I'm so bummed.. (updated- pg4)

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Our school starts tomorrow.. 5 days later than we started last year of school- and now the schedule is ALL changed.
Sneaky way of doing it too... instead of the normal 5 days off (weekdays) for a break- they are doing them ALL a Friday (SAT/SUN would have been out anyway obviously) and then a Monday... one time a Thurs/Fri and Mon. That's not the same! So in other words they got rid of week breaks... except for spring break in April- the rest of them are just long weekends now. So not the same as weekend/week/weekend off- KWIM? That was 9 days in a row before.. now it's just 4 or 5 days in a row- big difference!
Plus one less day for Christmas break also... but that's always long enough anyway- no biggie there.

BUT..... this totally messes up our plans for the cruise we've already paid for Feb 2005... I planned it around when the winter break should have been so they wouldn't miss school days... now there is NO break in Feb- and all the other breaks are like I mentioned above (not a week- just a long weekend off).

ugh!
My son's teacher (1st grade) is already fine with it and said to go.. shouldn't be a problem (I guess with both our fingers crossed that he will be doing as well as he did last year- I guess she's assuming he will since he's in Gifted and Talented) but he's going to the school my daughter went to last year that didn't have a problem with her missing a few days for our Disney trip and doing the work ahead of time. Now she is going to a different (intermediate- 5/6th grades) school now and I don't know how they'll feel about it at that school ---plus I really don't know how she'll do! I mean she's basically straight A student now.. but things are going to get harder from here on out- so that's why I'd planned this where I thought they wouldn't miss days.

I have a quote in with allseastravel (who we did the cruise through) to find out how much difference it would be to go in April during the only break they get now (except Christmas break) but I'm sure it's going to be a BIG difference... prices have gone way up- we paid for this over year in advance of Feb... now is not a year in advance of April so the prices are higher. All the kids are going to be so upset if we don't go... they talk about it constantly! My youngest (4) talks about it constantly... daily.... we'd all been counting down the days for such a long time. Even my husband who isn't all that "thrilled" with going to Disney again but was excited about the cruise, he planned on scuba diving (he's going through certification right now), etc.

 

[CM_Mom]

What a bummer. I think I would just stick to your plans to go when you already have the ressies. Grades don't count toward graduation GPA until 8th grade at the earliest. I think kids learn different things on the cruise that makes them appreciate the other stuff more.

I would work with the teachers and have a great time.

 

[disneyholic family]

don't worry, they'll be fine...
my kids are now 17 and 19 and none the worse for wear for having been taken out of school every now and then.....

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by disneyholic family
don't worry, they'll be fine...
my kids are now 17 and 19 and none the worse for wear for having been taken out of school every now and then.....

I agree, we took out my 15 year old god daughter for a week and a day and she still made high honors....

 

[CurtS]

Uggh! You have my sympathy. My children go to a Catholic school which really loads on the homework, so we debated on taking them out of school for a full week in early December. But they've missed two or three days in a school week with illness and managed to survive. They'll just have to hit the books really hard when they get back, so we remind them that they need to REALLY enjoy the cruise (which we have no doubt about). We also plan to take the two hardest subjects that they have on the plane so they can do some work while we're travelling. Books get put away once we're out to sea though (which we also have no doubt about)!!!

 

[webray]

I wouldn't give it a second thought..we pulled the kids out of school for two weeks...each year for our annual trip to Orlando.
They either brought the work with them..or made it up when they got back.

I wouldn't give it a second thought while they are little like that.
You can't do it when they are in high school..so do it now!!!

 

[ohMom]

BBB - deep breath -- probably you are putting more stress on yourself than the teachers would feel is warranted

i would stick with the original plan myself. I pulled my DDs out of school last Dec - grades 1 and 6 - and it was fine. My oldest DD went to an intermediate 5/6th grade school as well, and I just didn't ask. I sent in the letter two weeks prior to notify the school and did it. Actually I did mention it directly to her homeroom teacher early in the year and she was like "that's fine - don't worry" of course each teacher is different and I know alot have a problem with it. But it's your family and you made the decision, don't feel guilty b/c the school calendar didn't mesh with it. I would email their teachers a few weeks before and ask if you can get any makeup work before you go (do while traveling) and offer for them to write a journal, etc on the ports you go to if you feel that would help their grades. You know maybe a science paper on the climate - a history paper on the country, etc. I think that shows you really want to keep school a priority too. I offered and not one of the teacher took me up. My DDs had minimal homework to do. Also with my 6th grader I followed up with her teachers to make sure she was totally caught up about two weeks after we got home.

have a fabulous vacation -- stick to your guns and enjoy it!!

 

[Bethipooh4]

My DS (14) just started high school here in NC. They are on a 4x4 schedule, 4 classes for 90 minutes from August till Dec, then 4 new classes in Jan. The down side to this is he can only miss 6 days per semester. And they don't consider a vacation a excused absence. School starts so early here, they started August 3rd this year, and finish late May. So we are pretty much stuck only traveling in the summer. If I could take him out and get it excused I would go during the year too. Good luck in your decision.

 

[Mary Anne]

I have to say, I'm one for not pulling my kids out of school, I just don't do it. That said, you made your plans around what was assumed to be break times. I'm personally sick to death of schools waiting till the last minute to announce changes in schedules. They knew they were going to do this last year, they don't say anything because they don't want to hear it ahead of time. The system has to come into the 21 century. Go, enjoy your trip, the kids will be just fine.

 

[SandraLee]

I have to add that the ONLY thing I like about our school calendar is that they post it over a year ahead of time. That is nice.

I would not worry about taking an elementary aged child out for vacation. I would hesitate for middle school. I would probably not take out a high school student.

I get so fed up with our calendar. I do not need over 2 weeks at Christmas -- especially a week before Christmas!

I wish we had an opporturnity to go year-round school. 9 weeks on 3 weeks off sounds PERFECT to me.

 

[Laurarn]

We used to have year round (9 on-3 off), we loved that. Then it changed to a "modified" plan. We start Aug. 2nd and end the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. It was even better. We had fall and spring breaks, but especially loved the fall break in October.
We sailed the Wonder last year in Oct. and planned to sail the Magic in Oct. 2005. But now, due to Gov. Easley signing the bill on a uniform school calendar throughout the state, all schools must start AFTER Aug. 25th and end by June 10th...eliminating fall and spring breaks. This was done to boost tourism (and fatten the wallets of hotels) at the Carolina coast and amusement parks for August. We're disappointed. We also moved our Magic trip up to this October since it'll be our last fall break. I'm working extra shifts to save. Its just too expensive to cruise during the summer months for us.
Our kids (all three of them) were ready to start school on Aug. 2nd. They were excited to see their friends and meet their teachers and get back into the routine. We'll miss this type of schedule. Luckily, the new schedule doesn't start til 2005 and we can get our Magic trip in.

 

[goofysgirl]

I have taken all three of our girls for the last three years out of school in late October early November. I found that the high school student had the least amount of work to make up. The middle school had lots more work to do and the elementary school really had nothing to make up, but kept a journal. This year I will again pull out all three but I have two in High School and one left in Elementary school, so hopefully they will not have much to make up.
Go and enjoy your cruise. My girls teachers were not as upset at them going as was their soccer coach!

 

[invaderzim]

We took my daughter out of school for a week or two in October or November every year until last year -- her junior year in high school. This year we are taking our cruise next week, so it will be the first year in 15 years we are not taking our vacation in October or November!

I always wrote separate notes to each teacher, the principal and the guidance office. I made sure the teachers had plenty of time to give her some of the work before leaving and always made arrangements for any missed tests or labs when we we returned.

For the most part, all of the teachers were great about it! Only had one teacher in third grade who gave her a suitcase full of homework to do! Otherwise, never a problem.

What cracked me up this year is we get the envelope in the mail for her final year in HS and lo and behold, there is an official form entitled "request for family vacation time"! Wish they had thought of that 10 years ago.

Anyway, don't worry about it -- enjoy. They are only young once (and willing to travel with parents).

 

[232271]

Check with the school policies at our JR. HIGH we have to write a report for each day missed due to vacations and other unexcused abscences.

and I would still do it anyway!!
life is so short and you will make more memories than
the few days of school would do for her.

goodluck

 

[invaderzim]

Also, forgot to mention, check with your school's absence policy. My DD was only allowed 16 unexcused absences (no doctor's note) -- 8 for each semester. If she went over that, she would lose class credits.

 

[Wendybird63]

Our children were on year round for years, which we loved. They decided last year to go to a modified schedule. We had planned our Disney cruise for last Oct. which the new calendar made impossible. Although I don't mind my boys missing a day here or there, I didn't want them missing a whole week. We were able to take them in Nov., during Thanksgiving break, instead.
All that being said, if I were the OP, I would take my kids when I had originally intended. I'm getting so sick of the schools changing their schedules.
Grrrrr! I put a lot of planning into our vacations, so it's one of the few things that gets me upset.

 

[232271]

I really wish our schools would be more understanding about
family time. the kids grow up so fast and are gone before you know it.

plus the "year" seems to fly by and it hard enough to find time to go without having to worry about upsetting the schools.
They are OUR children and sometimes I feel that the school has
more control then they should.

okay, i'll get off my soap box.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I would not worry about taking an elementary aged child out for vacation. I would hesitate for middle school. I would probably not take out a high school student.

That's exactly what I was thinking... technically she's not in middle school yet (they call middle school what *I* used to call Jr. High here... middle school here is 7/8th grade) but basically I was thinking the same as you... that's why I scheduled it when they were supposed to be out for the week anyway so my 5th grader wouldn't have any problems. My concern is that here (Texas) they are very strict (or rather- CAN be if they want...) about absences and it's really up to them if they want to count it as unexcused. My son was in K last year and my daughter at the school he is at now (she was in 4th grade there last year) and the principals left it up to the teachers... both were fine with it and let them be excused absences and let them do the work ahead of time (plus they also did journals as well as the around the world stuff at Epcot to share with the class). Those things were not required though- it was just something I wanted them to do also- so it would be a learning experience as well. (educational)

Problem is I'm not sure how her teachers are going to feel about it this year... it's not just a new school with new principal and teacher... this year they have many teachers for various classes instead of one main teacher- therefore ALL the teachers would have to agree to it. I realize I could take her out regardless... but if they are counted as unexcused absences (she can only have 5 each semester unexcused absences before they will take court action and/or fines! They are very strict here... we have to sign papers saying we understand these laws/etc. on the first day of school! Have it sitting here in front of me now. *sigh*) -then I won't take her out... because that will not only mean the hassle I mentioned above (legally) but also she'll get zeros for everything during that time. She's a straight A student (so far atleast) and I wouldn't want her grades brought down by a week of zeros in every class.

They missed a few days last year because while we took a longer trip we planned it around the Thanksgiving holiday that they had days out anyway... other than that neither of my kids have ever missed a sick day... so other than our vacation they have perfect attendance records. If they had illnesses/etc. that caused them to miss other days- then I wouldn't take them out for vacations... but they don't... so this is ALL they ever miss.

I'm going to have to call to find out the price difference to go in April instead of Feb... and I guess depending on how steep the difference is I'll decide then what to do. I'm very hesitant to take her out if they consider it unexcused absences and give her zeros though.

I agree with those that said it's so unfair to change schedules- especially so DRASTICALLY- last minute like that. It's hard to plan ahead, like you need to usually... not just to save money but sometimes you can't book stuff such short notice- every room taken/etc.- when they change things last minute like that!

 

[dletz]

This is something I'm worried about too. Our daughter starts Kindergarten this year. Last year the start date was the Tuesday after Labor day. I found out about 3 weeks ago that this year they start the week before Labor day. We are booked on the Repositioning cruise for August which arrives in Florida the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. If they start the week before, like they do this year, my daughter will miss the first week, because there is no way I'm canceling my cruise. Besides which her school doesn't publish the school calendar until after our final payment is due, so I won't know when I pay for it what the schedule is.

Donna

 

[invaderzim]

Why fret over days missed in kindergarten or any elementary grade. My DD has missed a week or more every year through and including last year -- her junior year in high school! Next year, after we booked the August repo cruise, we found out her college courses will begin on the Wednesday before Labor Day. So she will miss her Thursday classes. We discussed it and decided it wasn't worth giving up the opportunity of a lifetime. We have always felt that kids learn far more by travelling with their family and seeing the country and world! She'll learn more going through the Panama Canal than one missed day of classes!