Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

Or you could just say to your kid, "real" school starts in K, or 1st, or wherever that line is. Many PK-aged children are in daycare centers all around town, and they are absent or take vacations whenever they want. These are also structured environments with little kids, and the absences don't seem to interfere with anyone learning their ABCs, 123s, or "social norms."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being political, but here's the thing: you're now attending public school, whether at a charter or DCPS, using public resources. That means you follow their attendance rules, which include a limit on unexcused absences. If you want to take a lot of vacations and pull your kid out whenever you want, you'll need to do that on your own dime--i.e., private school. You may not think of PK3 or PK4 as "real school," but the District does.

OP here. I get that with ages 5 and up. But I cannot find an attendance rule anywhere for PK3 and PK4. So my understanding is there is no rule to break. Clearly, my first post was asking people of they knew of any such rule, in which case I would absolutely abide by it. But to the extent there is no such rule, and the school therefore doesn't really care, and it works for my son and our family, I'm not sure what the problem is that we get some amazing quality time as a family.

Other people mentioned that this is more of an issue when you are OOB -- but there isn't really a concept of OOB and IB at the pre-K level so not sure if this rationale applies.

Anonymous wrote:It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm not sure why you don't think IB/OOB don't apply to PK3/PK4--although they are not mandatory grades and you have to lottery in, they are still distinctions, and IB students have more rights than OOB students with respect to unexcused absences.

Here is the absence policy for the DCPS parent handbook:

"Attendance
Regular school attendance is required by DC law for children ages 5 to 18. Although not required by law, it is just as important for children ages 3 and 4 to have regular attendance as well. Attending school every day and on-time is critically important and has a huge impact on learning from kindergarten through high school. Even as children grow older and become more independent, families play a key role in making sure regular attendance is a priority.

Some absences are unavoidable but when a student misses too much school—excused or unexcused—they
can fall behind academically. Students are much less likely to succeed when they are chronically absent and/or miss 18 or more days in a school year. Students who miss more than 20% of their scheduled periods in a school day will, by law, be considered absent for the entire day.

If your child received a seat through the out-of-boundary lottery and has 10 unexcused absences or 20 unexcused tardies, they may be asked to return to their neighborhood school at the end of the school year."

See http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Parents/DCPS%20Parent%20HandbookEnglishweb.pdf

So my read of this is that there is no rule governing PK kids, but they prefer you make an effort for your kids to be there. There is no "out of boundary lottery" for PK. All PK kids lottery in, and those in bound receive a preference at the school. I plan to check with his DCPS in any event.

To those who get snippy about us traveling to Florida, the kid freaking loves it and it's amazing for our family time. Spending a week of solid time with his dad (who travels for work a lot), with grandma and granddad etc etc.... is a million times more positive for his development at age 3 than one more week of the public school curriculum. Sorry the rest of you are jealous.

Anonymous wrote:All the posts spouting off about the gravitas of pk3 or 4 are just silliness. The time (a week!) spent with the family at the beach is way more important than the time at school.

Anonymous wrote:I know some who've gotten away with this but then, every so often, there are highly publicized cases (including a recent one from Brent), where someone is being dragged before social services. I think that one involved a child in K and up. Another consideration of whether you'll want to take the risk of becoming such a case is whether you're OOB or IB. The rules are clear there and if you're at a popular school, whether others are vying for your spot, the principal will not hesitate to apply them: Racking up unexcused absences - and these will be and they'll be recorded as such - can mean you forgo your spot.
Most importantly, it's worth considering your child's sentiment in all of this. If he/she is outgoing and savvy, then arriving a week late or missing a week of instruction won't phase him/her. If not, that might make all the difference between feeling comfortable in a new environment or having a stressful transition, in the case of Labor Day for example.

Meanwhile, please consider becoming an advocate for year-round schooling. How much better off would we all be if the days these kids spend inside and outside of school were better distributed over the year. I'd love a meaningful fall break or another Winter Break Week, and a substantial Spring Break etc. The rest of the developed world operates that way; why can't we.

Anonymous wrote:It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm not sure why you don't think IB/OOB don't apply to PK3/PK4--although they are not mandatory grades and you have to lottery in, they are still distinctions, and IB students have more rights than OOB students with respect to unexcused absences.

Here is the absence policy for the DCPS parent handbook:

"Attendance
Regular school attendance is required by DC law for children ages 5 to 18. Although not required by law, it is just as important for children ages 3 and 4 to have regular attendance as well. Attending school every day and on-time is critically important and has a huge impact on learning from kindergarten through high school. Even as children grow older and become more independent, families play a key role in making sure regular attendance is a priority.

Some absences are unavoidable but when a student misses too much school—excused or unexcused—they
can fall behind academically. Students are much less likely to succeed when they are chronically absent and/or miss 18 or more days in a school year. Students who miss more than 20% of their scheduled periods in a school day will, by law, be considered absent for the entire day.

If your child received a seat through the out-of-boundary lottery and has 10 unexcused absences or 20 unexcused tardies, they may be asked to return to their neighborhood school at the end of the school year."

See http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Parents/DCPS%20Parent%20HandbookEnglishweb.pdf