Camp plans if last day of school gets pushed back?

[Anonymous]

What do parents do if the last day of school gets pushed into a later week than expected, one you have camp scheduled for? We have never experienced this yet but it feels like it is a possibility this year (we are MCPS but maybe in other districts too.)

Do you/will you just send them to camp midweek? Cancel that week of camp and have them home half the week once school ends? Figure the last couple of days of school aren't going to involve any learning anyway, so skip them and send them to camp as planned? Do any camps change their plans when this kind of thing happens (like canceling or shortening week 1, or allowing families to pay for a partial week, or shifting their programming to welcome a bunch of kids starting midweek)?

[Anonymous]

Just send them to camp. The last few days of school are useless days of watching movies, and cleaning up classroom. DC schedule is always dumb. They would expect kids to come to a last day AFTER the Juneteenth holiday.

[Anonymous]

If it’s a local camp, then they might adjust the schedule. If it’s an overnight camp elsewhere, I would just send them.

It’s rare that the school year extends though.

[Anonymous]

Local camps will adjust for school extensions. Out of town camo, you'd need to call and ask for a new date.

[Anonymous]

Email or call the camp coordinator and explain the situation. They may be willing to prorate.

[Anonymous]

As an elementary teacher I will say it depends on the camp. Some camps adjust and then those kids come to school. If the camp doesn’t adjust their schedule, parents usually opt to send them to camp instead.

[Anonymous]

I already pay for the week. If camp does not adjust and push back/refund me, I will send them to camps since camps are more fun/educational.

[Anonymous]

Please know that you do not need to stress about this or decide months ahead. It’s one day (that may not even conflict once everything shakes out). Whatever you decide (school or camp) is fine. Any of your scenarios is fine. Different people will make different decisions.

[Anonymous]

Skip school. It’s useless the last few days.

[Anonymous]

Why would the school calendar change? There are a large # of snow days built it to to calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would the school calendar change? There are a large # of snow days built it to to calendar.

DCPS does not build in any snow days.

[Anonymous]

Skip the last day of school. It is ES, your kid is not going to miss anything.

[Anonymous]

My kids asked me about this too. In my experience, mcps will convert several mid school year days to learning days before they start tacking on to the end of the year. If we have a bunch of snow storms and they have to tack on to the end of the year, I recommend just sending your kid to camp. Many people will miss those days and not much will happen. We have a little vacation planned and then our camp starts the following week. We will not miss our beach trip… family time is important too.

[Anonymous]

A camp we were considering already changed the dates. (Now week 1 is a week we were considering leaving town, so we have to decide whether to change our travel plans.)

If school ends midweek, which looks probable, then yeah, my kids will just be at home distracting my husband for the rest of the week. If it ends on the 6th, we'll either sign up for a different camp or take the week of the 9th off to visit family.

[Anonymous]

Elementary schools do nothing in the last week of school, OP!

So you have the choice of sending your kid on time to camp, or letting them arrive when school ends. It won't change anything in terms of their learning! Some local camps may change the dates and fees, but regional camps will not, and probably won't accept a pro-rating if you send your kid late.