Reflection
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2000
- Messages
- 2,377
My thoughts on the topic, which I pulled from a thread over on the theme parks board I posted on many weeks ago....
In principle, I would not take my daughter out of school for a vacation at WDW. For other locales, particularly foreign (am not including Disneyland Paris :cool1 travel, I would. In actuality, however, I have taken her out of school for travel to Orlando--twice. Once, when she was in 1st grade and the other when she was in 3rd grade. For both of those trips, my travel to Orlando was work-related: one trip the first week of December right after Thanksgiving and the second in early My. Thankfully, she is a very good student and administration and teachers were supportive--both absences were excused--and there was no problem in arranging ahead time with the teachers for school work for her to do while we were away. And yes, she completed the work and turned it in when she returned to school.
Same school a couple of years later--but completely different environment, No Child Left Behind and strict adherence to state mandates regarding school attendance-only 10 days are allowed for unexcused absences. In fact, there were regular notices in weekly take-home materials from the office reminding/asking parents not to interrupt class an hour or so before school ended because their child had to get to soccer, basketball, baseball, or whatever after school practice. I'd love to hear the eductional rationale/excuse for that action.
Anyway, my daughter was in 5th grade (this was the 03-04 school year). At back-to-school night, the principal stated absence from school due to family vacation would result in an unexcused absence and teachers were under no obligation to provide make-up work when the student returned or work packets while the student was away. Since my job requires travel to conferences 3-5 times a year, I always alert the teacher in advance if my daughter will be traveling with me. That year, I had a conference in Italy and made arrangements to take my daughter with me. She was out of school for 10 days--all unexcused. Her teacher was very supportive. This was truly one of those once in a lifetime experiences, and turned out to provide valuable first-hand experience when her class studied the Middle Ages and Renaissance in one of the history tracts. However, she would have accompanied me on this trip whether or not the class had studied the Renaissance.
My daughter is now in middle school (6th grader), and although she is a very good student, she would miss too much, which is why she did not accompany me on a conference I had to attend at WDW this past March. We've been fortunate to attend WDW as part of our yearly summer vacation plans for the past few years. In view of that, pulling her out of school for travel to WDW during school sessions is not something I'd opt to do now.
In principle, I would not take my daughter out of school for a vacation at WDW. For other locales, particularly foreign (am not including Disneyland Paris :cool1 travel, I would. In actuality, however, I have taken her out of school for travel to Orlando--twice. Once, when she was in 1st grade and the other when she was in 3rd grade. For both of those trips, my travel to Orlando was work-related: one trip the first week of December right after Thanksgiving and the second in early My. Thankfully, she is a very good student and administration and teachers were supportive--both absences were excused--and there was no problem in arranging ahead time with the teachers for school work for her to do while we were away. And yes, she completed the work and turned it in when she returned to school.
Same school a couple of years later--but completely different environment, No Child Left Behind and strict adherence to state mandates regarding school attendance-only 10 days are allowed for unexcused absences. In fact, there were regular notices in weekly take-home materials from the office reminding/asking parents not to interrupt class an hour or so before school ended because their child had to get to soccer, basketball, baseball, or whatever after school practice. I'd love to hear the eductional rationale/excuse for that action.
Anyway, my daughter was in 5th grade (this was the 03-04 school year). At back-to-school night, the principal stated absence from school due to family vacation would result in an unexcused absence and teachers were under no obligation to provide make-up work when the student returned or work packets while the student was away. Since my job requires travel to conferences 3-5 times a year, I always alert the teacher in advance if my daughter will be traveling with me. That year, I had a conference in Italy and made arrangements to take my daughter with me. She was out of school for 10 days--all unexcused. Her teacher was very supportive. This was truly one of those once in a lifetime experiences, and turned out to provide valuable first-hand experience when her class studied the Middle Ages and Renaissance in one of the history tracts. However, she would have accompanied me on this trip whether or not the class had studied the Renaissance.
My daughter is now in middle school (6th grader), and although she is a very good student, she would miss too much, which is why she did not accompany me on a conference I had to attend at WDW this past March. We've been fortunate to attend WDW as part of our yearly summer vacation plans for the past few years. In view of that, pulling her out of school for travel to WDW during school sessions is not something I'd opt to do now.
