High School aged DD

[kwitcherkicken99]

One word: FINALS!!! Are your vacation plans absolutely set in stone? Is there another time you could go? I doubt the school will allow the tests to be taken early as it's a cheating hazard (not saying your DD would, but most schools don't allow finals out early). I work with 2 blind kids and it's like pulling teeth to get the finals early enough to have them Brailled. Some teachers require me giving them both copies of the test back until the day of the test. It all depends on the school. There is always the opportunity to blow off the tests. If she pulls straight A's all term, failing a final won't be the end of the world, but then that is listed on transcripts for college. I am usually okay with pulling kids from school, but not at the end of the semester when it's crunch time. Heck, I blew off the first 3 days of my senior year because I was at WDW (but my HS didn't consider a student registered until the first day they attended class, so I didn't miss any days). I think my vote would be no, we'd have to find a different time to go.

 

[DisneyStiles]

The end of this Sept will be the third time we have taken our kids out of school (twice before to DL - this time to WDW) - this year our DS in in gr 8 and our DD is in gr 12. We have always contacted the Principal and made sure our dates would not interfere with exams, review time etc. Here in Alberta Canada they have always been excellent and appreciate us talking with them first. As for taking them out when exams are happening I don't think we would consider this. Ultimately you know your own kids and what is best. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Schmeck]

I work in our local high school, and my daughter just graduated valedictorian of her class. It was a tough year for her - she was recruited by one college and missed 2 days of school for that, and then missed another two days for another college event. It did affect her grades, as she had to submit a paper by email to her AP English teacher, and the format was altered by the email process, costing her 20 points. I asked her how she felt about the balancing act she performed over the past 3 years - she also competed on a nationally ranked team, which practiced 3 days a week, an hour commute each way - and she said it was tough, but she had no regrets about the choices she made. It wasn't a Disney trip, but she managed to miss school and still hold her own. But it was tough!

I'd ask your daughter how she feels about it - is it worth risking lower grades, the missed work, the stress and scramble to get it all done beforehand (if possible)? Will the school give her credit for the classes if she goes over the alloted number of absences? Can you get a hold of a student handbook to see the school policy?

My daughter lucked out one year - her team was competing during semester finals. She was able to take all of her finals before she left, and even though she missed 6 physical days of school (we are allowed 5 each term) the finals were half days, and so she missed only 5 classes. That was very important for the school - no issue about giving her credit or not. Her favorite part of it all was that she didn't have any schoolwork to take with her, as it was the end of the semester!

 

[Aliceacc]

Will he have testing that week? I won't take my kids out after elementary school - I can't even imagine the amount of work dd13 would miss in JH. I think you should talk to someone at the school.

We do too. In my high school, the student would receive a zero on each of the 6 exams he missed. As a result he would fail each of those courses for the marking period.

I would skip the part about how educational the trip is. It's Disney World. It's a lot of fun and it's wonderful family time, but it most certainly will not replace the information that's being taught in Algebra,English or Earth Science.

 

[allison443]

I have seen that letter posted before. I really think it is over the top, especially for high school. To me it's the kind of thing the teachers might want to post on the bulletin board in the faculty room. (Not saying that they would in your case!) I mean really-physics of the rides and sociological aspects of crowds?

As far as high school, I know our school has midterms after the Christmas break. We never took our kids out for vacation during high school-with honors/ap classes, they miss too much. Plus if they wind up getting sick later on, that adds to the missed days, kwim? That said, my dd told me this year that the two days before Christmas break they "did nothing" because so many kids were out for vacations. I guess you really can't predict that though.
Maybe you could talk to the high school staff or even an older student's parents and find out what the situation is at your dd's school. Good luck!

 

[apollos1princess]

My mom has always taken me and my sisters out of school for vacation. Our schools usually didnt care as long as you tell them ahead of time and get the homework. You dont need to be very descriptive either just that you are going on vacation. Some schools have rules about how much you miss in high school. My senior year they changed it to where we would fail if we missed 10 day a semester even if it was excused so we didnt that year. But we have left for a week in the middle of the November and it wasnt a problem. The only thing I can see there being a problem is the finals that week. If you can talk to the teachers and see if you can take them ahead of time you might be ok, but that might be hard to do. I hope this helps you.

Hope you have fun!

 

[lastminutemom]

Most likely your child will miss finals. High Schools don't (and generally won't) let students make up even regular tests (let alone finals) for unexcused absences.

I would get the schedule before I send any note.

High school grades count. College is looming and most kids struggle their freshmen year of high school anyway. You might want to reconsider whether you want to add the burden of missing a whole week of classes to your daughter's year.

High school isn't like elementary school, there are lectures, notes to be taken, pop quizzes, etc. You miss a lot each day let alone in a whole week.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I wouldn't take my HS-aged DD out for a week--no way! She's in all honors classes and we do block scheduling. That's not even including the impact on her extra-curriculars. We suck it up and go in the summer. yeah, it's not great, crowd-wise, but it sure beats jeopardizing her grades. This isn't just true of honors kids--the kids who aren't in honors, might struggle even more from missing several classes.

And that letter is just silly. Do you really think they'd take that seriously? I find it a bit insulting to the school.

 

[RMulieri]

Most likely your child will miss finals. High Schools don't (and generally won't) let students make up even regular tests (let alone finals) for unexcused absences.

I would get the schedule before I send any note.

High school grades count. College is looming and most kids struggle their freshmen year of high school anyway. You might want to reconsider whether you want to add the burden of missing a whole week of classes to your daughter's year.

High school isn't like elementary school, there are lectures, notes to be taken, pop quizzes, etc. You miss a lot each day let alone in a whole week.

I agree. My parents took us out of school every year to go to Disney in Oct.Once I hit Highschool I HATED IT . For one ,the vacations used up all my abscences so I then had to go to school the rest of the year and that included being sick .I missed labs in science that could not be made up, I missed class participation which would generate zeros, I missed exams which could not be taken ahead of time and alot of teachers did not want to allow retakes.I was an honor roll student and would struggle for MONTHS after the trips to maintain and pull up my grades.Not to mention that the teachers DESPISED me missing school and were quite obvious about it.

 

[RMulieri]

FWIW, I did show that template to my neighbor who is a highschool vice principal.He advised it was NOT a good idea to send this with a highschooler.( he also thought it was funny)

 

[Allison]

Since it sounds like your daughter is not in high school yet, I would recommend you look into the high school's rules regarding absences and making up work. Also, don't assume that week won't be a big one at school. Often that week is the end of the semester and involves testing all week. It could be a huge deal to be absent during that time.

My son is an excellent student and was sick for a week last year. It was just prior to mid-terms and being gone for that length of time really put him at a disadvantage and it was hard for him to get caught up.

Also, the letter is not appropriate for high school. I wouldn't use it at any age actually.