Kids returning to school before Labour Day!!

[iluveeyore]

We're in Peel District and haven't received any notification about this yet. The board's website however says the calendar will not be finalized until MAY!

Are they kidding?? Do they really think no one plans their summer vacations before that? We're booked to be at DisneyWorld August 23 to September 6 ... DD will be going into Grade 8 so she'll just miss the first couple of days if this happens, but we've also booked airfare for her best friend - who is starting Grade 9 in September.

If they have to make a change, I hope they put a couple of the PA Days at the front end, and maybe have the kids still in school right to the last day of June (they usually finish on the Wednesday or Thursday of that week)

Arlene

We'll be there the same time - we have decided to leave it as is, and if my DD brings a friend, they'll just have to miss the first four days of grade 9 - if they feel that strongly about it, I guess they can both come home early without the rest of us.

 

[disneynuts777]

Have already booked and paid for the vacation. Booked non-refundable flights before Christmas. I cannot remember school in York Region ever (even when I was a kid) starting before Labor day. If they end up starting the school year early this year I guess my DD's will be missing the first few days.
Rumor has it that the they are going to start the school year with a couple of PD days and then have the kids start classes after labor day. I will just have to keep my fingers crossed!!!

 

[JW2]

Teacher here. We were not asked, but we have 2 PD days in August, and the students begin the traditional start-the Tuesday after Labour Day. It is a numbers thing, and the ministry website will help you figure it out. It has always been a numbers thing, so no worries on the 2010/2011 calendar. It will have the proper number, too. Personally, I work in my classroom (and at home) all summer, so the early 'start' isn't a problem for me. I'm looking forward to a long weekend in February. It's time to start report cards.

I'm not a teacher but absolutely agree that the long weekend in February is a good thing for teachers and students (even though I work it!). I think there should be a longer break placed in the fall somewhere too. Just hope we have plenty of notice re: next year - I don't mind kids going back to school early, just need to know so I can plan vacation around it. I've taken my kids out of school in the younger grades (Kindergarten) but just don't feel right about it now - although I guess for those who have to this year - better at the beginning of the year!

 

[CanadianPaco]

This is all news to me!!! Any one know what the Thames Valley Board is going to do? I checked their web site - nothing yet!

 

[toesmom]

We booked on points last week and didn't even consider that school would start September 1, before Labour Day. Supposed to be Aug 27-Sept 3 but with 2 kiddos, I don't want them to miss 3 days of school, especially the first few. Can't confirm they start before labour day, but just in case..

So today called Aeroplan and paid the change fee to book an earlier holiday. Now going Aug 18 at night to Aug 27 early morning flight. So that adds 2 full days to our original booking and now makes our holiday sort of mid-summer, rather than end of summer.

Cost: $387 Cdn Ouch

Should have checked a little more first before making the first booking.

But when you get lemons... make lemonade.

 

[Debbie]

This is all news to me!!! Any one know what the Thames Valley Board is going to do? I checked their web site - nothing yet!

Thames Valley is doing 2 Ministry related (ie. no working in our classrooms and meetings all day) PD days on September 2 and 3. Kids start as usual on the 8th. It actually WAS there a couple of weeks ago, but it seems to be pulled off. Since it was listed as a 'draft' maybe they are in the process of making it final. HTH

 

[CanadianPaco]

Good to know. We're planning on driving to WDW for the last two weeks of August right into Labour Day. We don't have to worry about flights etc, but still this is HUGE for our planning!

 

[Hoogy]

Good to know about Thames Valley too! DH booked off the last week August/first week of Sept. because we figured school would start after labour day. (never even thought they might change it!) No definite plans yet....but I hope to come up with something!

 

[Tiger926]

I'm a teacher as well - I am surprised that so many families go on vacation up until the last day of summer. As someone who has had several emergencies happen while on vacation, I am surprised people would leave not even 1 or 2 days, just in case? Not to mention, that kids need a bit of transition time before starting school - going from the beach or Disney World to class, is not usually easy for most kids, least of all us teachers!

Hope you all get your vacations worked out, but for future reference, here in my Ontario city, final calendars are not put in place until this time, or later, so it would be advantageous to book vacations with the finalized calendar. All board calendars must be approved by trustees, and then sent to Ministry for final approval, then and only then, should family vacations be booked (I would hate for people to lose money or points).

Good luck, Tiger

 

[Hoogy]

For future reference.....not everybody can wait to book holidays until the board releases those dates! DH had to book holidays for this year last fall already....usually does it in January though. Not everybody can pick and choose when they would like their holidays to work around school holidays unfortunately! Since all the other weeks of the summer were already taken/picked then it is the last week August/Sept week for us this year. Does that mean I won't take a holiday because it is too close to school starting.....nope!

 

[RunDanceSkate]

We were caught by this as well. DH's vacation is the 2 weeks before labor day. My vacation needs to be booked one year in advance. We travel on points so our flights need to be booked one year out. Needless to say our vacation is booked.

We will be in Disney world and on a cruise right up until labor day. Actually arriving home at 11:30pm on labor day. We do it every year, and we love it.

If they start back a week early my high school aged kids won't be there.

To the person who says to leave a day or two. My kids would hate it, all their friends are on vacation until the very last weekend and labor day is borrrrrring! You just spend the whole weekend waiting for the first day of school which never lives up to their expectations. It is usually nasty weather year, many years ago we would take the kids to a balloon festival but the balloons never flew, after 3 labor day Mondays wasted, we started having our vacations last until the last minute.

We have been caught out by travel issues, it took us 2.5 days (instead of 12hrs) to get back from a summer of backpacking through Europe in the end we landed at 7:30 am and the kids were in school by 8:30 am. There friends thought it was so cool LOL. Just part of life's adventures.

 

[talicskai]

we landed at 7:30 am and the kids were in school by 8:30 am. There friends thought it was so cool LOL. Just part of life's adventures.

that is way cool

 

[disneynuts777]

I'm a teacher as well - I am surprised that so many families go on vacation up until the last day of summer. As someone who has had several emergencies happen while on vacation, I am surprised people would leave not even 1 or 2 days, just in case? Not to mention, that kids need a bit of transition time before starting school - going from the beach or Disney World to class, is not usually easy for most kids, least of all us teachers!

Hope you all get your vacations worked out, but for future reference, here in my Ontario city, final calendars are not put in place until this time, or later, so it would be advantageous to book vacations with the finalized calendar. All board calendars must be approved by trustees, and then sent to Ministry for final approval, then and only then, should family vacations be booked (I would hate for people to lose money or points).

Good luck, Tiger

If we waited for the school board to finalize there calender we would never be able to go on vacation. All the seats on points would be taken and all the hotels rooms with a promo would be booked!!
You literally have to book seats on aeroplan nearly a full year out to get more than 4 seats on the same flight. And to take advantage of a bounceback offer at WDW you have to book and put your deposit down before you leave!!! Yes...you can sometimes change these dates if the promo is still avalible and if there are rooms left.
In order to make our vacations as affordable as possible the last two weeks at WDW are really are best option. This is when they offer free dining and with 6 adults and 1 child it really helps out!!!

 

[disneynuts777]

For future reference.....not everybody can wait to book holidays until the board releases those dates! DH had to book holidays for this year last fall already....usually does it in January though. Not everybody can pick and choose when they would like their holidays to work around school holidays unfortunately! Since all the other weeks of the summer were already taken/picked then it is the last week August/Sept week for us this year. Does that mean I won't take a holiday because it is too close to school starting.....nope!

Exactly

 

[tmli]

I'm a teacher as well - I am surprised that so many families go on vacation up until the last day of summer. As someone who has had several emergencies happen while on vacation, I am surprised people would leave not even 1 or 2 days, just in case? Not to mention, that kids need a bit of transition time before starting school - going from the beach or Disney World to class, is not usually easy for most kids, least of all us teachers!

Hope you all get your vacations worked out, but for future reference, here in my Ontario city, final calendars are not put in place until this time, or later, so it would be advantageous to book vacations with the finalized calendar. All board calendars must be approved by trustees, and then sent to Ministry for final approval, then and only then, should family vacations be booked (I would hate for people to lose money or points).

Good luck, Tiger

This is completely unrealistic for most families. I for one will not be waiting for the school board to make any decisions prior to my family booking vacation. Pay higher prices, lose out on deals, risk availability....not going to happen. School has always started the day after labor day, there would be no reason for anyone to expect that to change.

As far as booking so close to the end of the summer....to each their own. Often the best deals of the summer are this time period. People choose this for many reasons, I can only speak for my son but he doesn't need a week to get in to "school mode".

 

[DISDANCEMOM]

I'm a teacher as well - I am surprised that so many families go on vacation up until the last day of summer. As someone who has had several emergencies happen while on vacation, I am surprised people would leave not even 1 or 2 days, just in case? Not to mention, that kids need a bit of transition time before starting school - going from the beach or Disney World to class, is not usually easy for most kids, least of all us teachers!

Hope you all get your vacations worked out, but for future reference, here in my Ontario city, final calendars are not put in place until this time, or later, so it would be advantageous to book vacations with the finalized calendar. All board calendars must be approved by trustees, and then sent to Ministry for final approval, then and only then, should family vacations be booked (I would hate for people to lose money or points).

Good luck, Tiger

Well Tiger, I hate to tell you ... but not everyone (and not every teacher) agrees with you. We do not schedule our vacations around school calendars. We schedule them when we see fit. This year we will be taking the kids out of school for 4 days in December to go to Disney. In 2012 we may be having them start late for a trip to Ireland that includes an event that will take place during our Labour Day weekend. I have never had a teacher complain about me taking the kids out of school and I know many teachers who think that family vacations and certain "once in a lifetime" events are worth a couple of days off of school. Heck...my kids have had their teachers take time off during the school year for honeymoons and family reunions!

Now don't get me wrong...we do concider all angles when scheduling vacations. We don't take them out of school often and if my child was struggling in school then I would probably not do it at all.

 

[Tiger926]

I didn't say that waiting for school calendars to be finalized by Ministry was realistic, nor is it do-able for all families. I responded to the OP's post - she is upset because calendars are being changed. My point is that the calendars are not being changed - the only way for them to be changed, is after they have been ok'd by board trustees and finalized by Ministry of Ed. At this point in the year, the Ministry of ED has not finalized calendars yet, so school calendars are tentative. It says so right on our board website, as I'm sure it does on all other websites. I am not debating whether or not parents should take kids out of school - I was just responding to the OP's frustration over the school board calendars that have been listed.

I am a DVC member myself, so I know all about points and flights, and such. My point is that if you must book your vacations, then you book them, end of story, and you deal with the school calendars accordingly, but if you do so knowing that you might lose points or be subject to airplane fees (if the school calendar is indeed important to your family), then you have no choice but to wait for finalized school year calendars, or, be subject to fees or lost points. If people are booking so close to the first day of school, and an emergency happens as I mentioned, you would be missing a few days anyway, so I'm not sure why people are debating this fact? You have already decided that you are going to miss school, so take your family on vacation, and don't worry about the school calendar.

Based on the vacation patterns of the above posters, you have already decided that missing school is necessary to your family vacation, so I was just reminding parents who do work around school calendars, that school calendars have not been finalized by this time of the year (some parents have no idea that calendars need to be finalized). Is it realistic for family vacations? No, but unfortunately, the Ministry of ED is not keeping family vacations as their top priority. Should they? That is a debate for another time.

Happy travelling to you all, Tiger

 

[iluveeyore]

I didn't say that waiting for school calendars to be finalized by Ministry was realistic, nor is it do-able for all families. I responded to the OP's post - she is upset because calendars are being changed. My point is that the calendars are not being changed - the only way for them to be changed, is after they have been ok'd by board trustees and finalized by Ministry of Ed. At this point in the year, the Ministry of ED has not finalized calendars yet, so school calendars are tentative. It says so right on our board website, as I'm sure it does on all other websites. I am not debating whether or not parents should take kids out of school - I was just responding to the OP's frustration over the school board calendars that have been listed.

I am a DVC member myself, so I know all about points and flights, and such. My point is that if you must book your vacations, then you book them, end of story, and you deal with the school calendars accordingly, but if you do so knowing that you might lose points or be subject to airplane fees (if the school calendar is indeed important to your family), then you have no choice but to wait for finalized school year calendars, or, be subject to fees or lost points. If people are booking so close to the first day of school, and an emergency happens as I mentioned, you would be missing a few days anyway, so I'm not sure why people are debating this fact? You have already decided that you are going to miss school, so take your family on vacation, and don't worry about the school calendar.

Based on the vacation patterns of the above posters, you have already decided that missing school is necessary to your family vacation, so I was just reminding parents who do work around school calendars, that school calendars have not been finalized by this time of the year (some parents have no idea that calendars need to be finalized). Is it realistic for family vacations? No, but unfortunately, the Ministry of ED is not keeping family vacations as their top priority. Should they? That is a debate for another time.

Happy travelling to you all, Tiger

HI OP here - didn't mean to get everyone debating - just frustrated as you say. I wasn't aware calendars had to be finalized - wouldn't matter anyhow as both my DH and my friend's DH (who are joining us this year) had to have their vacation in by January, and since I don't ever remember the kids returning BEFORE Labour Day, it was just natural to book then. Also, with the higher weekend points and our budget, we always book a twelve night stay with only one weekend - therefore we have to stay a Sunday to Friday for twelve nights. Only natural to return the Friday before Labour Day, then the kids have three whole days to re-adjust and prepare for school (also leaves three emergency days as you mentioned).
My DD is not happy to miss 4 first days of high school, but given the choice what teenager would not rather spend four days in WDW rather than school??
Hope everyone's schedules works out - blessings to all our teachers, we love and appreciate all you do.
Happy vacation everyone!

 

[dancin Disney style]

We are in the Halton school board and received a notice about this as well.
My friend who is a teacher in the Halton Board told me that the teachers were all asked when they would prefer to return. Her impression is that majority of teachers chose the week before labour day.

I am also in Halton and nothing has even been hinted at here. It's not like this is the first time that labour day has been around Sept. 7th. So what's the big deal? All it means is that school goes until the very end of June. I can't figure out why the school board would even try and suggest that there are not enough days available. The last time I checked there are still the same number of days on the calendar as every other year. Perhaps thay need to rethink the needless number of PD days (almost one per month here) and the times that they cancel the school busses because there are 10 flakes of snow in the air.

 

[Debbie]

I am also in Halton and nothing has even been hinted at here. It's not like this is the first time that labour day has been around Sept. 7th. So what's the big deal? All it means is that school goes until the very end of June. I can't figure out why the school board would even try and suggest that there are not enough days available. The last time I checked there are still the same number of days on the calendar as every other year. Perhaps thay need to rethink the needless number of PD days (almost one per month here) and the times that they cancel the school busses because there are 10 flakes of snow in the air.

Not trying to debate at all, just trying to clarify.

The final calendar decision rests not with the teachers, nor with the Board. The Ministry of Education gives the numbers-including teaching days and PD Days. There are enough days from September 1st to June 30th. The Boards, then, take the numbers and decide on a calendar that works for the area. There is usually (for my Board, anyway) a draft calendar that is put on the website and sent to staff. Parent and staff (also parents!) are able to give their input, and the Board submits its final decision to the Ministry for approval. Perhaps your draft calendar was on the Board website earlier this year. If not, you might want to talk to your trustee as to whether input from parents is available. I know that many teachers are like you....they have already booked their vacations. They are not thrilled either.

I'm not sure where you are, but I am grateful that my children don't have to be on a bus when it is (or about to become) dangerous due to weather. Last week, there was dense fog that did not result in a delay when it should have, and a bus pulled out in front of me. If I hadn't already slowed down because I couldn't see the car in front of me, it would have been me and several kids in the hospital.

I'm really sorry that this blip in the calendar has everyone concerned. But I am confident that each person will make the decisions that are best for your families. iloveeyore, I know that your daughter won't even be thinking of school those last few days. Have an awesome trip!!!