Solar eclipse April 8, would you pull kids out of school
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Anonymous
Elementary school teacher here - sure, at this age, I'd go ahead and do this. 6 sick days for a grade 2 student is not at all unusual. |
Anonymous
We pulled our kids out last time for it (youngest was in preschool at the time). It was fun! We are traveling to Vermont for this one. |
Anonymous
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Ours are 8 and 10. We did go for the last one to Kentucky, but they dont' remember that much.
Looks like the nearest locations from here are Cleveland and Erie, PA. It's a 5+ hour drive back, and totality hits around 2-3pm, so that would make for a difficult drive back to avoid missing Tuesday school as well. Buffalo, Indy, and Little Rock are all in the path and those are flyable. Looks like people are already wise to this. It's $500+ round trip from BWI to BUF and IND on Southwest, and some flights are already totally sold out. |
Anonymous
| DH made us go to SC for the one a few years ago. It was pretty meh honestly. He liked it, but not worth the drive to me for something that lasts 30 minutes. |
Anonymous
| We are pulling our 5th grader. We actually live where it will be 99%, but are going to drive 2 hours for 100% because who knows if we will ever be this close again. I did think ahead and book a hotel the night before though so we don't have to deal with traffic. Snuck in and got it for $85 before they started charging $1000. |
Anonymous
| I would, OP. But maybe you can do some research and learning at home beforehand, so you can get them interested and excited about it. Otherwise it might be just a kind of “huh, that’s cool” and after two minutes they get bored. |
Anonymous
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Elementary, yes, of course. They aren't missing anything that isn't easily made up.
Junior year of high shcool, no. |
Anonymous
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I live in the path of totality and our schools are closing for the day. We're going to have thousands of visitors and the eclipse will happen around different school release times/busing times.
I don't know if I would travel for it. But, I wouldn't worry about pulling my kids out of school for it. |
Anonymous
Actually it’s happening again in 2 years. |
Anonymous
In the continental US, the next total solar eclipse will be 20 years from now on 8/23/2044, according to NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/ |
Anonymous
| I’m taking my child out of school a bit early for it here in Arlington. I would definitely pull her out of school for it if traveling were reasonable for us. |
Anonymous
| Northern VA/D.C. will get a great view at 87% coverage. No need to travel, but you do make the effort to see it. |
Anonymous
| My STBX is adamant that we must take our 10th graders to the band of totality. I’m not arguing because that’s where my mom lives, so we’ll get to visit her. |
Anonymous
I disagree. I think there are plenty of K and 2nd graders that would be excited about seeing a total eclipse. If this is something you and your family are into, OP, I would definitely pull the kids out of school. |
Anonymous
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We just tickets to be in an are of full totality. Our kids are late elementary so they should appreciate it. Our school admin ok'ed the absence too.
For those looking, here are ticket prices to various cities in/near it, based on leaving Saturday and coming back on a flight late enough on Monday to not miss the eclipse. San Antonio: $1,000 Austin: $1,500 Cincinnati (drive to Dayton): $500 Indianapolis: $900 Cleveland: $900 Toronto: $500 Montreal: $550 Burlington: no late direct flights back on 4/8. We went to the one in 2017 and our flight was over half eclipse chasers. |