Private school parents: Need your thoughts

[ccgegg]

I've read many threads on DISboards regarding pulling your kids out of school to go to WDW. I wanted to start a thread specifically for those who have children in private schools, only because I think some private schools tend to be less lenient when it comes to this. So do any parents of private school children have any stories you'd like to share? Was it a problem? Were you upfront about it? What grade(s) were the kids in?

 

[WaltD4Me]

My nieces in 4th and 1st grade go to private school and my sister took them out for a week in early December to go to Disney. She had no problem at all. The teacher was very nice about it. True, they are younger and I don't know if it would have been different if they were in higher grades.

Just curious, how is a school "un-leniant" about taking your kids out of school? It isn't like they can tell you that you can't take them out is it?

 

[zurgswife]

My opinion has been that private schools are much more lenient then the public school rules I have heard over the years that I have pulled my kids out of private school for family trips...

 

[ILPHIL]

My nieces in 4th and 1st grade go to private school and my sister took them out for a week in early December to go to Disney. She had no problem at all. The teacher was very nice about it. True, they are younger and I don't know if it would have been different if they were in higher grades.

Just curious, how is a school "un-leniant" about taking your kids out of school? It isn't like they can tell you that you can't take them out is it?

But, they CAN refuse to let the child make up any work or tests missed due while they are gone.
We did it for several years when our daughter was in grade school. Some teachers were very good about giving her the work she was missing in advance, others refused and made her make it all up when we got back.
One required her to do a presentation to the class about the trip.
She was doing very well in class so missing the time never hurt her. If she had been a marginal student it would have been different.

 

[ccgegg]

I was just reading some info on 2 schools we're considering and one stated in their rules that "If a child misses for vacation, no assignments will be given in advance. All work is to be made up upon return. The teacher will not re-teach any missed work." Hence the thread.

I didn't intend to generalize that private schools are more strict about this than public schools. But where I live, private is more strict.

 

[WannaBeInWDW]

I am one of ten kids. We were all really lucky cause our parents ALWAYS took us out of school to go to WDW. The first one I really remember was in 1989. Nine of the 10 of us were born.

We all went to private (catholic) schools. My oldest sister was in eighth, older sister in sixth, older brother was in fifth, I was in third, younger brother was in first, younger sister was in Pre-K. (The other three were toddlers and newborn).

I think my parents were upfront about it. They told our teachers in advance so we could get the work and do it on the plane. Teachers usually have lesson plans weeks in advance. Sometimes, I would be ahead of the class when I got back.

I think once my mother ran into a problem with a teacher that was really snotty about it. But quite honestly, there's nothing they can do. It was always listed in the handbook that vacations during the school year were not a valid excuse for an absence, but so were doctor's appointments during the school day. Our absence notes actually said, "dear so and so, Mary was in Disney last week. Sincerely, Mr. Smith"

Say your sister was getting married and you HAD to be there, with the kids for the whole hoo-ya the week before; are they going to tell you no, you can't go?

It got harder as we all got older, especially in high school. My mom would go with the younger ones and if the high schoolers / college kids could go, we would.

The BEST time to go (and I am completely spoiled because of this) is the beginning of December. ABSOLUTELY EMPTY! Please feel free to ask me any more questions you may have!

 

[FloridaMom]

I am taking my 4th grader out for a week this month, and I had no problem with her teacher. She is giving us her assignments and we will make up any work after we come back. We also will have her do homework at the hotel. I think as long as their grades are good and they have the understanding that they must do their school work even while at WDW, than you should be fine.

 

[kar313]

We have taken our kids out for WDW and other vacations. (Catholic school) Older DS was always very good student but once he reached 8th grade he decided it was too much work for him to make up being gone a whole week. We now try and plan long weekend trips or if it is somewhere he is not really interested in going he will stay w/ grandparents. YOunger DS is only in 4th grade now and he is still fine w/ getting out of school. So far his teachers have been fine w/ it.

 

[rlyrehc]

We have had our kids in private school since the beginning and we started taking them out for family trips when the oldest was in K. We always said that when they got older we would stop because it would be so much harder. This year they are in two different schools, and my oldest is in 7th grade. We took them out for a week in late Oct. to go to WDW and for a long weekend in Feb (4days, WDW.) We have always found that as long as the child is up to date with his assignment the teacher is very understanding. We will probably continue this practice until they leave home.

My philosophy is this: I only have my kids for 18 years. WDW is slowest when school is in session so the vacation is usaully laid back and nobody argues. (That is until this year when we brought a 13 yo monster with us! ) I am the school's client and I know what is best for my kids.

The schools have never given me a hard time about it. One of them has a hard and fast rule about no more than 18 absences or you don't move up, but my kids have never even gotten close to that number. I guess it's a chance I take. These memories are irreplaceable so it's worth it.

 

[WannaBeInWDW]

We have had our kids in private school since the beginning and we started taking them out for family trips when the oldest was in K. We always said that when they got older we would stop because it would be so much harder. This year they are in two different schools, and my oldest is in 7th grade. We took them out for a week in late Oct. to go to WDW and for a long weekend in Feb (4days, WDW.) We have always found that as long as the child is up to date with his assignment the teacher is very understanding. We will probably continue this practice until they leave home.

My philosophy is this: I only have my kids for 18 years. WDW is slowest when school is in session so the vacation is usaully laid back and nobody argues. (That is until this year when we brought a 13 yo monster with us! ) I am the school's client and I know what is best for my kids.

The schools have never given me a hard time about it. One of them has a hard and fast rule about no more than 18 absences or you don't move up, but my kids have never even gotten close to that number. I guess it's a chance I take. These memories are irreplaceable so it's worth it.

Nicely said!! I couldn't agree more!

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

I like what rlyrehc wrote, too!

My 2nd grade nephew is in private school and he's missed the same week of school for the past 3+ years (at least as many years as he's been in that school). They are DVC and intend to continue taking him out the same week each year, so I assume the school and they have come to some sort of understanding.

This school is quite expensive and considered superior to the neighboring public schools, according to my family (we live in a different part of the country, so I have no 1st hand knowledge). Based on the stories they tell me, I would actually say that my nephew's school is much more lenient and flexible -- not just on this issue, but on disciplinary matters as well.

 

[Okiemom]

I don't agree. I think the public schools are more strict about it than the private. My youngest 2 are in High School, and you can not have 9 or more abscences in a class , even excused ones, or you will loose credit for the course, even if you have a "A" in the class. If I even sign them out, as sick, it counts. Only if you have a Doctors note for the day , does it count as medical. So We don't pull ours out of school. Maybe you can do that with younger ones. My daughters boyfriend goes to a private school, and their parents pull them out for vacations, etc.. but it does not hurt them.

 

[luvmy2sams]

We took our DD out for 5 days last October, and we'll be pulling her out for 7 days next January. Our private school is very small (only 90 students PK-8th grade), and I know quite a few parents with kids in various grades that have taken their kids out of school for vacations. Our handbook doesn't have a threshold for required number of attendance days. It's never been an issue. In fact, our headmaster gets quite excited about the Disney trips of his students. If DD was in public school here, it would be a nightmare trying to "justify" this to the school.

 

[wildbill]

My son has always been in private school. Yes I feel private schools are stricter than public schools; the difference is private schools are more understanding. A public school may have to follow very strict rules concerning absences while a private school has the ability to think and make intelligent decisions based on the needs of the child and the specific circumstances-not just blindly follow rules.

That said we took our son out of school for a week in Disney when he was in the 2nd grade (really-how much was he going to miss?). We took him out for a week in 4th grade. We took him out for a week in 7th grade. Every time all the teachers allowed him to make up the work, one even had him write a report and give an oral report about his trip.

Now he's in 9th grade and as much as we have loved the trips and the memories they created we decided not to take him out (so this year we get to go in June instead of Jan. ). It all depends on your child and what is best for them. If you go to the principal and explain the situation I am very confident he/she will support your trip decision.

Go-have a fantastic time-all to soon they will be gone

Bill

 

[Rpsemont]

DD is in private(catholic) school and the handbook says they understand that sometimes this will happen - and that work must be made up when they return. For 1st-3rd grad this wasn't a problem, but we pulled her out for 4 days last fall (now in 4th grade) and she did not do all the makeup work which did pull down a couple of her grades. She's a good student otherwise though so in the big picture it wasn't too bad (don't let her know I told you this LOL!) Anyway, for next fall, I have already told her we're getting her Uncle to stay with her for a couple days and she can join us later in the trip so she only misses 2 days. Also, the school does ask that no one take kids out during IOWA testing - so we plan around that.

 

[cocodog]

I guess each school is different. Our private school looks at travel as educational, and all but encourages it. My daughter is in 2nd grade (and son in kindergarten), and we are leaving for WDW next week (missing one week of school). I think that since parents are paying such major bucks to send their children here, administrators are sometimes afraid to tell them 'no'.

 

[wright1baby]

FYI...try one of these. Justify the trip as a "learning experience".
http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/SE.shtml

 

[Kimickey]

Our DD(6) and in first grade goes to private school. When I wanted to pull her out of school to run the WDW Marathon this year and vacation a bit. Her school did not have a problem at all. All DH and I needed, was to provide the elementary school principal with a letter stating why and when we were pulling her out of school. DD's teacher made a packet of the work she was going to miss during her absence and DD was expected to have the work completed NLT three days after returning and trust me it was a lot of work. DD grades were not affected at all, she still made the honor roll. In fact since she completed all of her work and turned it in the day she returned to school. Most of her work was considered extra credit. DH and I plan on doing this again for the 2006 Marathon. DD had a blast and still talks about her unexpected trip to WDW today.

 

[blanq]

Our DS has attended private school since he was in Kindergarten. He is now a 6th grader. We have taken him out of school for vacations, for a minimum of one week per year from K-5th. As he gets older, we are finding it is becoming a little more difficult to take him out of school because he misses so much, has more homework, and it is harder to get him caught up. Also, he is not a stellar student (he is smart and capable, but is turning into quite the lazy little thing as he gets older). He missed just a couple of days this year, as we added some time onto our spring break period.

Our school handbook specifically discourages vacations during the school year, and indicates that children will not receive makeup work until they return from an absence. They have the same number of days they were absent to make up the missed work (so, if they are out for 5 days, they have 5 days upon return to make it up). When our DS was younger, the teachers did provide homework in advance, but the school policy was changed about two years ago (likely because of offenders like my family ).

Although our school policies don't seem very vacation-friendly, I will state all of the teachers have been receptive, and willing to work with us, when we have pulled our DS out of school.

 

[Julia M]

My two older kids attend Catholic school, my youngest is currently in public.

I took the kids to WDW when my oldest was in 3rd, one in K and one in preschool. It wasn't a big deal at all. That was the last long (week) trip I've pulled the kids out for.

If we do it now (kids are currrently 7th, 4th and 2nd), it's generally for a day or two and the teachers have been undertsanding. For example, last Xmas we left after school on Wed (noon dismissal), the kids missed all day TH and then there was noon dismissal on Fri (before vacation)

This December, we are going to WDW December 17th-27th. Our school schedule isn't out yet, but based on last year, they'll miss M, T and half day W before Xmas (the 19th, 20th and 21st) I talked to the teachers already, explaining why I was booking the trip, and they all said it was going to be okay. For us, the difference between checking in at the Poly (GVC with AAA discount) on December 19, versus December 21st or 22nd was a whopping $252 per night (over $2200 for our trip!) Luckily, all my kids teachers next year are nice, mellow people, who understand we aren't doing this all the time!

For me, private school has been easiier to negociate. If my youngest ds missed more than 5 days of school in a row, unexcused, he could lose his spot at the school (he's on a transfer). Next year he'll be at private, so it won't be the same issue

Julia