Travel for a Year and coming back

[Anonymous]

Our family has an opportunity to travel internationally for work for a year. We would want to take our child out of a grade and then come back to the same school. How do schools handle this? Will they allow us to come back with no application/admission process and save our spot? Our child is in very good standing, strong academically, athletic and involved. I think we are in 'good standing' for whatever that means and for whatever that is worth.

This opportunity is a full year away (child will be in 6th grade when we go) so we have some time to plan but I want to approach the school in the best way possible. How is this normally handled by the school? We love the school and don't want to go anywhere else but it is a unique opportunity for our family and we want to take it.

[Anonymous]

Is this a super competitive school that doesn't often have slots?

[Anonymous]

I would say competitive but not 'super' competitive at 6th grade. Definitely more competitive for high school. 6th grade is the start of their middle school and so a big year for applicants.

[Anonymous]

I don't think there is any consistency to how schools handle this. It depends on the school, the family, the situation, and a whole host of other factors (i.e. is the returning grade an expansion year?) Your best bet is to start talk to the school NOW, before get too far down the line of making plans.

I know of two cases at our school where this has happened. In one the school said leaving for a year abroad meant having to reapply, with no guarantee of admission. In another the family paid tuition for the year away to preserve their spot.

[Anonymous]

I should add - I don't know of any case where our school has "saved" a spot for a child without tuition. They are in demand and normally fill every grade with a wait list - this is what their financial models are based on.

It sounds like your child would be returning in 7th grade, correct? Is that an expansion year at your school? If so, it's easier, as the school can fill their spot the year they are away and then choose to use one of the expansion spots for his return. If it's not an expansion year, they either have to leave his spot unfilled, hope someone leaves after sixth grade, or have an extra student in seventh grade. Schools will vary greatly in their willingness to do any of these.

[Anonymous]

Same grade DD in very sought-after school. We had to pay the year’s tuition to keep her spot open. And DD was tested in every subject to make sure she kept up on returning. Still, it was worth it. There is no education like travel.

[Anonymous]

Many schools allow you to take a one year leave of absence.

[Anonymous]

Talk to the school. Different schools will handle this differently but
my guess is that they’ll try to make it work for you.

[Anonymous]

some schools require % of tuition to hold space

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I should add - I don't know of any case where our school has "saved" a spot for a child without tuition. They are in demand and normally fill every grade with a wait list - this is what their financial models are based on.

It sounds like your child would be returning in 7th grade, correct? Is that an expansion year at your school? If so, it's easier, as the school can fill their spot the year they are away and then choose to use one of the expansion spots for his return. If it's not an expansion year, they either have to leave his spot unfilled, hope someone leaves after sixth grade, or have an extra student in seventh grade. Schools will vary greatly in their willingness to do any of these.

This. All the families I know of had to pay the full tuition to save the spot.

[Anonymous]

DC Big3 required payment of full tuition to save a spot for a year while living abroad. This was for a middle school year.

[Anonymous]

I heard from one family that their Big3 required tuition to save a spot for a classmate they knew in an early grade. Then, years later, this same family moved away for a year. When I said it'd be a bummer to pay that tuition to save a spot, they told us the school wasn't going to require that. I've never been sure whether they were being honest or not (maybe embarrassed to admit they'd be paying tuition for 2 kids). They said the kids would be returning to expansion-year grades, so their slot for the year of absence could be filled with a new student and then the school would let their children take one of the expansion spots when they returned. Again, I never bothered to see if this story checked out....as it's their business and I never thought about it again until seeing this question.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is any consistency to how schools handle this. It depends on the school, the family, the situation, and a whole host of other factors (i.e. is the returning grade an expansion year?) Your best bet is to start talk to the school NOW, before get too far down the line of making plans.

I know of two cases at our school where this has happened. In one the school said leaving for a year abroad meant having to reapply, with no guarantee of admission. In another the family paid tuition for the year away to preserve their spot.

I know someone who paid a reduced tuition to hold the spot for one year.

[Anonymous]

I’d think most schools would accept you back, but I guess you can’t know for sure. We went to a popular K-8 where a couple kids left and came back after a year or two.

[Anonymous]

It really does depend on the school + your family OP. I have a friend whose dd was allowed to return to her prominent girl's school here (I won't name which for fear of outing her). She talked to the head. The family were big donors + they hosted fundraisers for the school for high net worth families. Good luck to you-- there is no replacement for travel.