Tricky WWYD..??..[take kids out of school? + peak season? + March/April 2013 advice] About This Page:

[JanetCatherineB]

SO no specific times to suggest, but a suggestion. Call the district for your childs school and find out when they take an in-service day or they have a day that they take off for teachers meetings and all that. Try to book around that and not a holiday so that the kids don't have to take off to much school.

You might also want to look at when the kids may have a minimum day or half days of school for parent/teacher conferences. Make your conference before hand and that way they aren't missing entire days.

I took my kids out for an entire week in 2008 so that we could go to WDW during Christmas time.

[mad4mickey]

Our school district allows for a week (5 days) of family vacation during the school year because they *understand* that not all families can vacation during the summer months. That being said, they won't give work ahead of time so DD is faced with a weeks worth of work to make up. We took her out when she was in 6th grade for a week in May. The work she had to make up was a 1/4 of the work that Elementary school sent home. We're in a bit of a conundrum this year and next. This year she'll be in 8th grade. We just bought in to the DVC and we are really, really wanting to take a trip this year, however, we cancelled a cruise to go to Disney in 2011 and we *lost* our deposit. We have until May 2013 to take a cruise and not completely lose our deposit. So if we did a Disney trip this year and a cruise, both kids will miss two weeks of school. Unless we cruise during Spring Break, which I guess is an option. Then next year, DD will be in High School and we're planning a Disneyland trip in September. I have no idea how High School is going to feel about her missing a week of school. I always try to plan around teacher conferences or religious holidays, but in 2013 the Jewish holidays are early in the month and I was hoping to give them a month to settle in before we pull them out again.

On the other hand, we lost my Daddy to cancer three years ago at just 58. Since then I've really realized that life is short. Childhood is for fun, there is time enough when the kids grow up for them to be *responsible*, they should be able to enjoy their childhoods. DD has severe anxiety and visiting WDW during the summer with the crowds would drive her over the edge. It's more pleasant for all of us to vacation during an *off* time. It doesn't hurt that hubby and I don't mind helping her catch up, although I worry with her going into high school that we're going to be in over our heads.

In January, our school district has *Teacher In-Service* days toward the end of the month. Usually, the elementary schools have a half day Wednesday, then all schools are closed Thursday and Friday. We've taken a week then, that way DS only misses 2.5 days and DD only misses 3, as opposed to a full week. The crowds are usually low that time of year. And while we've had days where we've worn pants and jackets, the weather is still better than what we get here in the North East in January! And during that same trip we also had days where it was warm enough to hang at the pool and swim, you just never know in Florida!

[MichaelF]

We have always taken our kids out of school for vacation. When our kids got older, it was tougher for them to miss school work we started going at Thanksgiving so they missed less time. We were fortunate to always have good teachers that worked with us. I would not let a school district policy or official tell me what is best for my child. We are the parents and will decide. I can't believe these districts think they can tell you how to raise your children. Not everyone has summers off and can take vacation then. I am usually very busy in the summer and cannot plan far enough ahead to take a WDW vacation during summer months. I wouldn't want to anyway because its too hot.

[NOT A PACKER'S FAN]

I say take thm out of school, I am taking myseld and daughter out of school, our district also does not give out homework ahead of time, my daughter will be a jr in high school, and we are leaving a few days after midterm exams. i use to hesitate too, but it has to come down to your choice, and what is best for your family.

[ANGSWIN]

As a middle school teacher, I have always had to be careful when planning trips in order to minimize MY absence from school on days when students were present. Therefore, I always looked at the school calender and checked out when there were "No Days," "teacher workdays," or other kind of student holidays adjacent to weekends. Then we added a day or two to the beginning or end of that time. That way, we missed as little school as possible. I also learned that vacations don't have to be Sat to Sat. We have had some great trips that were Thurs to Tues, or Wed to Sun, etc.

This year our trip will be the week of MLK Jr. day. That is because Mon is a holiday, and the Tues & Wed after that will be teacher workdays for the end of the semester. Therefore, we are able to take a Sat to Sat vacation, but we will only technically miss two days of school (Thurs & Fri).

Therefore, I suggest to check out the school calender for the year (you can probably find it online at the district or school website) and see where the natural breaks occur that aren't major holidays. It has worked really well for us for the past few years.