th Grader Missing School for WDW?

[momof1princess]

my family LOVES wdw and we've been fortunate enough to get to go the last 3 years with the cooperation of DD's principal and teachers. we had no problem getting work/tests done in advance of our trips until this year (we just got back). DD's elem. school got a new principal (a man, former principal was a woman, not that it matters, he just seems more strict) and he didn't want to excuse her for TWO WHOLE DAYS (thursday and friday) but since vacation was already booked, he did "just this once". now to my question: DD will move up to middle school next year (5th grade) and will most likely be changing classrooms/teachers for at least some of her subjects. i'm interested in reading everyone's experiences regarding this matter. i have no problem w/ helping DD study for tests and making sure she turns in any required work, and i would TRY to pick a week that was as convenient as possible for her teachers (i'm thinking week before christmas 2008 or first full week of january, 2009). can anyone tell me what i'm up against? how did it work out for you? would you do it again? do you regularly take your middle schooler out of school for trips? i know this is long and i apologize. any help is greatly appreciated-i miss disney already. TIA!

 

[Camster0307]

I think this all depends on where you live and what your school district is like.

Here in Mass., I've had no problems taking my kids out - and I'm doing it again this year with a 6th grader (and have done it for the past 9 years). It's up to each individual teacher as to how they want to handle your child's absence. I've had some teachers give my daughters work to do while away; others have let her make it up when she's gotten back. I don't know if I'm lucky or not, but I've talked to my daughter's "team leader" and she told me they expect this to happen. Now that my daughter is in middle school, the teacher's feel it's her responsibility to make sure she makes up the work she misses. It's a deal I've made with her - we'll continue to go to WDW every year as long as she works hard to complete what she misses. What makes this easier is that my daughter is a good student - so it hasn't been that challenging yet. I don't think any teacher is under any obligation to help your child make up what they miss; so if you think your child can handle extra work when they get back, it shouldn't be an issue to take them out.

 

[momof1princess]

thank you! DD is a straight A student and has no problem completing the work in advance-i'm sure the same would be so if she had to do it upon returning. DH wants to go for a week next time instead of just thurs-sat, and the thought of the new school not working with DD regarding schoolwork and excusing her absence is causing me anxiety. my DH doesn't get much vacation time that isn't already used up by mandatory holiday shut-downs, so these trips are really important to us.

 

[KayW]

I'm a middle school teacher and we regularly see kids go on Disney trips. It really varies teacher to teacher. Math and Language Arts assignments are pretty much the norm. If I know a student is going to Epcot I have them get information from each of the countries and ask questions of the people working at those countries about where they are from. Very educational (I teach world geography) and the kids love it.

It also really depends on the student too. Your daughter sounds very responsible so I wouldn't worry. CHeck with the school though because they may have a stricter attendance policy.

 

[Camster0307]

While I would never minimize the importance of school, I also feel that time away together as a family is also important.

These days, vacations are getting more & more expensive, and I'll be darned if I'm going to spend all that money and take mine during a school holiday where the crowds are at their highest levels. I'm sure you don't truly get your money's worth doing it that way! I say, if you're lucky enough to afford a vacation, take it at a time that is most enjoyable and beneficial to everyone in the family!

 

[Melissa]

I think it depends where you live, my 5th grade dd will miss 2 and 1/2 days next week for WDW and when I talked to the teacher he didn't give me a hard time, but I don't think he thought much of it. My dd is an excellent student so it's not like she will suffer for this. They do change classes but she happens to have her basic teacher for LA as well so I only had to deal with one teacher. I think Maine isn't as bad as some other places, I guess maybe Mainers have a rep for not liking to be told what they can and can't do. Hope it continues!

 

[disneymarie]

I have made our trips in Oct. Close enough to the start of the school yar, not in full swing, meaning in district testings, PSSA's, the class trips, holiday party, mid semesters or report cards.

I ask for work in advance they tell her generally don't worry about it. She is excellant student. We ahve been having challanges with her emotional health. She has some post trumatic stress from a family problem that had my brother a grown man stalking , harassing, and tearing yhouse apart looking for me with ehr in the kitchen stunned. Ran us off the raod twice, had a PFA, but it is over now.

But her sister my oldest daughter passed away this year and she was a care giver for short periods of time between my husband working over time and me leaving for work. Did make up and hair etc. She is so sad...
She asked about going to Disney, she want to release ballons there for her sister.

So although I normally would skip a year or two, we will go back again this year Oct, I did not hear back prior approval yet. She missed time last year for the trip, pnuemonia, and her sisters passing.

Disney to her is Epcot, rebuilding the Earths resources, Animal kingdom for the animals, She does like the Illuminations, fantasmaic, A big deal made of her birthday. I think she wants to feel the special magic to heal.

This is sixth grade. She was there 2nd and Fifth.
Just our experiance.
dianne

 

[daisyduck123]

I do it every year.

DD13 (9th grade) & DS9 (4th grade) miss school every year because we love to go when the crowds are low. We've never encountered any problems. Last year, they each missed 6 school days. The year before, they each missed 11 (we took 2 trips during that school year). They are both excellent students though..DD even got straight A's last year for all 4 marking periods...so these little vacations seem to have no negative impact (yet anyway).

I'm pulling them out again this December...and myself too .

 

[barkley]

definatly check with your school district to see what their rules are.

the district we used to live in followed that states attendance laws to the letter-so any student that had more than 10 total absences (excused) in a school year could be subject to receiving no credit and a failing mark in every class-despite their performance in that class. any student that missed 3 or more days (unexcused) in a single year (and vacations were not deemed excusable reasons to miss school) was refered to truancy services which could result in a referal to child welfare for evaluation or to the district attny's office for juvinile or parental action (and this is'nt just a threat-i worked in child welfare in another county in that state and processed many of the referrals from that county's school district).

i know it sounds severe-but the school's position is that technicaly each class has a minimum number of instructional hours during which the students are supposed to be in attendance to receive credit-and there were kids who were not meeting those standards.

if she's going to take any music classes you might also want to check on the status of the attendance requirements before planning a trip. i've known many music teachers who had attendance criteria as part of the grading structure-such that if you had more than 1 or 2 unexcused absences in a grading period you saw your grade drasticly go down.

 

[BigMama]

I HAVE TAKEN MY SON OUT OF SCHOOL EVERY YEAR SINCE SECOND GRADE AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM.HE IS NOW A SOPHMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL. I HAD MY TRIP ONCE AGAIN ALL BOOKED FOR THE WEEK OF TEACHERS CONVENTION, HE WOULD HAVE ONLY BEEN MISSING 3 DAYS OF SCHOOL. AT BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT I WAS INFORMED OF VACATION TIME BEING CONSIDERED A NONEXCUSED ABSENT AND WILL UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE BE ABLE TO MAKE UP ANY OF THE WORK !! I ALMOST FELL OFF THE CHAIR. MY SON IS A STRAIGHT A STUDENT SO HIM MAKING UP ALL THE WORK WAS NEVER AN ISSUE.SO TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT I GOT A REFUND ON MY FIRST CLASS AIRLINE TICKETS WAS ABLE TO BANK MY DVC POINTS, CANCELLED MY ADRS SO MY NICE LONG TRIP WAS CUT DOWN TO A LONG WEEKEND AWAY. I GUESS SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING.ENJOY THE TIME OFF WHEN YOU CAN, BECAUSE WHEN THEN GET OLDER IT HARDER TO GET THEM OUT.

 

[disneyjunkie]

While I would never minimize the importance of school, I also feel that time away together as a family is also important.

These days, vacations are getting more & more expensive, and I'll be darned if I'm going to spend all that money and take mine during a school holiday where the crowds are at their highest levels. I'm sure you don't truly get your money's worth doing it that way! I say, if you're lucky enough to afford a vacation, take it at a time that is most enjoyable and beneficial to everyone in the family!

We only travel during school breaks. Believe me, we get our money's worth.

During our trips, everything is up and running. Both water parks are open. The parks are open late. There's a EMH almost everyday. We get to the parks early and use FP. This allows us to stay ahead of the crowds.

We've never paid rack rate. I've always been able to use a code. Even during our 2004 Easter trip.

Our trips have been wonderful.

I could pull my son out of school, but I'm not willing to deal with the consequences. Like, BigMama, my son's days would be marked unexcused and he wouldn't be able to make up the missed work.

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I am in my 8th year of teaching 5th grade. School is sooo important, BUT so is familytime. We are taking our three children out for the first time for our World trip. DS 10, DS 7, and DD 5 will miss a week of school. My parents are going with us. We are saving $2700.00 by going this month as opposed to Easter break. It will not be as crowded, so hopefully we can all enjoy. This is important for us as a family.

The kids will be fine and most teachers are willing to work with their students to get back on track. I do not have any problem with any of my students taking time, unless it is a few times a year missing weeks at a time. Then it can get tough.

I also have them make up the minimum necessary and do not give anything to take with them, unless they ask. (It is the parents' vacation too.

Enjoy and have a great time!

 

[DawnM]

Ok, so my real question is: How do YOU get the time off as a teacher?

I am a teacher too and can't really figure out how to get the time off.

Dawn

I am in my 8th year of teaching 5th grade. School is sooo important, BUT so is familytime. We are taking our three children out for the first time for our World trip. DS 10, DS 7, and DD 5 will miss a week of school. My parents are going with us. We are saving $2700.00 by going this month as opposed to Easter break. It will not be as crowded, so hopefully we can all enjoy. This is important for us as a family.

The kids will be fine and most teachers are willing to work with their students to get back on track. I do not have any problem with any of my students taking time, unless it is a few times a year missing weeks at a time. Then it can get tough.

I also have them make up the minimum necessary and do not give anything to take with them, unless they ask. (It is the parents' vacation too.

Enjoy and have a great time!

 

[trip]

Ok, so my real question is: How do YOU get the time off as a teacher?

I am a teacher too and can't really figure out how to get the time off.

Dawn

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[prekteacher]

I am taking my two boys out of school for a week( one is 3rd grade the other is 6th ) I talked with both princals(sp) and they said as the child has not had a lot of adsence and there grade are a C and above they do not have a problem. They also said that if the work was turned in before we leave it would also look better.So We leave May 3 of 2008 and they boys will get their work to do over the April break .

One of my older sons teacher said all she would have him do to a jounal of his trip to talk to the class about when he came back.

 

[momof1princess]

thanks so much everyone for your responses! DD has never had a problem doing work/taking tests for the time period of our trip in advance, so that's not an obstacle, unless one of her teachers makes it one. our school district doesn't specify what is and isn't an excused absence, only that whether or not an absence is excused is up to the principal. so i guess it depends on how generous she (the middle school principal) is willing to be! let's hope when i talk to her about it next fall, she's in a generous mood!

 

[Princess Roo]

It couldn't hurt to call the middle school now and find out what their policy is to give you some peace of mind. Plus, if it changes between now and then for the worse as many districts do seem to be moving in that direction, you could at least attempt to use the "but I called last year and was told..." excuse.

It really seems to depend on the school around here. I know our elementary is lenient and our high school not so much - though they don't call the police on you or anything. I remember ~20 years ago when I was in 6th grade my teachers gave me and my parents all a lot of grief for me missing 3 days for Disney, and they never took us out again. (My 2 younger sibs were in elementary school and no one had a problem there.) I still remember the 3 nights of detention-disguised-as-makeup-work from one of the teachers, but the trip was SO worth it!

 

[Camster0307]

We only travel during school breaks. Believe me, we get our money's worth.

During our trips, everything is up and running. Both water parks are open. The parks are open late. There's a EMH almost everyday. We get to the parks early and use FP. This allows us to stay ahead of the crowds.

We've never paid rack rate. I've always been able to use a code. Even during our 2004 Easter trip.

Our trips have been wonderful.

I could pull my son out of school, but I'm not willing to deal with the consequences. Like, BigMama, my son's days would be marked unexcused and he wouldn't be able to make up the missed work.

I'm sorry but I just can't believe that you have as a relaxing and leisurely trip at Easter time than you would in the middle of Oct.&Nov. Lines for rides are longer, restaurants are more crowded - it's well-documented. I'm glad you're able to make it work for your family; but I've heard too many people complain about having a miserable time when dealing with such large crowds.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Our absence policy is DISTRICT wide. So it doesn't matter if you are in 1st grade or 11th...same rules apply.

Everyone gets 5 "vacation" days that will be excused. "Educational" trips are counted separately.

Oh and I agree that there is no way to have a "relaxing" WDW vacation Easter week...unless you don't enter the parks!

Our family vacations to WDW will always be during "off peak" times. Dd and I are doing a mom and me trip next July...but that is for her birthday. We don't expect to get a lot done, just relax and do our "favorite" things.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I'm sorry but I just can't believe that you have as a relaxing and leisurely trip at Easter time than you would in the middle of Oct.&Nov. Lines for rides are longer, restaurants are more crowded - it's well-documented. I'm glad you're able to make it work for your family; but I've heard too many people complain about having a miserable time when dealing with such large crowds.

Believe what you want.

We are at the parks when they open. (AM EMHs)
We hit all of the EMH rides, collecting FPs as we go.
When the parks open at 9:00 or 8:00 we head to the rides that aren't part of EMH.

By the time major crowds head into the park (10:30 or 11:00), we're on our way to our ADR. (of course they were booked 180 out)Since I book the first seating time, we don't have a long wait for a table. Before heading to the restaurant, I grab a FP. By the time our meal is over, it's time for us to walk on the next ride/show.

We spend the rest of the afternoon hitting shows and using the FPs that were collected earlier.

I always plan ADRs for the first seating time (lunch or dinner) or the last (breakfast).

I will not wait in a line for more than 20 minutes.

The only time we ever had a problem was during out 2004 Easter was when we didn't get to the parks at opening. I made that mistake once and it will never happen again.

OH, I never said my Easter trips were the same as an Oct or Nov trip. (Since I’ve never been at that time, I can’t compare them) I said I felt like I got my money's worth during our trips.

One more thing. I don't go to WDW to relax, I can do that at home for free.


It's possible to travel to WDW during peak times and still have a great time. If you don't believe me, ask all the teachers on the DIS that only travel during school break.

(Yes, I know that there are teachers here that are lucky enough to travel while school is in session.)