How many unexcused days in middle school?

[Anonymous]

We typically take our kids out of school for a week to visit family during winter break. It wasn’t a big deal in elementary. Now we will have one in middle school and wondering how common this is or if it’s frowned upon. Will my kid be penalized for missing her work the week before Christmas?

[Anonymous]

It was a big deal in elementary. Maybe your child wasn't affected but other children and the teachers were.

You can go on vacation when school is on break.

[Anonymous]

You'll get a lot of semi-threatening emails/texts but they won't actually do anything to punish you. Email the teachers asking for work the kids can do while they're out. The teachers almost certainly will be understanding if you come to them ahead of time.

As for the PP, you sound like a tool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll get a lot of semi-threatening emails/texts but they won't actually do anything to punish you. Email the teachers asking for work the kids can do while they're out. The teachers almost certainly will be understanding if you come to them ahead of time.

As for the PP, you sound like a tool.

And if you're that worried about it, just tell them your kid is sick for a few of the days.

[Anonymous]

Our family didn’t think much of missing school in early/ mid elementary for travel because we always did educational things like go to museums and whatever. Our school was also not meeting my expectations anyways so I was already supplementing at home with phonics and spelling which seemed to be frivolous to the charter we were at.

Things change in middle school because the students are now tracking multiple assignments from 5-6 different teachers and often some assignments are in class and not just homework so we no longer feel great about missing school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it will go on their PERMANENT RECORD, and will follow them for the rest of their life.

[Anonymous]

It gets much harder to miss school in MS. Your child may miss assignments and tests and get marked down. It’s probably a good idea to transition away from taking kids out of school now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a big deal in elementary. Maybe your child wasn't affected but other children and the teachers were.

You can go on vacation when school is on break.

lol, no. it was not a big deal at all in elementary. in MS it is a bigger deal but it really only impacts OP’s kid, not anyone else.

[Anonymous]

I give a large test week on purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a big deal in elementary. Maybe your child wasn't affected but other children and the teachers were.

You can go on vacation when school is on break.

You sound like a bitter sad person. How would it affect any other kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was a big deal in elementary. Maybe your child wasn't affected but other children and the teachers were.

You can go on vacation when school is on break.

You sound like a bitter sad person. How would it affect any other kids?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/29/us/chronic-absences.html

It affects teachers, then the classroom community, and the culture. You all are obviously not alone .. almost everyone is starting to view school as optional. But, it's a vicious cycle because parents skip school, thinking school quality and culture suck anyway, and school quality and culture suffer when school is treated as optional.

I'm neither bitter, nor sad. I don't even think I'm a tool. It's just a real crisis that won't change anytime soon and that DOES seem sad to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was a big deal in elementary. Maybe your child wasn't affected but other children and the teachers were.

You can go on vacation when school is on break.

You sound like a bitter sad person. How would it affect any other kids?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/29/us/chronic-absences.html

It affects teachers, then the classroom community, and the culture. You all are obviously not alone .. almost everyone is starting to view school as optional. But, it's a vicious cycle because parents skip school, thinking school quality and culture suck anyway, and school quality and culture suffer when school is treated as optional.

I'm neither bitter, nor sad. I don't even think I'm a tool. It's just a real crisis that won't change anytime soon and that DOES seem sad to me.

You need to seek help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family didn’t think much of missing school in early/ mid elementary for travel because we always did educational things like go to museums and whatever. Our school was also not meeting my expectations anyways so I was already supplementing at home with phonics and spelling which seemed to be frivolous to the charter we were at.

Things change in middle school because the students are now tracking multiple assignments from 5-6 different teachers and often some assignments are in class and not just homework so we no longer feel great about missing school.

It’s hard for the kids to make up that much work too. I wouldn’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was a big deal in elementary. Maybe your child wasn't affected but other children and the teachers were.

You can go on vacation when school is on break.

You sound like a bitter sad person. How would it affect any other kids?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/29/us/chronic-absences.html

It affects teachers, then the classroom community, and the culture. You all are obviously not alone .. almost everyone is starting to view school as optional. But, it's a vicious cycle because parents skip school, thinking school quality and culture suck anyway, and school quality and culture suffer when school is treated as optional.

I'm neither bitter, nor sad. I don't even think I'm a tool. It's just a real crisis that won't change anytime soon and that DOES seem sad to me.

lol. You think after they closed elementary schools for 18 months in DC, I worried a single second about pulling my elementary school kid for a trip? lolololol. Covid closures taught me that yes, being in school in functionally optional for elementary. MS is different in that keeping up with classwork is more important, but I sure did pull my 6th grader for 2 days for a Disney trip with zero qualms!

ES parents: pull your kids for that cruise or Disney fall trip! Seriously just do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family didn’t think much of missing school in early/ mid elementary for travel because we always did educational things like go to museums and whatever. Our school was also not meeting my expectations anyways so I was already supplementing at home with phonics and spelling which seemed to be frivolous to the charter we were at.

Things change in middle school because the students are now tracking multiple assignments from 5-6 different teachers and often some assignments are in class and not just homework so we no longer feel great about missing school.

I agree. Our kid was out for three days after the holiday break and he missed a lot...it took him a couple of weeks to get back up to speed (catching up on missed work which is marked late even if finished, taking missed tests which can only be scheduled at certain times, etc). We aren't going to do that again.