Would this be an excused absence in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

It's a GAME!

[Anonymous]

I'm an MCPS high school teacher. Don't lie about the absence. Be upfront about it. Write a note to the Principal explaining the importance of the tournament and that all work missed will be made up, etc. I highly doubt a Principal would NOT excuse this absence, unless of course it's habitual which you've stated it's not.

Good luck to your kid!

[Anonymous]

"My mother taught me not to lie".

What guess what? This is life, teaching you that sometimes you have to lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"My mother taught me not to lie".

What guess what? This is life, teaching you that sometimes you have to lie.

OLD THREAD. OP's child has learned this lesson by now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What difference is an "excused" vs. "Unexcused" absence?

I'm an MCPS teacher. The answer is... pretty much nothing, unless it becomes habitual. I've had students go back to their country for a month at a time. what am I going to do, fail them for a whole quarter? Of course not, we find a way to get work made up. Go, take your kid, have fun. I would definitely have him tell his teachers know ahead of time, especially if there is going to be something significant like a test or project due. I don't know any teacher who would expect a student to miss out on playing a national championship game just because it's "unexcused."

My kids are MS in MCPS and there definitely IS a consequence for unexcused absences. You can't make up the missed work, which includes tests that are given during the absence. And, certain middle school grades show up on the high school transcript.

I took my child out of MCPS middle school to go to Harry Potter world in Florida. I told the school where we were going and said "I'm not asking for an excused absence". They still gave him his HW and let him make up assignments. I was told it was "at teacher discretion" but every teacher allowed it.

Having said that, he goes to a "green zone" school, feeder school to a W school. My general feeling is that if you're affluent and white (or, in my case white and assumed to be affluent) you get a lot more leeway, and a parent in another part of the country might be judged for something that parents in my area routinely get away with.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher, I hate requests for work ahead of time- I am not always planned that far ahead, even if I do know what we will do then, I might not have the copies made yet etc. And things change in the moment.

it is much easier to put it together for your child when you return. Then I KNOW what happened, I am not trying to predict what we will do.

The real problem for me is that most students do not ever return the work I send for them. So I go through the extra work to put it together, and then I have to give the same student the same work again when they get back.

My experience in MCPS is that there is a lot of pressure on teachers to accommodate this sort of thing, even when it is repeated again and again.

The main policy is that after 5 unexcused absences your student might be in jeopardy- but you are talking about 4 days-

[Anonymous]

This is all ridiculous. This is public school for crying out loud. You are the tax payer and consumer. You are ultimately responsible for your child's education. You decide what is important for your child and their education, not the school, and be honest about it. We used to live in a city where children routinely visited their countries of origin for 1-2 months at a time and that was accepted. Now THAT is an education.