Help with school note/advice

[jrmasm]

As a PP said, you need to look into your school policy. You may have done yourself a favor by not notifying the school earlier. I once pulled my kids out for 2 days to go to Disney and wrote a letter ahead of time. They did not give my kids any work ahead of time, but the admin sent me a letter back saying that a vacation was an unexcused absence and the kids would not be able to make up the work and would be given 0s on everything that was supposed to be done those two days.

The bolded is all that matters, not what random people on the internet say.

 

[SirDuff]

As a PP said, you need to look into your school policy. You may have done yourself a favor by not notifying the school earlier. I once pulled my kids out for 2 days to go to Disney and wrote a letter ahead of time. They did not give my kids any work ahead of time, but the admin sent me a letter back saying that a vacation was an unexcused absence and the kids would not be able to make up the work and would be given 0s on everything that was supposed to be done those two days.

Yup. No one here can say what the school will do (even within this thread there are numerous experiences).

At this point, it seems that the earliest that the school will be notified is Wednesday - definitely not enough time to expect the teachers to take time to give prepared work (but that might not be something that the school does anyway).

 

[brockash]

I hope I have the right subforum.

We are leaving this coming saturday for DW, first time ever for me taking my kids out of school and I am so upset over this that I was contemplating cancelling the trip.
I need some advice please!!!
My kids have off on Monday and Wednesday so they are tech. missing just 3 days of school. My plan was to just call them out on tue/thurs/friday, but my friend told me that when she went to disney last sept. during the holidays she wrote the core teachers a note saying that they will be away for the week and would like to know if there is any work that can be given ahead of time, etc etc. just to show we are being proactive....
my oldest is in her first year of HS
and I have two middle schoolers and a 4th grader......
if someone can please help me calm my nerves so we can actually have a good time and give any advice i would be greatly appreciative .

TIA
Danielle

It will be fine. Yes, write a note ahead of time. I usually write one a week and a half ahead of time to the teachers and then a reminder a few days before the last day (that's also when I send the school the note). We've done this many times (kids missing a whole week) and never have issues. Remind your older ones that they'll still need to check with their teachers when they get back to see if there's anything else they've missed etc., but it will be fine.

 

[brockash]

As a PP said, you need to look into your school policy. You may have done yourself a favor by not notifying the school earlier. I once pulled my kids out for 2 days to go to Disney and wrote a letter ahead of time. They did not give my kids any work ahead of time, but the admin sent me a letter back saying that a vacation was an unexcused absence and the kids would not be able to make up the work and would be given 0s on everything that was supposed to be done those two days.

Why would you keep your kids in a school district like that? I just don't understand why parents would accept that kind of treatment. I guess if you're 100% set on always revolving your life around the school schedule each year, it really wouldn't make a difference, but even so, I wouldn't want my kids in that kind of environment. I'm a counselor at a high school and we would never even consider, being that counter productive to a students success in school. We're also military and have moved our kids all around the country and have never encountered a school district like this. It sounds like they're looking for reasons to give kids 0's. Even in graduate school, I've never encountered that kind of negative atmosphere.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

As a PP said, you need to look into your school policy. You may have done yourself a favor by not notifying the school earlier. I once pulled my kids out for 2 days to go to Disney and wrote a letter ahead of time. They did not give my kids any work ahead of time, but the admin sent me a letter back saying that a vacation was an unexcused absence and the kids would not be able to make up the work and would be given 0s on everything that was supposed to be done those two days.

I got a similar letter plus the threat of truancy court. My kids literally missed no other days the entire year and our vacation was in May. We still went and the teachers did end up allowing make up work. Our policy was a late change policy and I don't feel that we were properly notified. That said, I plan on doing the same in 2 years.

 

[potterfanatic]

Why would you keep your kids in a school district like that?

We didn't. In our current school district there is no number put on how many days you can miss and they can be either personal or sick days. Also, they break up the off days better giving a shorter Christmas/New Year break in favor of a winter break in Feb. Since we moved to this district we have been able to schedule our trips around their vacation days and have not taken any personal days.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

OP I would look into school policy. Our district policy changed this year to 4 unexcused (with no doctors note) absences a marking period leads to an automatic 59 in that class which is a failing grade. After 10 days a year you go to truancy court and after 16 they repeat the grade.

 

[QueenIsabella]

As others have stated, you really need to check the school's policy on their website, and contact the teachers, pronto. I would consider this a lesson learned--some schools consider vacations no big deal, others have very harsh consequences. With 4 kids, one in HS, I'm kind of surprised you didn't look into this at the beginning planning stages of your trip. I'm not trying to be critical--it's your family and your business--but I feel sorry for your HS aged kid. Classes can be challenging, and sometimes the make-up work policy causes grades to drop severely, as others have stated. I know my DD13 (still in MS, but taking a couple HS courses) wouldn't be able to enjoy a vacation if it meant her grades could slip.

But, you can't change things now, just keep this in mind going forward. And I do hope the trip and make-up work policies work for you.

 

[HelenePA]

here you are required to have a drs note for 3 sick days in a row to return to school otherwise they are unexcused and you'll have CPS called on you for 3 or more unexcused sick days in a month... you need to find out about about YOUR policy. NOW.. like yesterday.. there is good reason to be considering cancelling this trip.. you should have looked into this before booking.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Write a note saying you will be in Disney World for a planned family trip. It won't be an issue at all.

That totally depends on her district's absence policy, which I assume she already read.

 

[DopeyDame]

Relax OP, there's no point in stressing and making yourself miserable at this point. The school is going to do what the school is going to do by now.
If I were you, this is what I'd do:
Send an email today - teachers very may well be checking it even though they are off that says:
Dear Ms Smith,
Suzy Q will be absent on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday next week for a family commitment. Please let me (for the younger kids) or her (for the oldest) know if there is anything she should do in advance to prepare for the absence or if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help, Pixieemom.

If the teachers respond before Wednesday, great. Otherwise, send a physical note in on Wednesday saying the same thing.

I wouldn't expect the teachers to pull together the work in just three days, and I would absolutely expect your kids to work directly with the teacher and classmates to make sure they got caught up ASAP when they get back.

As for the grades they get... eh. Our school officially has a policy that unexcused absences can't be made up but I've never have a teacher actually enforce that. But of course, that's just totally dependent on your own school and teachers.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I had another thought. This was years back, when my oldest was in elementary school--we pulled her out for a week to go on a Disney Cruise. No big deal, right? I think she was in second grade, and nobody could convince me that her school career would be indelibly altered by missing a week. Well, she ended up getting sick the same year, and missing a week of school (I don't think all at once, but 5 more days were missed). So, I got the standard letter and threat of truancy court--this, for a kid who was a fabulous student, begged for her make-up work, never late a day, etc. But, from the school's perspective, missing 10 days is missing 10 days. And, of course, nobody plans on their kid catching strep throat or the flu or breaking a leg. But, crap happens.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Not being able to make up work when you are out is crazy. The administration is basically saying that class/home work is not actually useful to education and just exists for the grades. Not getting a chance to do the work is punishment for being out of school. That's crazy thinking. Classwork/homework exists to learn the material.

 

[CarolAnn856]

You should check the school/district policy regarding unexcused absences, especially for your high school student. In our high school district, vacations are unexcused absences, so the student may not be allowed to get credit for the missed work.

 

[mjkacmom]

Send an email to the younger kids' teachers today. Have your high school student email her teachers today.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Not being able to make up work when you are out is crazy. The administration is basically saying that class/home work is not actually useful to education and just exists for the grades. Not getting a chance to do the work is punishment for being out of school. That's crazy thinking. Classwork/homework exists to learn the material.

Not at all. If a child has an unexcused absence, they should have consequences for missing instructional time. Not getting credit for work missed is an appropriate consequence for that. If the child has a legitimate excuse (in our district, illness/injury verified by a doctor, college visit, or a few other specific events), then they are permitted to make up the work. Since nobody needs to go on vacation during the school year (it is a want, not a need), I see no problem with the policy.

 

[cvjw]

Our school district does not allow work to be made up if the absence is an unexcused one and vacation is considered unexcused.

I stopped taking my kids out of school for vacation after elementary school. It was just too stressful for the kids when they missed so much work and instruction. It was super hard to catch up.

Yes, our school district has a strict work make up policy. It is just the way it is. We have excellent public schools - some of the best in the state. My kids have gotten an excellent education for free. No way I would pull them and pay for private school over an absentee policy. We just make it work!

 

[anniemae]

Like others have asked, what is your schools policy on taking kids out for vacations? Our school will not give work to people taking kids out for vacations (considered unexcused), your kids have to make it up when you get back. They "strongly suggest" taking vacations during the school's vacations.

 

[Canooknic]

Some of these schools sound scary!!!

I mentioned in passing last week to my son's teacher that we've booked 2 weeks in February and she said 'if you go to Universal can you bring back some HP things for me?' !!!!
I love our school

 

[Nancyg56]

I would have notified the school much earlier. I would check your schools policy as some areas do not excuse vacation as a reason to miss school. I would not pull my kid out, especially a high schooler.

It is too late to make changes not, but yes, I would have checked the school attendance policy. My DGD used to be able to take time for vacation, and our district was pretty lenient. However, her Middle School absence was nto pretty so she has not taken a vacation during school time since.

It will be fine. Yes, write a note ahead of time. I usually write one a week and a half ahead of time to the teachers and then a reminder a few days before the last day (that's also when I send the school the note). We've done this many times (kids missing a whole week) and never have issues. Remind your older ones that they'll still need to check with their teachers when they get back to see if there's anything else they've missed etc., but it will be fine.

How do you know this? It may be acceptable in your district, but unless you are privy to the policy in the OP district, you cannot say. The policy in our system changed last year, and for the first time since I can remember (my son went to high school here 25 years ago) parents get letters and students get consequences for absences over a certain number of days. This means that even if a district allows unexcused absences, if the child needs sic days, there may be ramifications. It is never a good idea to tell people that they will be fine unless you have the info they are going to be impacted by.

Why would you keep your kids in a school district like that? I just don't understand why parents would accept that kind of treatment. I guess if you're 100% set on always revolving your life around the school schedule each year, it really wouldn't make a difference, but even so, I wouldn't want my kids in that kind of environment. I'm a counselor at a high school and we would never even consider, being that counter productive to a students success in school. We're also military and have moved our kids all around the country and have never encountered a school district like this. It sounds like they're looking for reasons to give kids 0's. Even in graduate school, I've never encountered that kind of negative atmosphere.

It is happening more and more, and it is all about the money. Funding is dependent upon the census so in order to ensure the district does not lose financial assistance from the State and the Fed, they must keep within am acceptable percentage of students on a daily basis. If there is no issue in the district, it is unlikely the policy would be so strict, but once a town loses money and the residents are asked to make up the difference, the policy becomes stricter. Unless a parent is willing t either homeschool or pay for private school, the parent keeps the kids in the schools system.