Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everybody for replying and for opinions. I am uncomfortable lying and having her lie. That is possibly why I posted. DD wants to come as the real estate business I have to take care of at that time is in the state her cousins are in and she hasn't seen them in 2 years, it is unfortunate that it is at the time school is in session. She will make up all the work.

So, she could stay with a friend, but wants to travel with you. You could have just said that.

I am also ticked off about MoCo school calendar. Kids have only one week and one day off for Christmas, but then they have additional 3 days off in January. Only one if a real holiday.

OP again. I know many kids who travel a lot with parents overseas and kids miss a lot of school days. I don't like unexcused absences, but I found MoCo public schools to be very difficult in excusing. I would prefer just to let the attending office know why she is missing school, but I also don't like the fact that they might not think it is a good enough reason to excuse. So, yes, I am not happy about her having unexcused absences in high school. It is just something in my mind that this is bad. On the other hand as she can see her cousins for two days, I think it isn't a big deal, so I am conflicted within about it.

Anonymous wrote:As an international family, OP, we have also taken our children out of school for family reasons and made trips overseas.

High school is not a time when you want to do too much of that, but if it's for 2 days, don't you think it's a no-brainer????

OP here, but did they excuse the absences? If you told them kids are traveling?

Don't lie. Not fair to your daughter.

It is not that they cannot be made up..but the teacher does not have to allow a makeup. I have never had a teacher deny a makeup. I think it would have to be a situation where the student was regularly blowing off class...or a really outlier teacher. You can have 5 unexcused absences before losing credit for the class. I have never heard about grade lowering.

Anonymous wrote:Why do you have to lie? It's an unexcused absence so you just don't send in a note. She makes up the work when she gets back.

Her DD is in high school and the rules are different for unexcused absences. Certain work, like tests, cannot be made up and if you get more than a certain number of unexcused absences (and I can't recall the number but it's low) your grade drops one letter grade. I am a PP who suggested that you request that the absence be excused. I have been successful with this.

Just tell them she won't be in school. So she gets 2 unexcused absences on her report card - that is truly not the end of the world (and I don't believe for one second will have any impact at all on her college admissions, despite the PP up thread)

There is no reason to lie. Just tell the truth. Two unexcused absences are not a big deal AT ALL.

As an international family, OP, we have also taken our children out of school for family reasons and made trips overseas.

High school is not a time when you want to do too much of that, but if it's for 2 days, don't you think it's a no-brainer????

More than 3 unexcused absences usually a receipt for disaster. Won't get accepted to a good college. My friend is a guidance counselor at a W HS.

Why do you have to lie? It's an unexcused absence so you just don't send in a note. She makes up the work when she gets back.

OP here. Thanks everybody for replying and for opinions. I am uncomfortable lying and having her lie. That is possibly why I posted. DD wants to come as the real estate business I have to take care of at that time is in the state her cousins are in and she hasn't seen them in 2 years, it is unfortunate that it is at the time school is in session. She will make up all the work.

Since it's planned, she should talk to teachers ahead of time and try to do any work before leaving (if there even is any that early in the year). As long as she does that the nature of the absence doesn't really matter. The rules are different in HS but in practice it's not that big of a deal (she probably won't get near the ten day limit). The school doesn't want a call day of, just a note with a contact number within a couple of days of return, you probably can get by with no explanation at all.

Anonymous wrote:Why not arrange for her to stay at a friend's house?

This is what I would do for a high schooler.