How do parents book so far in advance due to school calendar?

[LadyLion_AP]

Oy - thank you for sharing. I live in FL and wasn't sure about those rules. Not sure if there is some variety about implementation by district, but your experience sounds awful. So sorry to hear it! :(

 

Hmmmm….private school is looking more appealing… Of course, if we did that we probably wouldn't have any money to cruise with, so there you go.

 

I'm a school administrator so I thought I'd share a little information. The compulsory attendance law applies to all schools, public and private. How it is implemented and age of implementation is determined by the State. Different Districts, even within the same state, may handle enforcement of the law differently. You may have the option to home school but the requirements for the parents/teachers varies by state as well. I appreciate the OP's concern for pulling a child out of school because there is much more accountability for student achievement. Just save up a little more money and cruise during the 180+ days children are not mandated to be in school. (Especially early readers & students in grades 6-12)

 

I also get numerous complaints when teachers are absent more than a few days. Parents wouldn't take so kindly to them missing a week of school to cruise when they have 180+ other days they could have chosen to take a vacation without disrupting the desired level of instruction for the children they teach.

[larronry]

 

I also get numerous complaints when teachers are absent more than a few days. Parents wouldn't take so kindly to them missing a week of school to cruise when they have 180+ other days they could have chosen to take a vacation without disrupting the desired level of instruction for the children they teach.

I think your math is a little off. I mean I know that it is 180 days mandated in school and therefor 185 not but you cannot use most of those days to cruise. First and foremost (perfect example) one of those 185 days off for students is tomorrow for our district, but teachers are still working. Also most of those days off are on weekends and odd holidays. I myself have found it hard to book 3 day cruise that doesn't cause him to miss school (and I live rather close to two ports 15 minutes from one and maybe an hour and 15 from the other plus traffic). It would logistically be almost impossible if not risky to try and wait until school is out on Friday to get to the port and wait home by Sunday and woops that is a 2 night cruise. Now if I could have found a 3 night leaving today and back on Sunday maybe just maybe with early release today and no school tomorrow, but I find most 4 nights run M - F and 3 nights run F - M. So yeah shave 100 days off that number for actual real potential cruising days and then another 7 off for teachers because they usually return to work a week earlier.

 

Try to see if you can find out if your school board has released the proposed draft versions of next years calendar. Ours just got release. Best to go to your schools principal, assistant principal, or SAC/SAF (if that is what they are in every state) committee for that information or link. It pays to volunteer on committees. :)

Edited October 25, 2013 by larronry

[LadyLion_AP]

I think your math is a little off. I mean I know that it is 180 days mandated in school and therefor 185 not but you cannot use most of those days to cruise. First and foremost (perfect example) one of those 185 days off for students is tomorrow for our district, but teachers are still working. Also most of those days off are on weekends and odd holidays. I myself have found it hard to book 3 day cruise that doesn't cause him to miss school (and I live rather close to two ports 15 minutes from one and maybe an hour and 15 from the other plus traffic). It would logistically be almost impossible if not risky to try and wait until school is out on Friday to get to the port and wait home by Sunday and woops that is a 2 night cruise. Now if I could have found a 3 night leaving today and back on Sunday maybe just maybe with early release today and no school tomorrow, but I find most 4 nights run M - F and 3 nights run F - M. So yeah shave 100 days off that number for actual real potential cruising days and then another 7 off for teachers because they usually return to work a week earlier.

 

Try to see if you can find out if your school board has released the proposed draft versions of next years calendar. Ours just got release. Best to go to your schools principal, assistant principal, or SAC/SAF (if that is what they are in every state) committee for that information or link. It pays to volunteer on committees. :)

 

I knew I'd get a comment such as this. Predictable! There are several consecutive weeks in the summer for most schools, a break in Spring, & a break over the winter holidays. Some districts also get a break in late Fall or Winter. My point is...There are plenty of opportunities for families and educators to take cruises of various lengths.

[LadyLion_AP]

How do those of you with kiddos book so far in advance without the school calendar being published? Or is it just my district that doesnt do it that far in advance?

I see a 2015 spring break cruise for a decent price. Usually our spring break is the 2nd wk of march, but every blue moon it will be the 3rd. I am afraid if i wait for next years calendar to be published the price will go up.

In a situation like this, whats the best way to book to make sure we get our money back if we have to cancel?

 

OP...I want to apologize if my original post came off as snarky. That was not my intention. You've received some good advice here regarding contacting your school and, again, I respect this is a consideration for you when choosing your travel dates.

[Blk_Amish]

All else fails check into Independent Study. I have used it without having to worry about attendance issues and my kids got an award plus perfect attendance for the week they 'missed'.

 

My school has a two year calendar.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Blk_Amish

[CI66774]

Kindergarteners just the same as a senior in high school. :(

 

As far as compulsory school attendance laws it gets really confusing. Kindergarten is if you turn 5 before Sept 1. Statute specifies that "all children who have attained the age of six years or who will have attained the age of 6 years by February 1 of any school year are required to attend school regularly during the entire school term." So since my son turned 6 in October of his Kindergarten year I think that means it was mandatory. So the choice is only for those whose children will turn six after Feb 1. Now is Kindergarten mandatory? "If a child enters public school at age 6 without evidence of kindergarten completion of an official transcript, then they will be placed in the first program of study, and that is kindergarten." To me that means yes the only choice a parent has is if their child has a birthday after Feb 1 and before Sept 1 they can delay it a year.

 

Oh and talking about mandatory if you have an ESE child and they go to the 18 - 22 year old program through the school system it applies to them too. The issue is that using ones brain is not an option.

 

Could anything get more convoluted?

 

Wow. In my state, a child only needs to attend public (or private/homeschool) if they turn 6 by August 1 of the school year. There are no laws requiring 5 year-olds to attend anything. Now, my child will attend a private Kindergarten but they've already told me that I can travel with her and they'll just give me independent study for her to complete during the trip.

[fadenya]

I never even worry about school vacation calendars. I'm one of those parents that just pulls my daughter out of school to cruise! We cruise in winter when it's cheaper and less crowded. I don't think I would take her during spring break...I've heard horror stories due to so many families on those cruise.

Just my preference.

 

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[Onessa]

. . . . I appreciate the OP's concern for pulling a child out of school because there is much more accountability for student achievement. Just save up a little more money and cruise during the 180+ days children are not mandated to be in school. . . .

. . . Predictable! There are several consecutive weeks in the summer for most schools, a break in Spring, & a break over the winter holidays. Some districts also get a break in late Fall or Winter. My point is...There are plenty of opportunities for families and educators to take cruises of various lengths.

Must be nice living in your world - but in my world between my job and my husband's job, our DD's school schedule, and other family committments we have; it is not the money but the time.

 

Even without my schedule having little or no "give" December through April, and my DH's issues throughout the summer (May through September) -- DD has manditory sessions during summer break for many of her classes, has band camp for a full week. These are part of the graded portion of her regular classes. While her school schedule generally has one "four day" weekend sometime in October and an extended Thanksgiving holiday, and we usually try to work around those - when it takes a day to a day-and-a-half to get to the port, missing some school is still going to happen. None of the other holidays correspond to times when DH and I can both get off and few of them are 8-12 consecutive days anyway!

 

My MIL is 93YO, living alone, and requires some assistance -- DH and his brothers share a schedule to check in and help her out. I have POA for my 89YO Aunt and need to make certain that there are folks able to support her when I am out of touch.

 

DD got a 32 on her first try on the ACT, and scores in the top 98 or 99% in all of the manditory "no child left behind" tests. She has a 4.205 GPA and has been accepted to several major universities for 2014-15 school year (as a full sophomore) so her school system seems to have been able to deal with the added stress of her having a few days out of school over her lifetime. She has not "pulled down" the school's accountability in any way, shape, manner, or form.

 

So before you imply that I must be "cheap" because I want to pull my kid from school for a few days -- realize that many, many, many of us live complicated lives that do not fit into all nice and tidy into your school system's buracratic schedule. As a school administrator you really should understand that your students come from diverse backgrounds. While my family has some pretty wild personal circumstances; we are not alone in having to juggle many, many responsiblities. Most of us are just doing the best we can.

[fadenya]

Consider me cheap! I am a single mother that can't afford to cruise during peak season on my social work salary. Plus my daughter gains a valuable education that she cannot learn in a school setting. Teachers and administrators that cannot see the value in that probably need to change careers.

 

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[Jettalinc]

We are pulling our two kids out of school for 2 weeks. All we had to do was let the teachers and principal know when and why and they were completely fine with it.

In the 4 years my son has been in school and the 2 years my daughter has been in school they have missed a grand total of 8 days between the two of them (four of which were due to my grandpa and dad dying, not at the same time), so it's not like we do this on a regular basis.

Our children are young enough that missing two weeks is not going to set them back.

[cj'smom]

I have no problem pulling my kids out of school for a few days during elementary and middle school. They have all been good students and have always been able to make up the work. I'd be more cautious during high school since it's tougher to make up work and every grade is counted toward their GPA.

 

As far as saving a little more to cruise during peak season -- sorry, but that just is not reality for some of us! Cruising is a luxury for us and one that we have only been able to afford by finding excellent deeply discounted deals during off season weeks. To cruise during the summer months, spring break or over the holiday season would easily cost us 3 to 4 times as much. If those were our only choices, we wouldn't be cruising at all.

[oncruisecontrol]

Must be nice living in your world - but in my world between my job and my husband's job, our DD's school schedule, and other family committments we have; it is not the money but the time.

 

Even without my schedule having little or no "give" December through April, and my DH's issues throughout the summer (May through September) -- DD has manditory sessions during summer break for many of her classes, has band camp for a full week. These are part of the graded portion of her regular classes. While her school schedule generally has one "four day" weekend sometime in October and an extended Thanksgiving holiday, and we usually try to work around those - when it takes a day to a day-and-a-half to get to the port, missing some school is still going to happen. None of the other holidays correspond to times when DH and I can both get off and few of them are 8-12 consecutive days anyway!

 

My MIL is 93YO, living alone, and requires some assistance -- DH and his brothers share a schedule to check in and help her out. I have POA for my 89YO Aunt and need to make certain that there are folks able to support her when I am out of touch.

 

DD got a 32 on her first try on the ACT, and scores in the top 98 or 99% in all of the manditory "no child left behind" tests. She has a 4.205 GPA and has been accepted to several major universities for 2014-15 school year (as a full sophomore) so her school system seems to have been able to deal with the added stress of her having a few days out of school over her lifetime. She has not "pulled down" the school's accountability in any way, shape, manner, or form.

 

So before you imply that I must be "cheap" because I want to pull my kid from school for a few days -- realize that many, many, many of us live complicated lives that do not fit into all nice and tidy into your school system's buracratic schedule. As a school administrator you really should understand that your students come from diverse backgrounds. While my family has some pretty wild personal circumstances; we are not alone in having to juggle many, many responsiblities. Most of us are just doing the best we can.

Regarding the bit that I highlighted in red: Amen. Very well stated.

[LadyLion_AP]

I haven't read all of the posts...intentionally. As I said before I didn't mean to come off as snarky, snooty, or anything else offensive. Just stated my opinion and did not intend to make people feel I think anything about them in particular. That's the problem with email, texts, etc. For those who took offense...I apologize. To the OP...I apologize my comment to your post turned into this. Can we please move on & agree that we have a difference in opinion. I am NOT judging anyone.

[Onessa]

I haven't read all of the posts...intentionally. . . . .

The fact that you did not read all of the posts is sad because your posts demonstrated a very simplistic "solution" to the situation the OP described and many of the posts attempted to help you understand that it is not always as easy as you believe.

[LadyLion_AP]

The fact that you did not read all of the posts is sad because your posts demonstrated a very simplistic "solution" to the situation the OP described and many of the posts attempted to help you understand that it is not always as easy as you believe.

 

The OP clearly suggests that the school calendar is important enough for her to cancel if necessary. When others suggested the simple solution of "pulling the kids out of school" I chimed in, which I now regret. It is not a matter of being "cheap", etc. It is about priorities and/or wanting to follow the rules. It did not seem to me that she was looking for the "cheapest" time to travel, but a way to save money and NOT have to CANCEL later. I've realized that some people have chosen to take her question in another direction & boy have I learned my lesson here! Next time I won't comment unless it directly answers a poster's question. I would really like to login without people looking for an argument and/or misinterpreting my words! So, again, lesson learned! I'm moving on now.

 

Can anyone tell me how to login to my account without this post showing up once someone has commented? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

[SUSIEK]

How do those of you with kiddos book so far in advance without the school calendar being published? Or is it just my district that doesnt do it that far in advance?

I see a 2015 spring break cruise for a decent price. Usually our spring break is the 2nd wk of march, but every blue moon it will be the 3rd. I am afraid if i wait for next years calendar to be published the price will go up.

In a situation like this, whats the best way to book to make sure we get our money back if we have to cancel?

 

 

If you are looking at 2015 there is plenty of time to cxl without losing everything. Check the cancellation policy with the cruiseline. ** Make sure to read the fine print of the category you are booking regarding cancellations and refunds.

 

We are lucky to have the "proposed" schedules for the 2014/2015 school year on our district website. Although we have been lucky to wait for last minute deals. Easy for us as we live in Florida...no flights for caribbean sailings.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I'm a school administrator so I thought I'd share a little information. The compulsory attendance law applies to all schools, public and private. How it is implemented and age of implementation is determined by the State. Different Districts, even within the same state, may handle enforcement of the law differently. You may have the option to home school but the requirements for the parents/teachers varies by state as well. I appreciate the OP's concern for pulling a child out of school because there is much more accountability for student achievement. Just save up a little more money and cruise during the 180+ days children are not mandated to be in school. (Especially early readers & students in grades 6-12)

 

I also get numerous complaints when teachers are absent more than a few days. Parents wouldn't take so kindly to them missing a week of school to cruise when they have 180+ other days they could have chosen to take a vacation without disrupting the desired level of instruction for the children they teach.

 

 

Just another view on this: I grew up as a student in the Los Angeles Unified school district (the second largest in the country) and my daughter is a junior in high school in the same district.

 

The last few years have made it very hard for many parents to schedule family vacations because of many changes made to the school calendar even after the school years have begun. One major reason is the budget crisis. Teachers have been getting furlough days, which means the schools close down for those days. But then, a couple of times, many has been found, which meant sticking those days at the end of the calendar years (I think this happened two different years when the majority of the schools closed during the week of Thanksgiving -- traditionally they have only closed the Thursday and Friday in the past).

 

Another situation that had families pulling out their hair trying to figure out when to book vacations: the board of education decided to change the school year from starting a day or two after Labor Day and ending in mid-June to starting in mid-August and ending at the beginning of June. On top of that, the plan was to implement this in stages. And of course, the first schools to go through this change were the San Fernando Valley high schools (and when this was first proposed about 7 or 8 years ago, I'm sure I wasn't the only parent writing them in protest -- we get temperatures of over 100 degrees for several days in September, and just about the whole month of August, so it's a health issue, as well as a financial one as the A/Cs have to run for that extra few weeks in making this change).

 

So now you have a dilemma for parents who have a high school kid who is on a different schedule than his younger siblings.

 

The next year this change was supposed to be made district-wide, but it was decided just a few months before the end of the year, not to change it just then for the rest of the schools -- again, a budget concern according to the info given. So another year in which kids from the same family may be on a very different schedule.

 

Fortunately we just have one child, but when she made the change from middle school to high school, she had less than two months of summer vacation. And since she decided to take some classes during the summer at the local college, she ended up with just two weeks of free time. Her choice, though. And since then, the next two summers have meant no vacations as she had band practices during the summer (we did go to the mountains for a day trip on one day).

 

So even though (and I'm guessing from later responses, you're regretting saying what you did in this post) you suggest planning vacations during the scheduled breaks, it isn't that easy for parents if 1) they're not getting advance notice of future academic calendars, and 2) if the scheduled days in class and out change after a calendar has been posted, schools and school districts need to cut the parents some slack.

 

Adding to the complexity are demands made by sports programs (which I've seen mentioned from time to time on this board) and other activities -- that if a child has to miss a practice, they can be dropped from the program -- can you blame parents for being frustrated? I truly believe that coaches and schools need to realize this and not penalize a child just because a family wants to go on a vacation. To me, missing a day of school or a practice isn't going to cause the world to stop spinning in the scheme of things.

 

We did pull her out of school one week during kindergarten as we were offered a fantastic friends and family discount. I told the teacher as soon as we knew the dates, and she gave us the homework packet for the week. I know of other parents who have taken elementary school kids out for the day to go to Disneyland.

[LadyLion_AP]

My comment to this post gave the impression that I care what others do. The truth is, if it doesn't impact my life at all...I really don't. So to all... Do what works for you. I am really on this site to learn about ships I haven't sailed, get ideas about excursion, get the inside scoop from seasoned cruisers, and join a few meet & greets. So, since I can not delete this from my feed I may need to reiterate this again at some point. (My plan is to remain a CC member, as I don't engage in any other social media & I like being able to hear from others about my new found joy...cruising!!!) My regret is having engaged in this conversation originally...thus having to engage when people quote my post (especially when he/she feels judged, called cheap although I never used that terminology, or any other negative emotion he/she has felt after reading my post). That was not my intention so I feel inclined to clarify. I get it. People's lives are different, experiences are different, priorities are impacted by circumstance, etc. Got it!

[echoeasy]

Even if a school calendar is not yet published, your school district may have set many of the dates well ahead of time. Is it possible that the district could give you the dates, perhaps if you called or visited their offices?

 

I noticed that you have sailed the Carnival Dream. How did you like it. We are planning on taking our 4 and 6 yr old in May.

[katyjeka]

My dh has worked for the same company for 34 years. We are fortunate as his company has excellent benefits and retirement. The only problem, his vacation is the last week of November and the first three weeks in Dec. This can not be changed for any reason. Summer is forbidden unless your dealing with a death. No exceptions. This rules out any summer travel as we are not willing to "fake" a death as sadly so many people we know do. Really. We've homeschooled our girls for the last eleven years, which I take very seriously. Our oldest is in college. It may seem extreme to some, but the school was not willing to listen to our situation, and Thanksgiving does not always fall in the last week. We wanted to show our girls as much of the world as we could. They've experienced far more than they would have in the very best of classrooms. Kinder. is not required in Pa., children must be enrolled in school by the age of 8, yes 8. We complete the mandatory 180 days, and often go over this. I'm often amazed at the amount of people who believe learning can only happen in a classroom. Our dd's learned Spanish very quickly after spending almost a month in Rincon, PR.

[ata1976]

We just book when it works for our schedules and we pull her out of school. She is a kindergartner this year and we will be doing a B2B the first two weeks of December. I am sure as she gets older this will become more difficult but we believe that we are just as responsible for her education as the school system.

 

Christmas break, spring break, and summer are just not when we like to cruise. This will be her 8th and 9th cruise and she has learned a lot about the various ports we visit. This December she will be journaling every day about what she did and the ports we visited.

 

 

We got a truancy letter from our school system too when I took my Kindergartner out of school for a week. I had read the handbook and told the school well ahead of time, but still got the letter. :(

Edited January 11, 2014 by ata1976
Spelling issues!

[ata1976]

Our school calendar usually comes out in January for the next school year, so we usually book in Jan or Feb for our fall cruise.

 

This is the first year we have booked just hoping for the best. We booked while on our cruise in October for our cruise next October. We booked a refundable rate, so once the calendar is published this month, hopefully our break is still the first week in October otherwise we might have to change.

[musik07]

I teach in an urban charter and planning anything over breaks is next to impossible. We didn't know what was going on the friday day before Christmas until the week before. It was scheduled as a full day but got changed to a half day. Our schedule is supposed to be the same every year but it isn't. This year teachers have less days at the end of the year (we are assuming it means more days in August) but we won't know until June when they publish the calendar! The same goes with spring break, it is the week after Easter, unless state standardized tests are the day we would come back from break. Unfortunately, the state doesn't release those dates until late spring of the year before. And everything is relative because since we are not in a district our board can make a last minute schedule. We decided to take our vacation the first week of August even though it is expensive. It just means I can join my family on trips less often, but I have a job I love so it is a trade off. I can't imagine how our parents deal with the changes we often have, it is hard enough to make plans when it is just me and my dog. How I would make arrangements for kids, I have no idea!

[4biegelboys]

We make an educated guess and if we're wrong we make arrangements with the Schools. We usually pull the kids out because we agonist always vacation during off seasons because of my son who has autism. This year we thought we had the right week for Spring break but we're a week off so they'll be missing a week. Teachers are giving our kids homework ahead of time and special assignment to do while on vacation. I try to avoid times when I know testing is going on (end of grading periods, or semesters, the first week of mar H and the first week of May are usually our weeks of standardized testing) I can guarantee my kids will remember and get more out of our vacation than what they will in school that week. My kids are 15,14,12, and 6, they are all honor roll and straight A students.

[Paumavista]

We have always just pulled the kids out of school......they are basically good students...(A's & B's). Missing one week (even 2 weeks) has never made ANY difference on whether they can pass a class or not......they have an entire year to keep up their average (even failing a test/missing assignments has never resulted in them failing the class or entire grade).

 

As far as school "policy"....I'm sure it says they CANNOT legally miss this much time but we have never had a problem. (Usually we tell the teacher....but if it's just a couple days...sometimes we don't even mention it).

 

I shared my experience......(consequences).....for anyone else who has "pulled a child out" with no excuse & received a Truancy letter or something from the school - and to any of you who work for a school district - what exactly did the school DO when a good student (A/B) misses school? Has a child ever actually been "left back" or gone to summer school; - I have never heard of this happening (doesn't mean it does not happen....I've just never heard of this being the sole issue related to summer school or failing an entire year's course)

 

So what does a truancy letter mean? and what are the implications? After all the letter's or threats about what could happen if you took your child out.....ultimately what DID happen?

 

PS I like the "independent study" suggestion someone made.

 

We also plan to home school our youngest to avoid long term travel issues someday.