Do you take your High Schoolers out of school to cruise?

[powelweb]

Like others, my DD is too young to worry about school absences - she's 4.

We did just book an extended family trip for 15 (including her 6 cousins) for Feb vacation week in 2010.

 

Turns out that 4 of the 7 cousins will be missing school as they live in the southwest and only do 1 spring vacation in march while the other 3 live in the northeast and have a week in feb and in april.

 

I like to read these threads to see how others approach the question, so keep them coming.

[quincytoo]

Wow, I can not believe how strict some of the schools are in the States. Here in Canada it is much more relaxed. We have always pulled our children out in either Nov or Oct for a family holiday. We lived in Whistler for many years where we just couldn't get away from work during regular holidays. After leaving Whistler these months just worked better for us.

 

We always made sure the teachers knew we were leaving and for how long, never did a teacher say "don't go", they all seemed to encourage family vacations.

 

Schools here don't dock you for missed days, I don't understand how any schools could do that?

 

We would ask for an outline of what the kids would be missing. They always did their school work throughout the holiday and a few times came back ahead of the classes. We made sure they did not have sciences (or any classes involving labs) during the first semister.

 

 

We had one son who was constantly on the honour roll throughout school and that never changed even with taking Fall holidays. Now that he is in University he missed last Nov trip, that said, he is about to go to Paris and Amsterdam with friends, yea I am so jealous :eek:

 

But for grade 12 and under I know that first hand, with a little planning, it can be done.

 

I realize it doesn't work for everyone but I am so happy that it worked for our family, now that they are all grown (or just about grown) we have priceless memories of incredible family holidays :)

[PJBUCHEIT]

When we took our two teens out for our first family cruise in 06, I called the school to let them know that the girls would be gone for a full week. At the time of this phone call, NO ONE said to me that each of those days would be considered an unexcused absence. I remember the attendance clerk telling me to have a good time. When we returned I recieved a letter in the mail that both girls would have 5 Saturday schools. So we try very hard to not take the kids out of school for longer then 3 days. It is hard for us since we have 5 kids still in school and some are in year round and others in tradtional. None of them have exactly the same time off during the school year.

[Chickadee32707]

No way!

 

As a mom: Education comes first. If it means that for several years we have to pay more to travel during school vacations, so be it. If we can afford to take the family on a cruise, we can figure out a way to pay a bit more to travel at peak times. Maybe a day or two, but a whole week? Never. If parents make education a priority, kids will too.

 

As a teacher: It is such a pain to have to gather assignments in advance for students to be out for a week for VACATION! :( I can't leave and miss a week of school, so why do you feel the need to take your child out of school, stress them out and make more work for me? Can you imagine the outrage if a teacher took a week away from work to go on a cruise? Don't get me wrong, I love teaching and would go to the ends of the earth to help a child get caught up due to illness or family emergency, but vacation is a different story. That is what the holidays, spring break and summer are for. To begin with, when parents contact me weeks in advance demanding work, I often don't know exactly where we will be, due to the speed the kids catch on to new concepts or what assignments I will be giving. In fact, our district mandates department-level common planning about a week ahead of when it is taught (common assignments/tests etc), so often the delay in planning has nothing to do with me. Then there are all of the make-up tests/quizzes that the student has to come in for before or after school (to not get further behind!) which I have to give up my time for yet again. Often, the students are not able to fully grasp the concept, requiring them to come in before/after school for extra help (my time again). Often, they just don't do the work and take zeroes, causing their grades to plummet (my fault!). Again, I love working with children, but think of it from the teacher's viewpoint...

[gazingm42]

Well only you know you kids and if they can catch up the work. But we

have pulled our kids have been pulled before and we just leave it as a

family emergency with the school.

 

Your kids will be in collage and married soon. Memory like this will

last a life time. Some of the memories I have as a child was vacations

with the family during school year.

 

Our favorite excuse to use for the schools was they had a vision problem.

Just did not see why they need to be in school today. :)

[SelectSys]

Wow, I can not believe how strict some of the schools are in the States. Here in Canada it is much more relaxed. ... We always made sure the teachers knew we were leaving and for how long, never did a teacher say "don't go", they all seemed to encourage family vacations.

 

Schools here don't dock you for missed days, I don't understand how any schools could do that?

...

 

It's all about how public schools are funded in the US. If the kid doesn't show up for the day the school doesn't get the money from the state. Note the language in the text I downloaded from San Diego Unified Schools even refers to the students earning money for the district! If your kids go to a private school (i.e., they already have your money) you'll rarely hear a complaint.

 

BTW - I am taking my kids out of school for the first time for travel. They are missing the last day before Winter (we can't say Christmas in our district) break. My son is somewhat upset because he has a 4 year run going without missing a single day due to illness or any other reason.

 

From the San Diego Unified School District Pupil Accounting FAQ ( http://www.sandi.net/pupil_acct/ ):

 

"What is ADA (Average Daily Attendance)?

ADA (Average Daily Attendance) is best explained this way:

 

All students attending negative attendance sites earn daily ADA for every day

they are in attendance. Schools are in session for 180 days.

 

The State basic revenue limit for 2007-08 is $5,786.66. That means that if a

student was in attendance every single day for 180 days, they would earn 1.00

ADA, which equals $5,786.66 for the total year. Most schools in the district are

negative attendance schools.

 

For a daily rate, take the revenue limit and divide it by 180, and you get $32.15

per student per day.

 

Students who are in positive attendance programs, such as Continuation

schools, earn ADA based on the hours they are in attendance at the site. In this

case, if a student was in class for weekly required hours for all 180 days, they

would earn 1.00 ADA. It is never possible to earn more that 1.00 ADA per

student.

 

Students who are in Hourly programs, such as Summer School, or Intersession,

earn an hourly rate of $4.08/hour for each hour they are in attendance. The rate

is the same for all hourly programs such as Focus, CAHSEE, or EDRP. This rate

does not translate into ADA as these programs are not held during regular

school.

 

Additional funding may be earned for students who are designated as Special

Education students. However, their base ADA rate is the same as other students."

[4cruizers]

I would not ever consider taking my kids out for vacation. I have one in college, his last year, and one that is a sophomore. Neither one want to miss school. My youngest takes four honor classes and one AP class. He said with sports and other things going on in his life it is just too much stress to catch up on the work. When you get back you have to do the work they are working on, plus catch up on what you missed. He said it is just not worth it. Education...the most important thing in life they can receive. We have always managed to work around school and have even managed to work around college and high school classes. It can be done.

[natduv]

Yes, I have taken my daughter out of school to go on a cruise two years ago for a week and four years ago to go to New Zealand for 8 school days. We made it just under the 10 day mark before she would be "L" out. We go with a group that travels during the off peak times. I am a teacher and I have taken off many days and weeks to go on cruises and trips during the school year. Parents do the same by taking their kids out of school for weeks at a time to go to Mexico. Teaching is stressful and you need these breaks.

[juniorsmom]

I agree with Qunicytoo, schools in Ontario aren't funded the way they are in the U.S. We are taking our grade 11 son for our cruise later this year. We booked it for the week before christmas vacation, usually the last day of school is (skip day) so he will only miss 4 days. He is not on a semester system so 4 days really isn't much time away. Our school tends to do alot of exchange programs with other schools in Europe, so they are used to students coming and going. Everyone has the responsibility to make the best choices for their own family. I treasure the memories of travelling with my kids.

[Travelitis]

Just for clarification, I'm the OP. :)

 

I am mainly concerned for my 9th grader who will be in an IB program, including an AP class. My 11th grader will probably already be totally hospital/homebound again by that point, so they can easily work around a cruise. My 5th grader wouldn't have any problem at all. The IB program can also let him work ahead, but I'd rather not take that route.

 

Because no one has mentioned this, but I know we're not the only family who has to deal with it, I thought I'd mention the other factor that really makes scheduling difficult: divorce. Here are the breaks and who gets them. Feel free to tell me what you'd pick.

 

This is 2008/09 These are the ONLY breaks other than 3 day weekends.

Thanksgiving (don't know whose - haven't had this wk off for 3 yrs, think

it's his but he won't take it.) Least expensive, but we'd like

the cruise to be part of Christmas.

 

Christmas (he gets through 12/26, and kids go back 1/6 - originally when

we had booked when it was longer & Thanksgiving shorter.

school dist changed sched. NYE cruises are sky high.)

 

Spring Break (his - kids could tell him they want to stay with me)

 

Summer - starts June 6 - He's supposed to get 6 of 10 weeks, but baseball, scout camp, and monthly medical treatments interfere. Cruise costs $800 - $1200 more than during Spring Break. (doubtful we can afford it then)

 

It gets harder to schedule a cruise when you're sharing the vacation time and the other parent is given more. Then you add in baseball from Feb -June and Boy Scout camp, and you end up with a husband saying, "Just cancel our booking and forfeit the money". The TA will charge $50pp if we don't rebook in a yr. The kids have been asking us since the Elation if they'll ever get to go on another cruise. We can do this only while dh is at a shore command, but I swear I'm going to need a vacation to recover from booking this vacation!

[kdunn]

I am taking my kids out ,since it's over Thanksgiving break they will only miss three days. A college student, and two high schoolers and a middle schooler. They all are are taking honor classes or a and b students. I have already talk to their schools and they have no problem with this. But my kids take their home work with them and complete everything they miss and more, I have taken them out for a week every years but i only wanted to do three days this year to make it easier with their classes. This is the only time of the year we can take a vacation because of my husband work.

[abitaturbodog]

This question has been asked and answered so many times on this board. In all the years I've been on CC, I've come to realize that there is no "right" answer to this question. You have to do what's best for you and your family.

 

Although you get lots of different opinions, you have to make the decision yourself.

 

Good luck!

[Travelitis]

Well, I have to make a quick decision. We need to do this in May while Carnival is running the Friends and Family rate for military so we can get the discount on both cabins.

[bwjm]

And again, only you can decide. How do your kids feel about it? Are they for it? Then they'll be more excited/apt to make up the work they'll miss. Mine are planning to spend all night Friday working on their homework to get it done before we leave for the flight Saturday. They don't want to take anything along to work on. If your 9th grader can and wants to work ahead, I would let him. Give a sense of accomplishment like 'I did it, now I can cruise!'.

It sounds to me like like your kids want to go, how flexible is the ex? If the dates go into his, is there a way that you could 'give them back' at another time? So you can enjoy your cruise, and he doesn't loose days.

Yes, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now, but nobody can tell you what to do, only you can decide that.

If it were me, I would look into days that least affect 'ex' and yes, with kids AND schools permission, I am pulling mine out. I, though, am not in your position. We are taking a March cruise when things are slower in school, luckily, and her scout camp and softball season are not affected. This is also our first cruise, and probably only one, and it happend to fall right in that little break she has in her busy life. My DD is also in 3 AP classes, and is confident that she won't have a problem.

[Mike45]

My wife and i took my son out for a week last september. The school didn't mind but he said it was rough to catch up. He had about 70% done before we left and he did fine anyway. He said he would rather go in the summer.

[Onessa]

. . . Because no one has mentioned this, but I know we're not the only family who has to deal with it, I thought I'd mention the other factor that really makes scheduling difficult: divorce.

 

Thank goodness no we are not a divorced family (just scheduling the three of us - DH, DD and me - is tough enough). I have several direct reports who go through the "ex" gauntlet for every day off. For some folks the same need to play games that was a major cause of the divorce lives on after the bonds of marriage have broken!

 

. . . Here are the breaks and who gets them. Feel free to tell me what you'd pick. . .

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Spring Break

Summer

. . . .

 

Personally, I'd vote for TG. We've cruised TG twice, spring break once, the rest in summer. Our summer cruises were not bad since our school lets out pretty early and we still get some decent deals and there are not yet the big crowds. Later summer stuff does get pricey and the ports and cruises pretty busy. Spring break was just a fiasco -- big bucks, too many unaccompanied (or under accompanied) college kids who seemed to buy into the MTV view of what spring break is supposed to be.

 

We did HI three years ago, and Eastern Med last TG. We enjoyed those so much that we are planning a Western Med this TG. It greatly reduces the number of days our DD is off of school with the regular school TG vacation. TG week also happens to be in the middle of "gun" deer hunting season in these parts. Since there is a sizable portion of the population around here that feels that hunting is a birthright and that ANY time during the season that they are not hunting is criminal, the school district and teachers have come to face reality -- not all too much happens the remaining "school" days around TG. There are enough kids on the cruise to make it interesting for DD. TG is not a holiday outside the US, so if you are in port on TG day, things are not closed for the holiday (as they are on Christmas).

[bwjm]

Thank goodness no we are not a divorced family (just scheduling the three of us - DH, DD and me - is tough enough). I have several direct reports who go through the "ex" gauntlet for every day off. For some folks the same need to play games that was a major cause of the divorce lives on after the bonds of marriage have broken!

Jane....

I too don't have problem of 'ex' gauntlet. I figured I could mess her life up quite well on my own, w/o his help, so it's been me and her for 15 yrs now! And, we're going on a cruise, so I guess I did something right in there. But, that's a whole other story....

But, you're right, here in PA we, too, get off for 'rifle/deer' season. Schools close, DOT shuts down, the works. TH might work best, although she hasn't been off in 3 yrs, and she doesn't know whos week. But, regardless, I say let the kids decide. Do they WANT to go? Are they willing to make up the work? Just short of looking for a job, right? How bad do they want it, and what are they willing to do. That is what my issues were, and now I have 2 kids going on a cruise with me!

Glad to know someone else out there with same 'habitats'. Problem is for me, putting all those hunting personalities on a ship/cruise, how do you think that's going to work?

[West Texas]

wow, that sounds like a great program, with taking the college credits at the univ, and the fridays off, my freshman, will only have to take 1 final next week, he gets to opt out with the grade to absences ratio ( if you have 95 or above and up to 2 absences, -no final, or 90-95 and only 1 absences, etc. of course you have to pass the state testing also, but he is happy, me too,

[galavant3]

I'd take them out! We have three kids, one is a senior in college, one is a senior in high school (heading to college in the fall) and one is a freshman. The older two have taken AP classes and were able to make up the few days missed. They can see if they can get some work ahead of time and complete over the break (prior to the cruise).

 

Our school does excuse these absences, I probably wouldn't do it if they didn't. Also, because my husband and I both earn incentive trips with our jobs, we don't always have a choice of dates. Incentive trips are usually when school is in session.

 

For anyone with a HS Senior, missing school (excused or not) could affect

whether or not they are exempt from final exams. Worth checking into. Also, if a child is struggling academically, it might not be in the best interest of the child. It becomes a very individual and personal decision.

 

We take our HS kids out every year. Once they are in college....no way!

 

Good luck with your decision and I'm sure whatever you decide will be in the best interest of your family!

[azspring]

We talked to our daughters teachers and explaned thet our Christmas trip/family reunion is a once in a lifetime trip. They agreed to give her assignments early so she could finish them before we left, thus turned in ontime.

[mike91911]

None of my kids are in high school, but I have taken them out for vacation. I keep reading posts saying that is what summer vacation, spring break, winter break etc are for. Well, up until recently, my vacation weeks were based on my seniority in the union. With my seniority I was unable to hold a week in the summer or any school vacation week. If I wanted to take a vacation and actually go somewhere, I had to take a week during the school year.

[gogispu]

Here's my 2 cents on this..... If you can plan to make the cruise educational for your kids then it is a great idea. I teach High School and teach Spanish, French and History. So...for my own children, cruising has always been an enrichment of learning. I try and incorporate what they are learning with what we 'll see on the cruise. Yes, we do and am pulling our kids out as are at least 2 other sets of parents from our town to cruise (on different ships) at the same time. My kids are 13 and 9 and have been to Alaska where we studied the eco-system and how different it was from Fl (where we were living at the time). The kids have neen to Mexico where they practice their Spanish, they have been to the schools in Belize(we were able to schedual a visit to a catholic school and the kids got to see what the day there was like) . From a teacher stand point...I ask my students where are they going and tailor make an agenda of work that they can make up and also how to incorporate what they are seeing. Mexico..an essay in Spanish on what they saw,did, ate and bought. So..it's all how you approach it.

Anne

[CanadianTwosome]

Our daughter is currently still in elementary school, and we're taking her out for a week again next January for another cruise. Every year, before booking, I evaluate her performance and consider what her report cards have looked like - not just the marks but the comments as well. I am confident that she will again be fine missing a week. That being said, she is still only going to be in grade 5.

 

As she advances in school, I will continue to evaluate the risks of her missing time in the same way. Hopefully a point will not come where I am concerned about her academic performance in any way, but if it should happen, I will not take her out of class. Fortunately for us, we also have the ability between us to tutor any subject she will take from now until she graduates high school, which gives us a bit of an advantage because we can help her with assignments she might be given, and pre- or post-study of anything she might miss.

 

Everything I've said here has to do with ONE child... mine. Anyone considering taking their child out of school should take some time to think about all of the ramifications of doing so with THEIR child. What is your school's policy regarding vacations? How are your child's marks and class performance? Will the missed time cause them to fall behind? If so, are they capable of catching up while also learning the new material? Are they involved in any activities that may also be affected? You might also consider discussing it with your child's teacher(s). They will certainly have an opinion about how the absence will affect your child's performance in their class.

[Warm Breezes]

The decision will be a tough one but it will need to be based on the restrictions your family has. I have a DS who will me a freshman next year and a DD in middle school. I have taken them out of school every year for a cruise or land vacation for 2-5 days. The last two years were really hard on DS. He is a straight A student, but making up the work missed the last 2 years was really hard on him (it was only 2-3 days each year). He was also penalized by the basketball coach for missing a couple practices and their first game. (Of course these practices and the game were not on the school schedule when I booked the cruise.)

 

We were trying to book a cruise for this year but could not find a week when myself and DH could get off a work that wouldn't interfere with school, dance, basketball, soccer, track, and band. It's not happening. We did find a week this year when there is nothing going on but DH couldn't get it off of work. Our goal is for him to try to get that week off next year and we will do a 7 day cruise (we normally do a 5 day cruise). We will be doing some long weekend land based trips this year because that is all our schedules will allow. This was a hard decision but the best for the family. Hopefully we can fit that cruise in next year (during the summer huricane season :( - oh well).

 

My point is you need to look at your priorities and your schedule and do what works for your family. No one else can do that for you.

[corinnv]

My son is a junior and there is no way he could miss 4 days of school for vacation. He is taking two science class this year, one AP and one honors, and he would not be allowed to make up all the lab work he would miss. I agree that cruising during summer is very expensive but that is what we do.

I teach HS science. I agree...don't do it!