Frustrated over school calendar

[aristocatz]

Agreed.

I think parents may have more say and more flexibility in when they can pull their kids out of school (whether that is for vacations, other educational opportunities or family obligations).

You think parents should be able to be flexible and decide when their kid should have vacation?? Do you mean different vacation time for different students, based on parent preference?? WOW-what a mess that would cause!

 

[aprilgail2]

Ha, our Xmas break doesn't start until 12/23 this year! I just wonder how many kids will be in school the 21st and 22nd .

We do get a full week at Easter, but I only do Vero Beach at that time!

We don't get a fall break, but we do get 4 day weekends for MLK and Pres. day. We've done MLK the last two years and if you want to hit the parks it's a great time to do it.

We don't even SEE a school calendar until about a day or 2 into the school year so I have NO clue when they have off until then-- I can guess and book a vacation which I have done many times and just pulled her out of school for the time if I was wrong LOL. They don't give us a hard time about that at all- I guess if they did then we could give them a hard time about a teachers taking all their personal days and hooking them up to a weekend to go on their vacations....but I like it that way- kids are happy, teachers are happy...

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I feel your pain...big time. I am a teacher and as much as you guys hate the way they manipulate the schedule(they stuck in an extra 4 days for teachers), at least you can see an end in site b/c your kids will some day be out of school. I on the other hand am doomed to have to go to WDW in the summer. I figure it is better than nothing but I miss the days where I could go and get on rides without fast pass and do the whole park at least once in a day. In the past we used to go back after Labor Day....not anymore! Going back the 23 of August is just plain STuPID then they give us a long weekend for labor day...WHAT does that accomplish?? AS for summer I am forced to take a bunch of courses (unpaid I might add) that interfere with the weeks I can go to Disney. Don't be a teacher if you want to go to WDW during low season.

 

[Shih-Tzu]

Boy, glad I read this thread! I never realized how lucky we are here. Our school year begins the Tues or Wed after Labour Day and the last day at school before Christmas is the Friday BEFORE Christmas (so this year Christmas is on Friday, school is out from 18 Dec until 4 Jan....then everyone returns until the March Break (1st full week of March), there's the Easter Weekend (Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive) and then school ends around the 23-24 Jun). Other holidays include Thanksgiving Monday (1st Mon in October), Remembrance Day (N0v 11) Victoria Day (Mon on or before 24 May) and the 8 or 9 snow storm days

 

[daisyduck123]

Ha, our Xmas break doesn't start until 12/23 this year! I just wonder how many kids will be in school the 21st and 22nd .

year!

Here in Anne Arundel County, we'll still be in school a full day on Dec. 23rd as well.

 

[sorul82?]

Aren't some school systems experimenting with year round classes with long semester breaks?

We have year round schools and love it! My children have four 3-week breaks throughout the year plus the normal holidays.

 

[disney1990]

I can't even imagine going in July or August but people do it and they seem to have fun.

Some people just don't have a choice. For years and years, we only went at Easter, Christmas or during those hot summer months.

 

[sorul82?]

Actually, most teachers (including myself) would LOVE a year-round schedule - but it's very inconvenient for working parents to have multiple two-week breaks spaced every few months. With summer, there are lots of day camps and overnight camps to help with childcare. It's the parents that tend to loudly oppose year-round school.

There are plenty of camps for our "track out" time.

 

[rie'smom]

Our daughter starts school on August 7th and they get out on May 27th. They do get holidays which hopefully will not be impacted by any hurricanes this year. The thing that affects our trips is she's a cheerleader, so no annual Thanksgiving trip. Their Christmas holidays start the weekend before and I don't want to fight crowds. Mardi Gras is crowded too and she may be in the ball this year. If their cheerleading camp dates are the same as this year they will leave on the last day of school and have practice every day during the summer.
She loves cheering and if she continues to make the squad, it may be almost 3 years before we get back. We've been lucky to go 3x a year for the past 3 years. If we do have to wait that long, we'll appreciate the next trip.

 

[mlynn]

Wow my kids don't start school until Sept 10. I wish we were starting earlier.


Nov 3 - 6 NJ teacher convention 26-27 Thanksgiving
Dec 23 1/2 day 24 -Jan1(go back mond 4th)
Jan 18 MLK
Feb 12 -15 pres. Weekend
March 31 Spring break
APr 1-5 spring break
May 31 Mem day
June Last day of school 20th.

there is a few inservice days in there.Kids of but teacher report to school.Also 1/2 days for Parent/Teacher talks.

My brother went to Disney this past June with his family and his SIL family(she is a teacher.)It was a shame we had so many snow days this year that she had to change her plans and meet them later because she had school days to make up.

 

[madmom1030]

We have school year round. We love it we will start tomorrow and come mid September we have a 3 week break. The only problem is that only are elementary schools go year round. So when dd9 hits middle school in a couple of years. Then we have different schedules for a couple of years. The middle and high schools still get a week off in when the elementary schools are off. Last day of school June 4, so even though we start early we don't get to finish early.

Our district has childcare you can pay for when school is on break, so the parents do have to worry about finding a place for 3 weeks. During the summer they have summer school for 3 weeks that is free. So parents this year only had to pay for 2 weeks of childcare.

 

[luv2sew]

Having gone through the high school thing with kids and not being able to take vacations during the high school years. I understand just how you all feel, But I wonder how year round school would effect the areas that have definate summer months. How do local business, especially amusement parks, support work staff if kids are going to school all summer in areas that certainly cannot keep these businesses open all year or even 9 months for that matter? Also the local public pools would probably have to close for that reason too and all our festivals and such are jammed packed into the summer months for the reason that our weather demands that they be. Right now I can think of 10 events that would certainly suffer if there were year round school. I think I remember a few months ago or even a year ago that Pennsylvania was going to pass legislation to make sure schools did not start until after labor day for the very reason that our summer tourism areas suffer when the kids go back to school in August.

It's easy for the areas that have almost year round nice weather but here in the northeast I'm not sure that year round school is a great idea.

 

[DaParkers]

Yet again, it feels like we get jipped. I don't see how it's possible, I mean all schools must be in session 180 days. But we start w/the rest, end after, and no extras in between. No fall break, only Wed, Th Fri for Thanksgiving, no true Easter break (just optional Good Friday if no bad weather). Our Christmas vacation doesn't even start until 19th if you count Sat.
The girls are getting older where it's too hard to allow 1 or 2 extra days tacked onto a holiday. But the thought of maximum crowds in the sweltering heat of Jul/Aug-
I keep trying to keep my eye on the prize w/hopes and dreams of more Disney trips/DVC, but it seems to become harder to do with each year.

Your school schedule is NOT that bad. My son goes back Aug. 6th, so we can't even go at the end of Aug/Sept like we've done in the past. He'll miss a week at the beginning of Dec (Got a free dining code). BTW, your Xmas holidays seem right to me. Xmas is on a Friday. Your kids will have been out an entire week before Xmas day. But, with that said, I understand your frustration. Good luck with working out a good vacation time.

 

[Pooh Crew]

Another Texan here who HATES, HATES, HATES the new mandated start date! We used to have a wonderful schedule that was decided by our local school board after getting input from the parents in the district. We actually felt like we had a say in the calendar. We started in early August and got out at the end of May/first of June...BUT (and here's the important part!) we got a wonderful 1 week fall break in October. All the other holidays were normal, but I swear that 1 week off in Oct was enough to revive us and re-focus the kids to get us through until the Christmas holiday. I loved our fall break...that's when we went to Disney.

And don't let them tell you it was to save electricity! The schools still have to be airconditioned because of the computers! And our office staff is already back at school working, so I'm sure they are using the A/C. The mandated start date was pushed through because of the tourism lobby--plain and simple. It was not for kids, teachers, parents, or frugality...it was for tourism so that the theme parks would have cheap labor during the summer months. Ummm...have any of these people ever actually been to Six Flags in August when it is 110 degrees??? Oh, please!

I know it doesn't matter one tiny bit, but my family leaves the first week of August and goes to visit my extended family in another state. Texas won't get one penny from us in August.

Stepping down off my soap box now...

 

[disykat]

Boy, glad I read this thread! I never realized how lucky we are here. Our school year begins the Tues or Wed after Labour Day and the last day at school before Christmas is the Friday BEFORE Christmas (so this year Christmas is on Friday, school is out from 18 Dec until 4 Jan....then everyone returns until the March Break (1st full week of March), there's the Easter Weekend (Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive) and then school ends around the 23-24 Jun). Other holidays include Thanksgiving Monday (1st Mon in October), Remembrance Day (N0v 11) Victoria Day (Mon on or before 24 May) and the 8 or 9 snow storm days

You say lucky. Others are frustrated!

 

[EMom]

Another Texan here who HATES, HATES, HATES the new mandated start date! We used to have a wonderful schedule that was decided by our local school board after getting input from the parents in the district. We actually felt like we had a say in the calendar. We started in early August and got out at the end of May/first of June...BUT (and here's the important part!) we got a wonderful 1 week fall break in October. All the other holidays were normal, but I swear that 1 week off in Oct was enough to revive us and re-focus the kids to get us through until the Christmas holiday. I loved our fall break...that's when we went to Disney.

And don't let them tell you it was to save electricity! The schools still have to be airconditioned because of the computers! And our office staff is already back at school working, so I'm sure they are using the A/C. The mandated start date was pushed through because of the tourism lobby--plain and simple. It was not for kids, teachers, parents, or frugality...it was for tourism so that the theme parks would have cheap labor during the summer months. Ummm...have any of these people ever actually been to Six Flags in August when it is 110 degrees??? Oh, please!
I know it doesn't matter one tiny bit, but my family leaves the first week of August and goes to visit my extended family in another state. Texas won't get one penny from us in August.

Stepping down off my soap box now...

Amen to that, sister! The Texas Leg, in its infinite lack of wisdom, caved to the Texas Tourism Lobby. What I want to know is......Where are all these tourists that are beating down our doors to come visit our fair state when we're suffering with triple digit heat in AUGUST???? Idiots! Crap, I don't even want to leave my house. As far as I'm concerned, we could go to school all summer long and let the kids out in spring and fall when the weather is semi-enjoyable. Morons!

I have strong feelings on this issue.

And I will be yanking DD out of school in December for a WDW trip.

 

[Shih-Tzu]

I guess I say "lucky" because we only really have 10 weeks of nice warm weather and as another poster mentioned, our whole tourism, festivals, parades, and other things are all jam packed into 9 or 10 weeks including camp grounds being open, pools, etc......most of which are staffed by students. Even our National Parks in this area are open seasonally.

It would be difficult many families to take a vacation with the year-round system I read about, only because there's not a lot to do in the short winter days (unless you ski or own a snowmobile) and to get to a warmer place, there's airfare, hotel costs, etc involved...

However, if I lived somewhere where the weather was more temperate, then I could see the advantages to the other system too. I guess I've always been used to the same schedule.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Figures. Teachers get cranky if they don't get their summers off. The rest of us are doing great if we can have an entire weekend off more than once a month. It was April this year before I got my first day off.

I just find it somewhat unprofessional for them to whine to their students.

I was wondering how long it was going to be until this turned into a teacher vs. summer vacation thread.

I feel it is disrespectful to lump all teachers into one category. There are many teachers on these boards and this comment could be offensive to many. As far as teachers being off for summers, that is laughable. Contrary to belief, teachers do not get summers off. I happen to be a teacher and I am currently in professional development from 8am - 5:30 pm for the week. This is only one of many professional development courses my district requires us to attend. Most teachers also do not earn vacation time, so if you think about it teachers are in the same boat as those with children. We too need to take our vacations at the busiest seasons.

My dad is a teacher. Every year that we have gone to WDW, it's been during the summer because of his job. Now my sister is also a teacher, so that makes our vacation time even more limited. As far as personal days are concerned, my sister is worried about getting off the day before my wedding from school because only one teacher is 'allowed' to take a personal day on any given day. She just put the request in for it so I'm hoping she does get it.

Teachers truly have no role in how the school board plans the calendar.

 

[Iott Family]

I think we need an SOS=save our summers campaign here. Our kids got out June 5th and go back August 17th. Then get out for the 7th of September for the Labor Day holiday. October 22 and 23 for "fall break". November 26 and 27 for T-day and December 23-Jan. 1 for Christmas. Spring break is in March 29 to April 2.

Our "fall break" is when we typically do our family vacation. With two weekends sandwiching that week the kids only miss 3 days. Our schools do dock work missed by only crediting 50% of the grade but we make it work. We are talking about doing a last minute beach rental in NC this year. We did a week in Disney in February and it was a hellish trip so we are off our Disney appetite. It will be a year or more before we go back. We did do disney back in Oct 2007 and crowds were light all week until saturday and the heat/humidity were there but not as bad as July/August. It was the best out of our 5 WDW family trips we have taken thus far.

 

[JLKennedy]

My school board just passed our calendar for next year. The kids were always off….well……for 2009-2010:

NO springbreak.

Down to 1 snow day from 4.

IF they use more than the 1 snow day, they go to school on Saturday’s to make up….

Last day of school is June 4, 2010

We’re thrilled, not the kids, but we are…..hoping for a big N’oreaster (after we come back from Jamaica, of course)….so we can send both to school on Saturday’s.