As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Before we started homeschooling, we took our DD out for a week in 2nd grade. I've never worried too much about what they are "missing" in a school setting. I look at what they are gaining and experiencing and learning when on vacation. Everything can be a learning experience. Now we never worry about when we go. Ahhhh, the joys of homeschooling. Just my 2cents as a homeschool mom.
I wrote a note to DS10 teacher (6th grade) advising we are celebrating his 11th b-day in wdw. She was so excited (and not upset at all) she is going out of her way to make sure he does not have to take books with him. She is going to photo copy the pages he needs and attach them with the appropriate Homework.
Guess this is going to be a great year - seems to be a teacher that understands that family vacations are just as important as school !
I wrote a note to DS10 teacher (6th grade) advising we are celebrating his 11th b-day in wdw. She was so excited (and not upset at all) she is going out of her way to make sure he does not have to take books with him. She is going to photo copy the pages he needs and attach them with the appropriate Homework.
Guess this is going to be a great year - seems to be a teacher that understands that family vacations are just as important as school !
I am hoping this will happen to us...we are taking the kids out the 3rd week in September. We dont know the new teachers and how they will react. Do you guys send them a formal letter and to the principal? New here on this and want the kids to have a good time and not stressing over missing stuff in school. My son is going to the 5th and my dd is going to 2nd grade.
We planned based on vacation time and we worked all summer to save for this.
I am hoping this will happen to us...we are taking the kids out the 3rd week in September. We dont know the new teachers and how they will react. Do you guys send them a formal letter and to the principal? New here on this and want the kids to have a good time and not stressing over missing stuff in school. My son is going to the 5th and my dd is going to 2nd grade.
We planned based on vacation time and we worked all summer to save for this.
Thanks for your help
our school district is a little laid backed but as long as the work is made up they have no problems dd is in 2nd grade this year . we usually tell the teacher when we visit on oriantation because our vacation is in december and she said remind me when it gets closer . last year the teacher took care of notifying the office for us that was nice of her . and that was all we had to do this year on top of her work the teacher gives we are making her take notes from the start of trip til the end and make her write about her trip.
GOOD LUCK
P.S. HI AND WELCOME TO THE BOARDS SCRAPPERQUEEN . my dw does scrap booking too.
I sent it a letter with Luke yesterday on his first day of 1st grade letting the teacher/principal know that he would be out 8/30-9/10 missing a total of 7 days for our family vacation. Luke said the principal came into the classroom and asked Luke if his mommy and daddy had a really big suitcase he could fit in so he could come along!
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I completely agree that family vacation and family time should be ok for missing school...however, I understand some of the rules. About 9 years ago I was teaching middle school (6,7 & 8 grades). I had one girl who missed 2-3 days every week. Mom always called to say she was sick. The girl was so far behind. Mom didn't care. Kept her home to help watch the baby brother that mom was too lazy to take care of. Anyway, when she was finally reported to truency, she completely took the girl out fo school and said she is homeschooling. Now, I am a complete supporter of home schooling, even wanted to do it with my own kids...but I serioiusly doubt that this girl is getting any schooling except in how to take care of her brother and cook the meals, clean up the house, etc. I think about this girl every once in a while and wonder what ever happened to her...I pray she took her education and direction for her own life into her own hands and made something out of herself!
I know this discussion is about taking kids out of school for a short time, for actual family time...and I completely agree that this should be ok...I just wanted to point out a reason why schools have to come down hard on the parents who don't make education an important part of a child's life.
I hope everyone has a great time on their trips, whether it is during school or during a break. We are taking out kids (and me, I'm a teacher...but not at my kids' school) out of school for 7 school days right after Christmas vacation, my hubby is a pastor, and thus a bit too busy to travel during Christmas!! I talked to their teachers during the first week of school and both teachers were both very supportive of our trip, asking if they can join us!
Next year, I'm planning on taking my brother down to WDW - he's never been
My problem won't necessarily be taking him out of school - it's his baseball team. Keep in mind it isn't the SCHOOL team, it's an extra-curricular thing. Honestly, he's an AMAZING baseball player. There isn't a doubt in my mind that if he keeps up with it, he can be a pro one day. But his team said this year that anybody missing 2 consecutive practices (and they practice DAILY) won't be allowed to be on the team. I understand up to a point, but honestly...a family vacation should be considered more important than a baseball league, especially when it isn't even the school team (They don't start until March).
I completely agree that family vacation and family time should be ok for missing school...however, I understand some of the rules. About 9 years ago I was teaching middle school (6,7 & 8 grades). I had one girl who missed 2-3 days every week. Mom always called to say she was sick. The girl was so far behind. Mom didn't care. Kept her home to help watch the baby brother that mom was too lazy to take care of. Anyway, when she was finally reported to truency, [...]
That's an example on the other end of the scale, though.
In that case, after only two months, the girl would already be pushing 16-27 days missed. Easily, I can see a rule of, for example, "Any child missing more than 15 days in one grading period for any reason will be automatically reported for Truancy, and their parent(s) will have to appear in court to explain their child's excessive absences."
Notice that the girl you speak of would have been caught up in that, pretty swiftly (in about six weeks, in fact). But a family taking their son or daughter out for one week, to go on vacation, would never have a problem with it.
The problem IMO is: in response to the obvious problem parents like the one you describe, schools have gone too far and made it impossible for ANY parent to have an ordinary family vacation, during the school year.
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Pax, I completely agree. It's really sad that some irresponsible people make it hard for the rest of us who just want a little time with our families. You are right that this example is an extreem and that this family was in trouble from the get-go...I was just trying to show why some schools have such strict rules. I agree that the schools used in this post (TX I believe) seem to have gone too far. My family is my family and I have the right to take my children out of school whenever I choose...within reason. Within whose reason, I don't know. There must be some guidelines, and going on a vacation with your family once or twice in a year should be no problem as long as you let your teachers/school know in advance and do your best to get work done so your child is not behind. Life is the place where we all get the most education...so vacations and family time are important in my book!!
I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING TOO ! the school work that these kids first is more work then i did as a kid of which i think is great with the no one left back policy. but after doing all this work all year long they get roughly 60 days give or take of for the summer my dd school makes them do 3 book reports plus they have to write in a journel everyday . NOW WHERE IS THERE VACATION. listen dd's school is a leaniant (spelled wrong ) as per her taking 6 days off during the school year .
but where is there summer too!!
You'll never hear a teacher say that ... because they'd lose their entire career for it. But I'm not a teacher, so I WILL say it: IT IS A COMPLETE CROCK. It's nonsense, balderdash, and utter huffery-puffery.
And it does far far more harm than good, six days a week and thrice on Sundays.
ok. I am officially moving out of texas. I wanted to pull my son out in feb of 09 to take him to wdw. The school informed me that I would be served with a letter and have to appear in court before a judge and explain why I took my son out of school for 6 days. I guess in texas they call it truancy even though he is only a 1st grader this year.
I'm in TX too and we already booked a trip in March. My 1st grader will be missing 3 days before Spring break. They made it very clear that vacations are not an "excused absence" but starting our trip early saved us over $1500 so I figured I'd take the chance. I've heard of nasty letters being sent home, but a court date!!!!!!!!
Don't they have more important things to focus on??
I think kids need to have a healthy balance between their family life and their school life. If anything I think the teachers should be the ones who give the OK or not. They know the children better that the administrators do and would be able to gage whether or not the child ccan handle missing those days.
I am hoping this will happen to us...we are taking the kids out the 3rd week in September. We dont know the new teachers and how they will react. Do you guys send them a formal letter and to the principal? New here on this and want the kids to have a good time and not stressing over missing stuff in school. My son is going to the 5th and my dd is going to 2nd grade.
We planned based on vacation time and we worked all summer to save for this.
Thanks for your help
DBF just told DS's teacher we'll be gone for a week at their curriculum night last week. I realize it depends on the school, but he said she was absolutely fine with it. She did say they prefer the kids to make up the homework when they get back instead of before. That way they aren't doing things ahead of the rest of the class, can be confusing with the current work. DBF also asked if there was anything she would like for him to do while we were there. She suggested a journal which we were planning on having him do anyway. Just talk to their teacher's early and hopefully you won't have any problems. It was much easier than we were expecting.
I agree that children today have way too much work to do in school. It's ridiculous. When I was growing up (I'm 32 now) I had at most an hours worth of homework a night in elementary school, and two hours in HS. I was in honors classes but was not by any means a 'genius'. I learned a LOT though, and am by no means stupid. I'm a college graduate, also. I don't think that piling hours of work on a child at age 8 will make them any smarter. I believe children need down time. They need vacation with family. They need play time each day. Children are having anxiety issues and stress issues more and more, and I fully believe it's because of their school schedules.
I am hoping to heck I do not have to deal with this when DD goes to school, but I tell you what, if I see that she's overburdened, I won't hesitate to remove her and "home school" - as annoying as that would be to me to have to do (I have zero interest in home-schooling).
As for the truancy issues, I'd love to see someone take me to court over a family vacation. I'd show up laughing.
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Ahhhh, the joys of homeschooling. Just my 2cents as a homeschool mom.
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I talked to their teachers during the first week of school and both teachers were both very supportive of our trip, asking if they can join us!
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