Take off a week in school year to go to disney

[Anonymous]

Just get your principal to fraud your kids numbers to pretend they were there the whole time. Shouldn't be too hard for irresponsible parents who think the rules don't apply to them.

[Anonymous]

The government (including government schools) has no claim on your child, the parents do. If a parent wants to take their kid to Disney, that’s their right. And they have to deal with any consequences from missing school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Couldn't stand to read the whole thread but wanted to make sure this point was clear - by pulling your kids out of school you are making it harder for the teacher to do their job and impacting the education of the other children. As a teacher, I am already overworked with the normal issues. I don't mind working extra to accommodate sick children or those with legitimate reasons to miss class. But, those of you who just pull them out to go to Disney???! It takes time and effort to catch the child up. Which takes away from my teaching the other children. And yes, they get behind. Sigh. Don't be selfish. Keep your kids in school. Especially those of you who want the good teachers to stay!

Sorry it doesnt actually take long to catch a second grader up for missing 1 week of school

And you want the teacher to do that, on top of everything else?

I’m not asking the ES teacher for makeup work. My kids are above grade level. If your administration is making you accommodate, then it’s part of your job (even if you don’t like it) and should fight that fight elsewhere.

It’s lame to pretend there’s this huge loss of learning for a few days ES. You’re taking it way too personally if you think my pulling my kids out for a few days is disrespectful to your profession. My husband is French and he and his siblings got pulled out for a week every year to visit family and gasp - they would go to Disney Paris. I guarantee he got more out of that trip than a week of ES.

Your lack of respect for education is really sad.

Don’t make crap up and say I lack respect for education. My kids are (knock on wood) healthy and don’t miss school otherwise. It’s not an issue in ES to miss a few days over the course of the year. You just don’t like it, which is fine, just don’t pretend otherwise.

Saying you get more out of Disney Paris than school is what I was referring to.

You think the 5 days before holiday break where there’s parties and movie watching is more educational than practicing their second language, and working on skills like budgeting their spending money for trinkets? It’s no different than a field trip.

You’re a sad sack of shit

You know I’m right and you’re wrong. Stooping to name calling is so juvenile.

[Anonymous]

Stop feeding the bored swearing teacher guys…

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Couldn't stand to read the whole thread but wanted to make sure this point was clear - by pulling your kids out of school you are making it harder for the teacher to do their job and impacting the education of the other children. As a teacher, I am already overworked with the normal issues. I don't mind working extra to accommodate sick children or those with legitimate reasons to miss class. But, those of you who just pull them out to go to Disney???! It takes time and effort to catch the child up. Which takes away from my teaching the other children. And yes, they get behind. Sigh. Don't be selfish. Keep your kids in school. Especially those of you who want the good teachers to stay!

Sorry it doesnt actually take long to catch a second grader up for missing 1 week of school

And you want the teacher to do that, on top of everything else?

I’m not asking the ES teacher for makeup work. My kids are above grade level. If your administration is making you accommodate, then it’s part of your job (even if you don’t like it) and should fight that fight elsewhere.

It’s lame to pretend there’s this huge loss of learning for a few days ES. You’re taking it way too personally if you think my pulling my kids out for a few days is disrespectful to your profession. My husband is French and he and his siblings got pulled out for a week every year to visit family and gasp - they would go to Disney Paris. I guarantee he got more out of that trip than a week of ES.

I am the teacher who had admin add to my job (against policy) and I am not the PP. There appear to be several people commenting who are against vacations during the school year.

The school has rules, including an attendance policy. These exist for the benefit of the entire school community, including your children. Apparently these rules are beneath you. Fine. Just don’t come to DCUM expecting people to support your decisions. And don’t expect us to find respect and support when you add to our workloads. Accept this is how we feel and take your trip to Disney.

There are plenty of people in this thread also arguing that it’s not a big deal.

Yep, there’s an attendance policy. Kids miss school for illness or bereavement days all the time. There’s no magic wand that makes Disney days worse than a sick day from a learning perspective. You just feel morally superior for some twisted reason - probably because you’ve conditioned yourself that your way is the best and everyone else is doing it wrong. Again, my kids don’t miss school for grandparent visits or sick days or sports or anything else, so taking a few days in ES for Disney over the course of a year is truly not an issue.

Respect? Support? Again, take it up with admin or find a different job if you don’t like what yours entails. Teaching is not a life sentence.

It’s about absences for solid, legitimate reasons (illness, bereavement) versus illegitimate reasons (vacations that can be rescheduled).

It’s also about following policies and teaching children that they aren’t above society’s rules, even ones you don’t like.

It’s about forcing extra work on hardworking people, simply so you can avoid the minor inconvenience of lines at an amusement park.

Do I feel morally superior? Not really. I’m pretty solid in my belief system and don’t feel the need to compare myself to others. But when your choices impact me, like this does as a teacher, I do get annoyed.

Your admin is forcing additional work on you. “Excused absences” is just an arbitrary line in the sand. At least with a planned vacation, you can work around the syllabus versus an excuse, d but unexpected absence, like a sudden death in the family.

Your attempts to justify away policies you don’t like by calling them “arbitrary” isn’t convincing. Expecting students to attend school just makes sense. The policy isn’t arbitrary; it’s in the best interest of the community - including your child.

You don’t care. Fine. Just stop these attempts to get us to agree with you.

I think the teacher with a stick up her behind about having to do her job should stop posting in this thread because it’s not going to change anyone’s mind.

Accommodating kids whose parents pull them out for a vacation isn’t part of the job description.

Didn’t you just bellyache a few posts up that your admin makes you provide the makeup work? Sure sounds like your job - one funded by the taxpayers - to me.

Nope. Not my job. Aren’t you grateful that there are admins who ignore written policy and force extra work on teachers? I suppose if it benefits you, “the taxpayer,” who cares if it’s against policy?

And we wonder why we have a teacher shortage. Anybody still wondering?

If it’s not your job, then you’re just arguing against people breaking the rules, as there’s no additional lift for you as a teacher when my kids are out.

I cannot imagine caring this much what other people do in their spare time - you must be a republican.

I care because this is my profession. I care because I have to patch the holes after your child gets back. I care because you are teaching your kids that rules are there to follow only when they don’t get in the way of something you want to do. I care because I have to deal with it when students are treated unequally. How can I hold Johnny accountable for his absences when Susie got to go to Disney world and make up her work? It makes my job much harder.

But you got to save time in the line to Pirates if the Caribbean. That’s what really matters.

And perhaps you won’t believe it, but there are Democrats who disagree with you. I’m one of them. (I’m sure you won’t believe that, but it doesn’t matter.)

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We want to take kids to go to Disney. Both kids attend same elementary school. The long time lining up at Disney world sounds painful to me, and we are thinking to pull kids out during school year to do so. Will that hurt anything for school report records? And, how bad is it to tell teacher/administration that is due to we are going to disney world?

If you have done it before, which month is the best to go to Disney World for shorter lines, pleasant weather and good deals?

IF you know this now I suggest getting teacher gifts early - back to school Starbucks card, etc. Doesn’t have to be huge but something that makes teacher look kindly on your family.

Do you really think a Starbucks gift card will prevent the teacher from losing respect for this family?

NP. I am a teacher. I promise you, a Disney trip in and of itself will not make me lose respect for a family. Please stop making us look bad (/petty/vindictive/etc.)!!!

There seems to be one poster who is hell bent on making this seem worse for teachers than it actually is.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Couldn't stand to read the whole thread but wanted to make sure this point was clear - by pulling your kids out of school you are making it harder for the teacher to do their job and impacting the education of the other children. As a teacher, I am already overworked with the normal issues. I don't mind working extra to accommodate sick children or those with legitimate reasons to miss class. But, those of you who just pull them out to go to Disney???! It takes time and effort to catch the child up. Which takes away from my teaching the other children. And yes, they get behind. Sigh. Don't be selfish. Keep your kids in school. Especially those of you who want the good teachers to stay!

Sorry it doesnt actually take long to catch a second grader up for missing 1 week of school

And you want the teacher to do that, on top of everything else?

I’m not asking the ES teacher for makeup work. My kids are above grade level. If your administration is making you accommodate, then it’s part of your job (even if you don’t like it) and should fight that fight elsewhere.

It’s lame to pretend there’s this huge loss of learning for a few days ES. You’re taking it way too personally if you think my pulling my kids out for a few days is disrespectful to your profession. My husband is French and he and his siblings got pulled out for a week every year to visit family and gasp - they would go to Disney Paris. I guarantee he got more out of that trip than a week of ES.

I am the teacher who had admin add to my job (against policy) and I am not the PP. There appear to be several people commenting who are against vacations during the school year.

The school has rules, including an attendance policy. These exist for the benefit of the entire school community, including your children. Apparently these rules are beneath you. Fine. Just don’t come to DCUM expecting people to support your decisions. And don’t expect us to find respect and support when you add to our workloads. Accept this is how we feel and take your trip to Disney.

There are plenty of people in this thread also arguing that it’s not a big deal.

Yep, there’s an attendance policy. Kids miss school for illness or bereavement days all the time. There’s no magic wand that makes Disney days worse than a sick day from a learning perspective. You just feel morally superior for some twisted reason - probably because you’ve conditioned yourself that your way is the best and everyone else is doing it wrong. Again, my kids don’t miss school for grandparent visits or sick days or sports or anything else, so taking a few days in ES for Disney over the course of a year is truly not an issue.

Respect? Support? Again, take it up with admin or find a different job if you don’t like what yours entails. Teaching is not a life sentence.

It’s about absences for solid, legitimate reasons (illness, bereavement) versus illegitimate reasons (vacations that can be rescheduled).

It’s also about following policies and teaching children that they aren’t above society’s rules, even ones you don’t like.

It’s about forcing extra work on hardworking people, simply so you can avoid the minor inconvenience of lines at an amusement park.

Do I feel morally superior? Not really. I’m pretty solid in my belief system and don’t feel the need to compare myself to others. But when your choices impact me, like this does as a teacher, I do get annoyed.

Your admin is forcing additional work on you. “Excused absences” is just an arbitrary line in the sand. At least with a planned vacation, you can work around the syllabus versus an excuse, d but unexpected absence, like a sudden death in the family.

Your attempts to justify away policies you don’t like by calling them “arbitrary” isn’t convincing. Expecting students to attend school just makes sense. The policy isn’t arbitrary; it’s in the best interest of the community - including your child.

You don’t care. Fine. Just stop these attempts to get us to agree with you.

I think the teacher with a stick up her behind about having to do her job should stop posting in this thread because it’s not going to change anyone’s mind.

Accommodating kids whose parents pull them out for a vacation isn’t part of the job description.

Didn’t you just bellyache a few posts up that your admin makes you provide the makeup work? Sure sounds like your job - one funded by the taxpayers - to me.

Nope. Not my job. Aren’t you grateful that there are admins who ignore written policy and force extra work on teachers? I suppose if it benefits you, “the taxpayer,” who cares if it’s against policy?

And we wonder why we have a teacher shortage. Anybody still wondering?

If it’s not your job, then you’re just arguing against people breaking the rules, as there’s no additional lift for you as a teacher when my kids are out.

I cannot imagine caring this much what other people do in their spare time - you must be a republican.

I care because this is my profession. I care because I have to patch the holes after your child gets back. I care because you are teaching your kids that rules are there to follow only when they don’t get in the way of something you want to do. I care because I have to deal with it when students are treated unequally. How can I hold Johnny accountable for his absences when Susie got to go to Disney world and make up her work? It makes my job much harder.

But you got to save time in the line to Pirates if the Caribbean. That’s what really matters.

And perhaps you won’t believe it, but there are Democrats who disagree with you. I’m one of them. (I’m sure you won’t believe that, but it doesn’t matter.)

Why do you care what I’m teaching my children? I’m taking the responsibility of supplementing anything they may have missed. I’m not arguing to make up assignments or asking for leeway. Your issue is with admin if they are treating kids unequally and you’re left to deal with the fallout.

You just don’t like the fact that you’re beholden to the school calendar and are hating on others.

Riddle me this, my grandparents lived in FL. One passed away, we went down for the funeral on short notice, and threw a Disney day in there. Do you have an issue with that?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We took our kids out during the school year to go toDisney y when my oldest was in K, 2, and 5 (the youngest is 3 years behind).

The oldest still got straight As and ended up in the TPMS magnet, then the Blair magnet. The youngest had straight As and qualified for both middle school magnets, but lost it in the lottery. He expects to get into a HS magnet eventually.

Missing a week in elementary school, especially early in the school year, will not make or break your kid.

However, this does not apply if they're in middle or high school.

It’s not about whether they’ll struggle academically. It’s about the message it sends.

We took ours out for Disney in 6th grade. He graduated from high school with honors and a scholarship. He has one year left in his Engineering degree, earning high grades. A few missed days of ES school for a trip to Disney did no harm.

Op, check the crowd calendar and plan around a weekend.

… as long as you aren’t expecting anything extra from the teacher, that is. School isn’t a concierge service, so please don’t ask for special exceptions or packaged work. It’s a rude thing to do to the teacher.

We didn't ask for anything. He was doing accelerated math. The teacher had ds and 5 or 6 others working at their own pace. He took a novel and the work that went with it, and finished more than the kids in class.

Well congratulations. Sounds like your kid is superior.

I love posts like this. You say he “finished more than the kids in class.“ How do you know that? Did you poll the students? Did you ask the teacher to compare his work with the other students in the class? You’re just pulling this out of your ass and you know it.

He was further in the booklet when he returned. How could we tell? When we returned, he commented that he was already finished the pages they did that day in class.

Some of you are raging about a few missed days (it wasn't a full week due to planned days off) and can't handle that you might be wrong.

His teacher was not upset.

He didn't miss work and wasn't behind.

His work ethic is just fine. He never has had the idea that school or work isn't important.

Carry on being insulted by something that has nothing to do with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We want to take kids to go to Disney. Both kids attend same elementary school. The long time lining up at Disney world sounds painful to me, and we are thinking to pull kids out during school year to do so. Will that hurt anything for school report records? And, how bad is it to tell teacher/administration that is due to we are going to disney world?

If you have done it before, which month is the best to go to Disney World for shorter lines, pleasant weather and good deals?

Go for it! I did it for Disney and then again for Harry Potter World. Didn’t impact school or anything. Also fyi my mom was an elementary school teacher and we grew up in Los Angeles. About two times a year she would pull me out school every year to do something silly and fun - a couple of days at the beach or a day to go shopping. Those are some of my favorite memories of her. Just go for it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s extremely obnoxious to take kids out of school for stuff like Disney. If you do that you have lost all rights to complain about the quality of your kids’ education, their teachers, the school system, etc ever again. You’re making very clear (both to the school and your kids) that education isn’t a top priority.

Actually I pull them out because missing a week of school is no longer an issue. Did the same in middle school too. Way too easy to get A's so why not take some vacations during less expensive times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s extremely obnoxious to take kids out of school for stuff like Disney. If you do that you have lost all rights to complain about the quality of your kids’ education, their teachers, the school system, etc ever again. You’re making very clear (both to the school and your kids) that education isn’t a top priority.

Actually I pull them out because missing a week of school is no longer an issue. Did the same in middle school too. Way too easy to get A's so why not take some vacations during less expensive times.

So rather than switching them to a better school, you’re taking advantage to go on cheaper vacations.

[Anonymous]

It is so interesting to read about different schools districts' policies. Family vacations in my district are excused absences as long as they are pre-arranged. A parent can call their kid out for up to 10 days in a school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s extremely obnoxious to take kids out of school for stuff like Disney. If you do that you have lost all rights to complain about the quality of your kids’ education, their teachers, the school system, etc ever again. You’re making very clear (both to the school and your kids) that education isn’t a top priority.

Actually I pull them out because missing a week of school is no longer an issue. Did the same in middle school too. Way too easy to get A's so why not take some vacations during less expensive times.

So rather than switching them to a better school, you’re taking advantage to go on cheaper vacations.

But isn’t the curriculum and grading scale essentially the same across MCPS schools? Most of us cannot afford private, even if we took no vacations ever.

[Anonymous]

Teachers jobs are hard enough now you make them differentiate even more and for sure you will blame teachers if learning loss occurs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers jobs are hard enough now you make them differentiate even more and for sure you will blame teachers if learning loss occurs.

Blame your administration, not parents.