Does anyone take kids out of highschool?

[barb45]

I have always taken my son out of school for our Disney trips (please don't flame me - he is a good student and I think he learns a lot on our vacations). Now he is in high school and I like to plan our trips at the 11 month booking window for DVC and for early December or January. The school won't tell me when exams are so I'm afraid to book. Do all the schools in Ontario have exams at the same time? Does anyone know when they would be? We live in Windsor if this helps. Does anyone who have kids in highschool take them out for vacations and does anyone have any tips? Thanks.

 

[MommaBear]

Exams differ at each school. I live in Mississauga, my son is currently in Grade 10 and his school is on 'Terms'. Term 1 - 4 subjects - runs from Sept. to mid Jan with exams taking place the last week in Jan. Term 2 runs from Feb. to mid June. He went in for his last morning of classes today and then writes an English exam this afternoon. The rest of this week is exam week for the entire school, my son will only have to write 2 more exams on Wed so he has tomorrow off to study for them and then once he has written them on Wed., he is finished school.

My niece goes to a different school (only 4 kms away from my son), it is also located in Mississauga. She has 'Semesters - 8 subjects per and she wrote her exams last week so she is finished.

It would probably be best to find out which type your sons school is teaching - Term or Semester - you can probably call your local board for this info.

Taking him out during a school year - let's just say I wouldn't do it. Again this is entirely up to you but I was taken out for a vacation to Florida (WDW) when I was in Grade 11 and it was the absolute worst experience. When I returned I was totally lost in all classes and although I was not an "honor" student my marks were very good - mid 70's to mid 90's. It took me several weeks to get caught up. I was given material to work on during my vacation but reading was not as stimulating as class discussions!

 

[DisneyLisa]

I took DD out of school last October for a week in Grade 10. Our HS is on the semester system (4 subjects per term) and usually has exams during the last week in January. I think most school boards have, at the very least, a preliminary calendar out for next year, so you may want to check your Board's web site.

DD is a good student and we didn't have a problem. We're doing it again this March (she'll be in Grade 12)...1 week at WDW (the week before March Break) followed by a Disney Cruise the week of March Break. I'm not too concerned about it this time because a lot of students around here take 2 weeks for March break...especially in their graduating year.

I think it also depends on the subjects they're taking. Luckily DD didn't have Math last October when I took her out...Math can be a tough subject to catch up on in the later years (on the semester system they cover a lot in a short period of time)...miss a day or two and you can be lost. DS#1 had a mid 90s mark in Math but said he wouldn't want to miss a week of one of his Math classes in Grade 13. So I think it depends on the child and the subject. I would think that if your son is a good student, missing a week in Grade 9 wouldn't be a problem but only you can judge. Good luck with your decision.

 

[mom_rules]

I usually took DS and DD out in April, May or October

They are not semestered and exams are mid to late Jan and beginning of June.

 

[NancyK]

I took my kids out when they were in high school. They are both good students and had no problem. We informed the teachers ahead of time - some of the teachers told them what they would be missing so they could do some of their work before we left. Other teachers didn't - so the work had to be made up when we got back. Neither one had any problems. If you think your son can handle it - then go for it and don't feel the least bit guilty about it! By the way, my kids were in a semestered school so exams were at the end of January. I would probably book early December if I was in your situation. In semestered schools, the major "end of term" assignments are often due at the beginning of January.
Nancy
P.S. - My youngest feels that he should skip his first two weeks of university classes next January when we go to run the 1/2 marathon. NOT! (His university marks aren't as good as his high school marks! )

 

[Hockeychic]

he will be in grade 10 and is a semestered school. (4 subjects)
It will be a week and a half after school starts so I really and not too worried about what he will miss he will have plenty of time to catch up before exams in Jan.

This will probably be the last year we will take him out of school but then again I said that last year

Enjoy!!

 

[madge62]

My daughter is in a semestered high school and has her exams at the end of January. Fortunately they pretty much wrap up their assignments by Christmas vacation and start review when they come back. We're taking her out for 10 days post Christmas vacation this year but she's a good student and never had any problems catching up when we took her out 2 years ago.

We've even looked at her course schedule for the first semester and all in all it's not bad for Grade 12. She'll have the whole week before Christmas to work on any homework too.

I believe that the travel knowledge she will gain (we're also doing a Caribbean cruise) will only benefit her future.

 

[mom_rules]

Does anyone know where the school boards post their vacation, PD day etc schedules for 2004-2005?

 

[CdnMom2]

Look for the website of your county school board. All kinds of info on there. Next year's schedule was already approved in April I think for our board & is on there. May even be on your high-school's website.

 

[barb45]

Thanks everyone for your help - especially that website idea. As always the dis members come through!

 

[SKFamily]

Just search for your school division. Next year's calendars should be up soon, I would think. Decisions will have been made by now... if you can't find a website or they don't have the info up to date, just call the school division office and tell them what you need, and why.

 

[Cruisin]

We have taken our kids out of high school and will take our, next year, Grade 12, daughter out for a week in January for a Disney Cruise. It will be the first week back after Christmas break.

 

[mom_rules]

Vacation, PA days and 1/2 days for 2004-05 not yet on our board's site. I called them and they were more than happy to provide all the info over the phone.

 

[tinkerbeth]

Hey there,

I'm a highschool teacher. Thought I'd add my 2 cents and give you some tips about taking the kids out.

I don't have a problem with kids doing this b/c clearly it's a tonne cheaper to go. If your son's school is semestered, he will miss more in each class. Also you might want to ask about EQAO testing - missing that will be a pain for you.

If he's a good student, I would suggest giving his teachers *written* notice (otherwise it's just one more thing a kid is telling you as he's leaving class and really easy to forget) a couple of weeks before. Usually if one of my kids is leaving, I don't have a problem telling them as much as I can about what we're going to be doing while they're gone. However, sometimes it's hard to know exactly where you'll be in the course so you might have to rely on the kid to make things up when they get back. I would say that as long as your son takes the responsibilty for making thing up that he missed, he should be fine.

The only time I get p'd off is when kids miss time for vacation and then expect me to spoon-feed them everything we've covered while they were gone. I usually tell them to get the notes from another good student (it would be a good idea to arrange this before hand) and then ask me any questions they have. They are responsible for getting the assignments from the student and handing them in. Of course I'm happy to help, but I can't go back completely and re-teach everything.

Hope that helps!

Beth

 

[DisneyLisa]

Thanks for posting Beth...it's nice to hear a teacher's viewpoint.

 

[mom_rules]

I agree! I always check for holidays and PA days-times where they would miss the least amount of time. I confirm that the time of year doesn't includes Literacy tests etc or assessments.

Our school board provides a form that the student must take to each teacher (greater than 3 day absence) - the teacher provides mark, whether or not work is given in advance or whether they will be required to do it while gone, then the parent must sign the completed form and then it goes to the Vice-principal/Principal. This way everyone is on the same page.