Has anyone ever taken their kids out of school for vacation?

[kohlby]

I fully agree with checking with YOUR school's policy and go from there.

In my state, there is a maximum amount of unexcused absences - and sick without a doctor's note is even unexcused! The schools have nothing they can do about it, as it's a state rule. So, for a state like mine, I would not take a child out of school for more than a day or two because we might need those days for an illness. As a former public school teacher, I didn't have to ever provide make-up work for unexcused absences - so that includes vacations and sick without a note. Like most teachers, I cared about learning, not policy, so I always let students make up the work. However, neither I nor the principal had any control over how many absences meant a student didn't get credit and therefore didn't pass.

Growing up, I did miss for vacations and it wasn't a big deal. But a lot of districts and states have changed. Testing means a lot more now than it used to.

 

[Angel Ariel]

My question is how do the schools usually take something like this?

it varies quite a lot from district to district, and even school to school. Many areas have local Facebook pages, you may want to ask this question there to get experiences from other parents with your specific district and school.

 

[rsagusti]

We take our kids out for 1-2 vacations a year, 1 of them is a long weekend and the other is a 10 day Disney trip in May. My kids are only in K and 2nd grade right now though. I'm not sure at what age it will be too difficult to do. Our school is very family first orientated though so if the kid can make up the homework and the parents can work with the teachers its not a problem.

 

[verleniahall]

check with your school district to see how that absense is classified. Ours is an unexcused absense for vacations during the school year, and after a certain amount of unexcused absenses, they call in the truancy officers

 

[brockash]

We usually go in the summer for vacation but next year we are thinking the first week of May. This would require us to take my JH student from school for a week. Shes a A/B student and have no worry about her catching up. My question is how do the schools usually take something like this? What are other parents thoughts on the subject?

We've done it almost every year since my kids started school. (Currently have an 8th grader and 3rd grader). It's never been an issue for us. I always send a note/send an email about a week ahead of time to the actual teachers and then send a note for the actual school the day before. We've always had understanding teachers and have done lots of work on the way to Disney, a little at Disney and then any make-up work after. Last year was the first year (possibly only) that we didn't take the kids out, due to scheduling we were able to go the week before school started and I will say it was nice not to have to worry about school work at all, but it wouldn't stop me from pulling them again. If my kids really struggled with school or I wasn't willing/able to help teach them stuff they missed, then we would probably make going during a different time more of a priority, but if your kids get good/decent grades then you should be fine.

ETA: Yes, all of the schools I've pulled my kids out of (we're military and move often) have the attendance policy thing and no, family vacations are not excused. We have gotten the formal "your childs missing out on education due to absences" letter some years, but it's never been an issue. My kids teachers have always been on board and I've had principals basically tell me to just ignore the letter as it's just a formality etc. I'm a counselor in a school now, and there's no way in the world we would ever report or attempt to raise an issue with a family due to a week or 2 of them pulling their kids out of school for a trip etc., however due to district policy, we are required to send the letter.

 

[brockash]

Our school has a horrible policy... any absence without a dr's note is unexcused, and you HAVE to make up the work but receive a zero. We pulled our son out for 3 days for my 40th birthday for a once in a lifetime trip to Turks & Caicos and I felt horrible because my son got F's on all of the makeup work. We knew that ahead of time though and still made the choice since A) he is a strong student academically and B) the memories made on that trip outweighed a bad grade or two. We made sure it wasn't during any major state testing.

Can I ask why you keep him in that district/school? I realize all families have different circumstances, but I'm just honestly curious as to what point it would make you accept that kind of treatment. I just can't imagine dealing with or even how it practicality-wise even works. How are they able to "make" kids do the "make-up" work. I guess if they're in elementary I can kinda see it, but high school...yeah right, that would never fly here or anywhere else I've worked in. The school seems really insane and I just can't imagine willing to have our family be involved with a school like that.

 

[DopeyDame]

Could you plan for the last week of school? All the important stuff is done by then. It's a filler week.

That's what my parents usually did and I *hated* it. It meant I missed the end of year fun and had to sit with the teacher doing all the checkout stuff (cleaning desk and locker, turning in books, etc) by myself. I also never really got to say a nice goodbye to friends and teachers when I missed the last week.
I don't hesitate to take my kids out of school, but I don't do it during the first week of school or the last week of school. I think those transition weeks are really important, regardless of the age.

 

[hjvigz72]

We have at different times in both of their school careers. Our kids are very different learners. Although we have taken one out for a week, the other we no longer will. It really depends on the school and your children and really only you will know that answer.

 

[Vijoge]

This is the policy at my granddaughter's high school, copied directly from their Student Handbook:
In order for an absence to be considered excused, the student’s parent/guardian must call the campus attendance telephone number to report the absence. Acceptable reasons for excused absences will include but may not be limited to:
- Illness;
- Death in the immediate family;
- Family emergency;
- Pre-arranged family vacation; and
- Pre-arranged college visits.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

I have for a day or 2 but never for a full week. I would NEVER take my straight A junior high student out for a week. Catching up on a couple days out sick is enough stress that I know a week would be too much. She could do it and her grades wouldn't suffer because she would see to it that she got caught up, but it isn't fair to her to have to spend the week we get back frantic to complete large amounts of work by the deadline. I cannot imagine anyone missing a week of middle school and not having late nights up working to catch up unless the teacher just blows off the work for the week.

Also, It's very difficult to get a whole week approved as an educational trip here. Disney would never be approved after about 3rd grade unless they were doing multiple YES classes. The PRIMARY purpose of the trip has to be educational and you must document that. If you are denied the whole week is unexcused and middle and high school students get zeros for unexcused absences.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Do what fits your family best. If your child is a good student, and you can work with the teacher to bring classwork with you, then go ahead

 

[Muppetfan3]

Yes, I've done this a few times. If you have Excused Educational Leave available in your school district, this is great. That's what we have and basically, I get the forms at my child's school office well in advance (2 months if possible). Fill out the forms - it's basically asking permission for your child to have an excused absence for vacation. At Disney there are plenty of ways to show it's an educational trip - Epcot in a word - countries, etc., Animal Kingdom would be another. Topics like time management and money management could be used in this case also. With our system, after your formal request is approved by the principal, your child must turn in a trip report (an essay of sorts explaining what they learned, etc.). It's a nice system and then I don't feel badly about taking my child out of school. Other things, I always talk to my child's teacher in advance regarding the absence and make up work plus I never schedule when any major testing is taking place.

 

[MommyBryn]

My dad is a farmer, so the only time we could go on big family vacations (to Disney, primarily) was to go during January or February...so we were always taken out of school, and for at least a week at a time. It was never an issue, even with my brother who wasn't the greatest student, vacations or not. The school was always accommodating, and oftentimes excited FOR us. Granted, we lived in a fairly small town (5,000 people) so we all knew each other and they knew my family and all that stuff... We'd usually get the bulk of our assignments ahead of time and work on them on the plane, but we'd also usually have one day to catch up before we went back to school once we were home.

I have to say, I'm so grateful that my parents did it. Not just because we got to go on vacation, but because those memories are so precious to me.

 

[montugirl]

We are doing it this year.

 

[xinfamousxi]

15 absences, either excused or unexcused, had to be reported to the county attorney’s office

Insufficient Grounds for Excused Absences
Students will be assigned an unexcused absence from school by the principal or the principal’s designee for the following reasons:

1. Family vacations or business trips.

2. Personal recreational activities.

3. Non-school sponsored activities and athletics (e.g., competitive cheer, club sports, or theater caravans).

4. Babysitting.

5. Birthdays.

6. Work.

 

[MammaMoe48]

I wouldn't do it, but every parent has to decide for themselves. It also depends in some cases what grade a child is in. In NYC, middle schools look at 4th grade report cards, attendance and punctuality. High schools look at 7th grade and colleges look at 11th grade. Missing a week of school for non-medical reasons can be the thing that keeps a kid out of the better schools.

 

[DisneyMom111]

I have taken my son out for all of our trips since he was 4. He is now 15 and will miss 4 days for our upcoming trip/cruise in May. We always let the school know in writing and he makes up all missed work. My thought is, a Disney trip is expensive....I want to be able to go when it isn't hot and crowded so I can get the most out of our trip. I wouldn't enjoy going in the summer heat. We always tend to go in Nov/Dec when the weather is nicer. We also love to see the park decorated for Christmas, there is nothing like it. Trying to only go when there are school breaks means much higher crowds. But it will always depend on your kid and the school policy. If you can swing it, I say do it.

 

[buzznina]

We did up til the 3rd grade, once our oldest DD got to 3rd grade the homework and class pace doubled, so it was a major issue catching up once we got back. In 1 week they cover a complete section or 2 and are on to the next, so missing 5 days is big especially with the common core crap Family vacations are important to us, but I am not going to make it harder on our DD just because I do not want to deal with crowds.

 

[Pookasaurus]

I took my kids out for 5 days (which is the "allowed" amount for our district) last year to celebrate their birthdays in January at Disney- My youngest was in preschool (no biggie) and my oldest was in 2nd grade. About 2 weeks after we got back, my oldest fell 25 feet off a balcony fracturing his spine in multiple places and missed over another week (he was in a level one trauma center an hour from home, obviously excused). Initially I was worried given how much he ended up missing as a result, but the reality is I'm lucky my son survived that fall (he is fine now, truly a miracle) and life is too short to worry about bureaucracy - Family and memories are important, too. We get so little time with our kiddos when they are in school from the time they are physically gone from the house, to extra curricular activities, to the crazy amount of time spent doing homework each night. I have no problem taking some of that time back. For what it is worth, the school didn't even send me the nasty gram about the days he missed and he didn't fall behind in anyway.

I am currently planning to take my kids out for 5 days again in November (1st and 4th Grade) and butting it up with the week they get off for Thanksgiving. I have reservations about them missing 2 weeks then another 2 weeks for winter break the following month, but we'll manage. I do try to work in some educational components while we are gone and plan to buy the boys journals and such to write in mainly to keep them in the habit/routine more than anything, and we are planning a much slower paced trip this time so I plan to work in some reading and down time as well (the 6 days in the car will help lol).

I'm not sure how I'll feel about taking them out as they get older and the demands become more rigorous on them and it isn't something I do (nor plan to do) every year. As that time comes I think it will depend more on what they feel comfortable doing and how well they are able to catch up.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We've never done it, nor would we consider doing so for something like WDW that's open 365 days a year. If our choice of destination were not doable during the breaks (or event specific), I'd consider it. So far, we've had no need to.