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  1. #21
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    A couple of our visits we took our daughter out of school a few days before the end of the school year. We never took her out of high school though.

    Tests were all done and there was never anything happening.

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  3. #22
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    I took my Niece a few years ago in Sept & she missed a few days of the start of the school year. She's an honor roll student every year so my Sister agreed to let us take her without worries of it effecting her work.
    It was a 10 day trip that consisted of long days in the parks and she loved it. We arrived back home just after 11pm and by the time she got home it was well after midnight so my sister was keeping her home an extra day. To everyones surprise she woke up early and got ready for school. My sister asked what she was doing and my Niece said she wanted to go to school. She was only 12 at the time so nobody expected a kid that young to take such initiative.
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  4. #23
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    We always took DS out of school. The younger he was, the more days we took him out. We took him out for over a week in second grade, but the teacher was real nice about it and really went out of her way to give us all the class and HW assignments. Now he is in 7th grade and it's getting harder for us.

    Last year we took him out for only three days and the week after we got back he didn't do so well on some tests. This made it harder for him to catch up because he has to maintain a 90 in his honors classes. So now it's hello hot and humid August for us!!

    In my opinion, if you can take your child out of school I say go for it.

    BTW...DS is looking into a HS with an IB program. I've heard that they are great, but alot of work and very hard.
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  5. #24
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    I was a teacher in a private Quaker school on the East Coast for 12 years.

    I wouldn't hesitate taking them out of school for that time period. You had mentioned that he is in the IB program. That means that he's a very good student in the first place. This will take some planning, so I would let his advisor know early on in the year know about this special trip. I would stress to the Head of the Middle School that this is one of the few times your family can spend quality time together - bonding and all that.

    Your son needs to be proactive in the weeks before his trip: He needs to meet with his teachers individually to plan his make-up work, work around any large-project calendar due dates, and create a plan about missed exams/quizzes. These steps are important. If he returns after the trip and is completely behind in everything after no having made plans early, they may not have a lot of mercy.

    Tell you Middle School student this: Planning ahead and doing work ahead is his part of paying for the trip...it's the price of admission.

    His English teacher may even be a creative and have him keep a daily journal of activities. That, together with photos taken by you and your family could be put together in a PowerPoint presentation that could be used as homework in his absence.

    But definitely push the 'family togetherness' thing with the administration.

    ...and you didn't hear that from me.

  6. #25
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    Yes, and we always tell the teachers over a month in advance o that they can give our daughter assignments before we leave, so she can get most of it done even before the trip. Our children work hard at school and we think a nice vacation is a great reward and break for them, they need it too.
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  7. #26
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    We have taken our kids out of school for a Disney vacation all three times. The first two times were Thanksgiving week so they only missed 2 days. Oct 08 it was the two younger kids (older 2/college) and they missed 3.5 days. And my son was a sophomore in high school for that trip. However, DD13 will be in 8th grade in the fall and has been called up to varsity soccer. That really limits on when we can take her out of school. Still undecided if 4 days in December will be OK. It would be just Kourtney has 2 of the boys are in college and the other one has graduated. DH says she'll be fine as she is an "A" student. So we'll see.
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  8. #27
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    I say take them out. I took my daughter out a couple years ago for 3 days in December and will most likely pull her out for a week in February. We have to go when our employers say we can go, and unfortunatey that is not when school is out. All school work is always made up. The school may not like it, but I am ultimately the one in charge of my child. Family time is so important. They will be grown and gone before we know it.

  9. #28
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    For years we took our 2 youngest grandkids (cousins) to Disney during the school year. When they were 11 and 13 they asked to go in June, because they were tired of taking their school work to Disney. After that trip, they asked to go back to trips during the school year, because they felt it was worth doing the school work on vacation to avoid the heat and crowds. Our grandson's last trip was as a senior in high school.

    We did get hassled by the principal but our grandson's teachers felt that family trips were worth a lot and were glad he had the opportunity. They were happy to (quietly) work with us.

    Jan

  10. #29
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    I am another middle school teacher - I teach 6th grade science and am all for family vacations as well. As a mom, I understand that family vacations are so dear for the family, and like another poster, the days of instructin they miss are a big deal at the time, but in the long run, the family time is more important - it's gone so fast! Also, while 6th grade is a huge transition year in our area (going from elementary to 7 teachers/subjects), by Feb, the students have certainly adapted to those adjustments.

  11. #30
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    I plan on pulling mine out for as long as they'll let me. And I envision some leave Thursday afternoon, fly home Monday night trips in about 13-14 years.

    Going in the "off" season is well worth it.
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  12. #31
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    Hi! We are a YES to this as well. Only DS11 is in school right now, he will be in 6th next year, we have pulled him out of school for 5 days at a time for 3 years. I always approach his teachers and vice principal about it way ahead of time. DS11 is a good kid, doesn't cause problems, is on the AB honor roll and doesn't miss alot of school. We have always had teachers that truly believed the family time was more important.

    We have to go during the school year, DH cannot get vacation at any of the "good" times, he has worked at the same company for over 15 years and still can't get the vacation weeks he wants-oh well.

    I look at it this way, when I take vacation from work I plan ahead, finish projects or set them up to be delayed until I return, turn my OOO on my email and get the heck out of there. I don't think it should be any different for our kids, going to school is their job, they deserve a break as well. In our school district the summer is barely 2 months anymore-so he doesn't have the long summers like I used to have.

    Go for it! School is important, but our family time is more valuable than anything-it's hard getting 5 people together and to agree on the same thing!
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  13. #32
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    We took a trip the first week in May. The crowds were great, but it was HOT! I pulled my kids from school with no problems. They are both in middle school, and are good students. They really hadn't missed much school the whole year, so I felt that it would be okay for them to miss a week. I notified their teachers well in advance. They turned in as many assignments and projects that they could prior to us leaving. It was a good time for us, because they hadn't started reviewing for finals.
    Education is a huge priority for us. But, we looked at the whole situation in a logical manner. If my husband was going to take off from work, and we were going to pay thousands of dollars on a family vacation, we didn't want to spend half of our time in line fighting crowds. Plus, my kids are only in middle school not high school. Their grades right now are not going to be considered during the college application process. Had they been in high school, we may have felt differently.
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  14. #33
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    My DS will be starting middle school in the fall and I will be pulling him out for a week to fo to Disney. I know this is not a popular choice and will cause upheaval and extra work for the teacher, but with my husbands job there are limited times that he can take off to go away so I don"y always have a choice. I plan to send the teacher a note well in advance of us leaving explaining that we are going away and explaining that I know it does cause upheaval in her classroom and asking for the work in advance if she can provide it, although I understand if she can't. The teacher should not have to alter her lifer and run around collecting work because I have chosen to take my son on this trip< but if she does provide the work I guaranteer it will all be done and turned in the day we return, just like the last time we were away.
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  15. #34
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    My boys are older now (26-23-16) but I always took them out of school for WDW. We told the teachers in advacne and they often brought work WITH them which they did on the plan or early in the AM while everyone was getting ready for the day.

    I only had one teacher express her displeasure....and she taught 1st grade. I did it anyway. I am pretty certain he didn't miss brain surgery 101.

  16. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by olivegirl View Post
    My DD will be starting middle school...6th grade, in September. Prior to that we took her out of school for our Disney trips. The teachers were always very accomodating, as my DD is a great student. But now that my DD is getting older we will definitly work around her school schedule!
    Same here. My DS will start 6th grade (Middle School) and my DD will start 3rd grade in September. I pulled them out only once in October (K and 3rd grade). Now that they are getting older, I think too much work is missed (more so the 6th grader). I already saw this year the amount of work for 5th grade. They are both excellent students, but I would rather not pull them out. Again, that is a personal choice.

    We are going in September for 5 days, but they are only missing 1 day of school and it is also only the second week of school.
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  17. #36
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    My daughter is going into 8th grade. We always pull her out of school to go to WDW. I think it is based on the child their grades and how well they can recoup from the trip.
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  18. #37
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    We take our 4 kids (Fall will be 10th grade, 7th grade, 4th grade and 1st grade) out for a week each year. The schools may grip a smidgen but for the most part are great about it. With them all being excellent students and missing minimal school other than that we don't even blink. I treasure the time we get to have as just a family, no sports, work, bills, grocery stores, etc. They grow up so quickly!
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  19. #38
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    When my son was younger, I would pull him out and often with the school and his teachers' blessings. However, once he reached 7th grade, the school's attitude changed radically: their rationale was that attendance information is included on high school applications (applying for high school here is very competitive). I still took him out but for less days and telling them that we were attending to family matters in Florida.

    He'll be entering high school in the Fall and having read the parent's manual, there is no way I can be taking him out of school. Oh well, there's always the summer, right?
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  20. #39
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    Default missing school

    I take a lot of criticism because I am a high school teacher and I pull my kids from school for WDW each September. Our schools are nationally ranked schools and so far it hasn't been an issue. (I think 3rd grade was the worst) My son (8th grade) is an honor student and has never had a problem making up the work. My daughter (6th grade) is on the AB honor roll and it's a bit more work for her. She's a little scared about missing 4 days of middle school but I think it's the unknown factors about starting middle school that are scaring her more than anything. Since I know most of the teachers and they know that my kids are not slackers, they are usually pretty good about it. Regardless of their opinions, they are my children and they are growing up so quickly. Spending quality time together is a rare thing in this day and age. If that means my kids miss 4 days of school then so be it. . . . there are other things much more important than perfect attendance!!!!

  21. #40
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    We would pull our kids out of school, but because my DW and I are educators none of our three school schedules coincide. The are only in elementary school, so it is not as big a deal to us, but I would imagine that the older they get the less likely we would want to pull them out of school. The other issue is missing athletics, scouting, music/dance and other commitments.
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