Texas school attendance policy and cruise dates

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I can only speak from my perspective and experience here, but missing a week in one of my lab classes or AP's is not a trivial thing. There is little daily homework in my classes (mainly just self paced reading in AP) and lots and lots of bench time in class. In a typical week, we meet for about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Maybe 20 minutes of that is lecture. The rest is lab work or other types of hands on activities. I can't send home a packet to replace that experience and it's not realistic to ask me to spend 3+ hours with every student who chooses to miss a week.

The educational trend in science is moving more and more towards minimal homework and increased hands on learning in the classroom. This is particularly true at the high school level. I've always felt that younger kids should be less tied to a traditional school schedule as they are particularly impacted by experiences above traditional teaching. However, I worry when families don't adjust their habits to the changing expectations of progressive grades. Honestly, all of these attendance policies need some flexibility in them to evaluate every student's individual progress and course load.

Couldn’t agree with this more - my son’s teachers admitted that last 2 weeks of June for example are a write-off. The kids are not learning anything new. Teachers are focused on report cards.
But it’s probably why DCL is already at premium pricing in June. Some states are done school then as well.
I would take DS out of school last week of classes for sure.
Most of the schools in my district have done away with homework or projects being done at home as well.
Teachers give time in class now and thus they are better able to monitor their progress and not worry how much the parent or older sibling helped with

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Come on, people. This is all about priorities. Given the importance of Disney cruises, it's compulsory upon us parents to move to states where attendance policies are ... flexible.

Note: Last month, our DD missed 6.5 days of 5th Grade to go on our first DCL cruise followed by a week at WDW. Her school asked us to fill out a form identifying "educational opportunities" along the trip. Result: All days were excused. (North Carolina!)

Loved North Carolina when we drove through it on way to WDW last summer.

 

[Shanti]

Couldn’t agree with this more - my son’s teachers admitted that last 2 weeks of June for example are a write-off. The kids are not learning anything new. Teachers are focused on report cards.
But it’s probably why DCL is already at premium pricing in June. Some states are done school then as well.
I would take DS out of school last week of classes for sure.
Most of the schools in my district have done away with homework or projects being done at home as well.
Teachers give time in class now and thus they are better able to monitor their progress and not worry how much the parent or older sibling helped with

Our schools are much more rigorous. It would be unthinkable to write off two weeks even at the early elementary level. Hands-on activities, projects in class, skill-building homework and supplementary projects at home are all major priorities, although we don't put grades for homework into the gradebook. My son is in middle school, and his last week of school is spent taking final exams, so it would be unthinkable to take him out then.

Our schools get out at the end of May and resume in mid-August, so yes, all of June is high season as a good portion of America's schools are on vacation by then.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Our schools are much more rigorous. It would be unthinkable to write off two weeks even at the early elementary level. Hands-on activities, projects in class, skill-building homework and supplementary projects at home are all major priorities, although we don't put grades for homework into the gradebook. My son is in middle school, and his last week of school is spent taking final exams, so it would be unthinkable to take him out then.

Our schools get out at the end of May and resume in mid-Ausust, so yes, all of June is high season as a good portion of America's schools are on vacation by then.

I would never take my kids out of school if last week was exams.
The teachers have told me though it’s mostly cleaning up and marking they do.
I also know based on what my kid would tell me.

 

[Shanti]

I would never take my kids out of school if last week was exams.
The teachers have told me though it’s mostly cleaning up and marking they do.
I also know based on what my kid would tell me.

Yes, I believe you. I also remember a week of movies at the end of the year from one of my schools as a kid. I'm just stating the fact that a lot of schools are nothing like that.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Yes, I believe you. I also remember a week of movies at the end of the year from one of my schools as a kid. I'm just stating the fact that a lot of schools are nothing like that.

For sure, agreed.
Just from these posts alone such differences!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would never take my kids out of school if last week was exams.
The teachers have told me though it’s mostly cleaning up and marking they do.
I also know based on what my kid would tell me.

The only time I can remember being taken out of school for a vacation (there may have been other times I just can't exactly recall) was actually for a cruise (not a Disney one) the last week of school before christmas break my sophmore year of high school. I want to say it was 3 or 4 days actually taken out of school. However, I had to arrange to do all work and tests before I left. It was no easy feat but that was moreso because I was in high school and the type of work and tests I had. One test I had to wait until I got back from christmas break to take it (which was weeks later) because the teacher couldn't allow me to take it before hand as the test used was the same one being used for all other students (meant I couldn't give answers to students--not that I would do that but that was what they are concerned about)--that was difficult because of maintaining the information in order to take the test weeks later.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I can only speak from my perspective and experience here, but missing a week in one of my lab classes or AP's is not a trivial thing. There is little daily homework in my classes (mainly just self paced reading in AP) and lots and lots of bench time in class. In a typical week, we meet for about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Maybe 20 minutes of that is lecture. The rest is lab work or other types of hands on activities. I can't send home a packet to replace that experience and it's not realistic to ask me to spend 3+ hours with every student who chooses to miss a week.

The educational trend in science is moving more and more towards minimal homework and increased hands on learning in the classroom. This is particularly true at the high school level. I've always felt that younger kids should be less tied to a traditional school schedule as they are particularly impacted by experiences above traditional teaching. However, I worry when families don't adjust their habits to the changing expectations of progressive grades. Honestly, all of these attendance policies need some flexibility in them to evaluate every student's individual progress and course load.

I agree that you may not want to take your child out in certain situations, or at certain times of the year. We have only taken our kids out of school for two days on two occasions for vacation and have never had any trouble with the district or teachers for doing so. But I would not hesitate to take them out for a longer period of time if there was something we really wanted to do that could not be done at another time of year for whatever reason. I would look at things like exam schedules. But when you hear that districts are threatening criminal prosecution, the state has gone way too far. I also think that public schools could benefit from focusing more on students and teachers as individuals.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

The only time I can remember being taken out of school for a vacation (there may have been other times I just can't exactly recall) was actually for a cruise (not a Disney one) the last week of school before christmas break my sophmore year of high school. I want to say it was 3 or 4 days actually taken out of school. However, I had to arrange to do all work and tests before I left. It was no easy feat but that was moreso because I was in high school and the type of work and tests I had. One test I had to wait until I got back from christmas break to take it (which was weeks later) because the teacher couldn't allow me to take it before hand as the test used was the same one being used for all other students (meant I couldn't give answers to students--not that I would do that but that was what they are concerned about)--that was difficult because of maintaining the information in order to take the test weeks later.

DS is still in elementary school gr 3, I don’t know that I’d take him out in high school anymore.
Right now all high schools here get out a week earlier than elementary.
Elementary schools always end on a Thursday so if I was to take my kids out last week they’d be missing 4 days.
I haven’t actually done this myself, but DS tells me there are always a few that miss the last day or two. Same before Christmas break, last few years school went up the 24th pretty much so I’m guessing because of out-of-town travel.
I try hard to only take my kid out for one week in a school year and I look for a week that has a PD day (no school on one day, usually Friday)
Here we have another issue - most kids that play a competitive sport especially hockey, end up missing a few days a year because of tournaments.
They usually start on a Friday.
Craziness

 

[FigmentSpark]

I'm taking my HS son out. He's in grade 10 and isn't a perfect student by far. Yes, this semester is his hardest subject (math), too. BUT it's 2 days before spring break and one day after. They aren't doing that much around a time when lots of students will be missing and we'll get work from his teachers to help him out.

Unfortunately, he's also missing 4 days right before Easter, as well for an overseas soccer tournament. I think that will be very educational for him and, again, he goes to Catholic school, so there will be kids missing in those days who will have to catch up. I know it all makes the teachers' jobs harder, but we are hardly the only family to do it.

 

[Summer2018]

It's all about priorities. I happen to live and teach in a state where education is of paramount importance. As much as I value my career and my child's education, I also believe in balance. For all of the hard work, there should be time for relaxation and rejuvenation. There are only 182 days of school. The remainder can be used for the relaxation and rejuvenation. Teachers and students get plenty of time off from school for multiple vacations. Is it inconvenient? Sometimes. First world problem.

 

[YawningDodo]

The only time my parents took me out of school for a vacation was in 6th grade, end of October -- the first time we ever went to WDW, actually. My mom was an elementary school teacher (now retired), but since I was in a private school our break schedules didn't line up. As I understand it, my parents didn't realize that I'd actually be missing school until it was too late, and a bunch of things had come together to make that the one time we could afford to go. I did a bunch of homework on the plane and my teachers weren't thrilled, but it didn't hurt me in the long run. High school would have been harder.

Most people I know in the states get at least 3 weeks off.. on average we all have 4 weeks or even more PAID. But now its a mix PTO, so sick and vacation is blended...wonder if these 2 weeks are for part-time retail??

As others have mentioned, part-time retail workers receive zero days vacation (retail and restaurant workers often don't even get sick leave...enjoy that thought). I think what's going on here is the same sort of sampling bias that leads people who have been to college to believe that most people have been to college -- when your life takes a certain path, you naturally spend most of your time around people with similar lives. Sadly, though, your experience and the experiences of the people you know are not the norm for Americans in terms of paid leave. Our country is notorious among developed nations for the scant amounts of paid leave we get.

To give an example -- I work in a museum. I've got a master's degree, I've worked there for four and a half years, and I'm the head of a (very) small sub-department. Pretty far cry from part-time retail, yeah? I get a whopping ten days of vacation annually, and it was a big deal for me when I was upgraded from five days of vacation a year or two ago. I asked about getting a third week when I was promoted to my current position last fall and was turned down. I'm fortunate in the fact that so far my employer has been pretty chill about letting me take unpaid leave in addition to my paid vacation, but as I start going on bigger trips annually instead of only every two or three years I'm nervous that the higher frequency of requests might mean they start getting turned down. On the other hand, there's talk of a possible change to a general PTO system with vacation and sick leave in the same bucket...I'm not entirely thrilled about that, but it may result in a slightly higher number of days I can take for trips.

So please, consider that most of us, even among those who can afford regular Disney vacations (who are ourselves relatively lucky and few) don't share your good fortune.

Different strokes. I love the traditional schedule with a long summer break to let myself completely mentally detach from work. I'm in my 18th year of full-time classroom teaching would have burned out long ago without that annual big break, and no 3-week break could compare, even if they occurred periodically throughout the year. I'd probably change careers if they took our summer breaks away. Enough stress is enough.

Different strokes for sure. I don't have the temperament to be a teacher, but if I'd gone down that road I think I would have done better with the year round schedule (my mother, an elementary school teacher, has always been a fan of year-round schools who spent her career working the traditional annual schedule). I was really surprised last year when a teacher friend of mine mentioned that he was excited about having found part-time summer work -- apparently the long break makes him stir-crazy. I miss summer vacation since becoming an adult, but I don't know how much I'd really like or dislike it if I went back to that kind of schedule at this point in my life.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I miss summer vacation since becoming an adult, but I don't know how much I'd really like or dislike it if I went back to that kind of schedule at this point in my life.

And for me when I was younger that summer break and christmas break allowed me when I was working to work 40hrs or as close to it as possible vs part time. A year round school schedule would wreak havoc on a student trying to work both in high school and in college due to when breaks occurred.

 

[YawningDodo]

And for me when I was younger that summer break and christmas break allowed me when I was working to work 40hrs or as close to it as possible vs part time. A year round school schedule would wreak havoc on a student trying to work both in high school and in college due to when breaks occurred.

That's a fair point. I only ever worked in the summers when I was still going to school, but that kind of makes your point.

 

[buzznina]

But if you had a 6 on, 3 off schedule you'd be less likely to get so exhausted to begin with. You also wouldn't have to work as hard to close the gap that's created from the long break. Those first weeks are always so hard. I'd love a year-round schedule.

I would love if our school district went to a year round school year. After a long summer vacation, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things, plus the much more flexibility for vacations.

 

[TestingH2O]

I was really surprised last year when a teacher friend of mine mentioned that he was excited about having found part-time summer work

Sooooo many teachers work in the summer just to make ends meet. I know pp mentioned that her husband does very well for himself and their family, but in my experience, that is not the norm and most teachers have to find a way to close the gap between their salaries and their desire to do things with their families. Why do you think most teachers don't vacation as often?

 

[YawningDodo]

Sooooo many teachers work in the summer just to make ends meet. I know pp mentioned that her husband does very well for himself and their family, but in my experience, that is not the norm and most teachers have to find a way to close the gap between their salaries and their desire to do things with their families. Why do you think most teachers don't vacation as often?

I did mention twice that my mom was an elementary school teacher, so I'm aware that most teachers have much lower salaries than they should. I also don't think it's appropriate to comment or speculate on my friend's finances when he didn't share anything about that side of things with me, which is why I deliberately did not bring it up in my comment. When he commented on it he was commenting about being happy he'd have something to keep him occupied. I don't doubt that many teachers take summer work for financial reasons, but that wasn't the topic I was discussing.

 

[mousefan73]

The only time my parents took me out of school for a vacation was in 6th grade, end of October -- the first time we ever went to WDW, actually. My mom was an elementary school teacher (now retired), but since I was in a private school our break schedules didn't line up. As I understand it, my parents didn't realize that I'd actually be missing school until it was too late, and a bunch of things had come together to make that the one time we could afford to go. I did a bunch of homework on the plane and my teachers weren't thrilled, but it didn't hurt me in the long run. High school would have been harder.



As others have mentioned, part-time retail workers receive zero days vacation (retail and restaurant workers often don't even get sick leave...enjoy that thought). I think what's going on here is the same sort of sampling bias that leads people who have been to college to believe that most people have been to college -- when your life takes a certain path, you naturally spend most of your time around people with similar lives. Sadly, though, your experience and the experiences of the people you know are not the norm for Americans in terms of paid leave. Our country is notorious among developed nations for the scant amounts of paid leave we get.

To give an example -- I work in a museum. I've got a master's degree, I've worked there for four and a half years, and I'm the head of a (very) small sub-department. Pretty far cry from part-time retail, yeah? I get a whopping ten days of vacation annually, and it was a big deal for me when I was upgraded from five days of vacation a year or two ago. I asked about getting a third week when I was promoted to my current position last fall and was turned down. I'm fortunate in the fact that so far my employer has been pretty chill about letting me take unpaid leave in addition to my paid vacation, but as I start going on bigger trips annually instead of only every two or three years I'm nervous that the higher frequency of requests might mean they start getting turned down. On the other hand, there's talk of a possible change to a general PTO system with vacation and sick leave in the same bucket...I'm not entirely thrilled about that, but it may result in a slightly higher number of days I can take for trips.

So please, consider that most of us, even among those who can afford regular Disney vacations (who are ourselves relatively lucky and few) don't share your good fortune.



Different strokes for sure. I don't have the temperament to be a teacher, but if I'd gone down that road I think I would have done better with the year round schedule (my mother, an elementary school teacher, has always been a fan of year-round schools who spent her career working the traditional annual schedule). I was really surprised last year when a teacher friend of mine mentioned that he was excited about having found part-time summer work -- apparently the long break makes him stir-crazy. I miss summer vacation since becoming an adult, but I don't know how much I'd really like or dislike it if I went back to that kind of schedule at this point in my life.

I was not being biased based on having a college degree ( which you correctly assumed). Maybe I am biased as I have always been lucky and have the luxury if choice. Now way in heck would I even consider wirking for anyone without 3 weeks at least and then soon 4.

Has nothing to do with education. My dad a UAW assembly worker got after 20 yr 4 weeks paid plus 2 week summer shut down.

 

[TestingH2O]

I did mention twice that my mom was an elementary school teacher, so I'm aware that most teachers have much lower salaries than they should. I also don't think it's appropriate to comment or speculate on my friend's finances when he didn't share anything about that side of things with me, which is why I deliberately did not bring it up in my comment. When he commented on it he was commenting about being happy he'd have something to keep him occupied. I don't doubt that many teachers take summer work for financial reasons, but that wasn't the topic I was discussing.

You stated you were surprised. I explained why to many (most?) teachers this is not a surprising thing. I'm sorry you are offended by that fact or the fact that I commented on that reality of the profession. I said also said nothing about your friend's finances. However, financial reasons have been brought up time and again on this thread and they are pertinent to why many teachers work in the summer.

I hope you are having a pleasant weekend.

 

[Summer2018]

Sooooo many teachers work in the summer just to make ends meet. I know pp mentioned that her husband does very well for himself and their family, but in my experience, that is not the norm and most teachers have to find a way to close the gap between their salaries and their desire to do things with their families. Why do you think most teachers don't vacation as often?

So true! Early in my career, I worked for the after school program, tutored, and taught summer school. I have gone to graduate school in the summer. Many of my colleagues rely on the summer to work other jobs or attend school. I’m finally in a position that I don’t have to do those things anymore, but it was absolutely crucial for me for many years. However, if we traveled annually, I would need a second job. We just can’t afford an annual vacation. We haven’t taken a vacation since 2015. We usually go somewhere every two years, but this time the gap will be three years. Fortunately we have a pool and live 8 minutes from the beach, so we enjoy being at home in the summer.