Parents Asking for adjustments to school schedule

[kimute]

Hi there!

Does anyone have any advice/experience asking their teacher/school for an adjusted schedule? My DD (second grade) has a fantastic opportunity to up-train with a small group of promising peers and a great coach at the gym one afternoon a week. As this is a cross-level group, the only time they/coach are all free from regular practice is before school gets out. This would be a small concession from school-- just leaving one hour early on Friday afternoon. We definitely want to do it, but thought I'd get armed with advice before asking the teacher/principal. Any advice? Any experiences to share? We are in a public school in a pretty conservative school district...

Thanks!

 

[bookworm]

She's in second grade so the workload shouldn't be all that intense so I would go talk to the actual teacher and explain that Susie is going to need to be dismissed an hour early on Fridays, and is there any work she's need to make up for those days...my daughter's elementary school teachers (K-8) always scheduled the "extra" classes during the time she'd be leaving (i.e. Language arts or math wasn't put at the end of the day so she didn't miss any of those subjects)

 

[Gymdaddio]

They don't do anything during the last hour of 2nd grade. You might just mention to her teacher that you'll be checking her out an hour early. That way she can be packed up. I doubt anyone would even question you, even if you do it every week.

 

[Midwestmommy]

Here is what you are up against. What if every kid wanted to leave early on Fridays? How about kids whose families have weekend home and cabins? Why is a sport for a second grader more important than them? What about the the second grader whose parent works long weekend shifts and wants to leave early to get them to grandma's house 90 minutes away before work? What about the 6th graders who want to play football? What about the kid who wants a private lesson with a renowned orchestra member and the only time available is every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.?

Your reason is not more important than their reason, in they eyes of many teachers or administrators. There are rules about hours and attendance and public school funding. And there are some people who are just "in the box" and uncomfortable with change and exceptions.

OK, so that is what you are up against. So....you've got something to sell. How do you make a sale? Make it easy for them to buy. Better yet, help them think they were part of the idea and decision. If it were me, I would start with scheduling time with the teacher. Say you have been offered this opportunity and you are thrown for a loop, and are not sure what to do or how to respond. Then be quiet. See what they say and listen carefully. If you are really really lucky, they will offer up a solution.

If not, listen to what their objection is and try to think of a way to make it work for both parties. And possibly sugguest a "trial run" of six weeks, with a meeting at that point to discuss how it is going and whether they think it is working and not negatively impacting your child and the class. Offer to do above and beyond for makeup work. I would not approach it as it's no big deal and they don't do much in the last hour (even if its true, keep it to yourself). The wrong person could take offense to that and shut down. I would approach it as if you are asking for a huge exception, willing to do extra makeup work (work that others would maybe not be willing to do so they aren't afraid five kids will be wanting this). How the message (in this case request) is delivered is sometimes really important. They are the experts in the classroom, treat them that way and they will probably respond better....

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

I just recently went through this for my dd. She needed to leave a few minutes (10-15) early 3 x per week to get to gym at the beginning. Because of traffic and after school pick ups....not leaving a few minutes early would make her up to 45 minutes late.

I approached the principal first, explaining that I knew I was asking for a huge exception. I talked about dd's passion for the sport. I emphasized that dd was a straight A student and our family values education above all else. However, before the principal could help me, I had to contact the state dept of education and examine the district policies to find a way to work within the system. So, I would recommend you start there.

In our state, any student who is absent more than 9 days within a semester must be reported for truancy. The parent is held responsible for compelling the child to go to school and for abiding by the district policy. Our district policy described an "absence" as missing a day or ANY PART OF A DAY. The policy also defined tardiness beyond the first "10 minutes" as being absent. In our case, the principal agreed to use the "10 minutes" available at the beginning of the day to provide precedent for allowing 10 minutes at the end of the day. Basically, my daughter is still counted as "absent", but the school principal has agreed not to notify the state. So, we found a solution, but we had to do it within the system. In our case, the teacher would have been powerless to help us. With the principal's support, she has been very accommodating.

Good luck!!!!

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Wow, such red tape! In my province you are allowed to miss a 1/2 day a week for any sport, music, art, etc. DD will miss about 1 full day (a 1/2 day on Fridays and just over an hour early three other days). We provided a letter from the head coach and have had ZERO flack, and a note from the principal saying it should be fine.

We start Tuesday, so we will see if it works in actuality as well as it does in principle.

 

[B&M's mom]

When I approached my district about getting an early dismissal, I too had to talk to the board. What it boiled down to was their state funding. If my daughter wasn't there for a certain number of minutes, they didn't get state funding for her. So they wouldn't allow her to be released early. We came up with a work around but it involved her being homeschooled for half a day. Not sure that's a road you want to go down.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I have picked my daughter up 15-30 min early 2x a week for the past 2 years. I just wrote the teacher a note why and have never had an issue at all. Hopefully it's a non-issue for you as well.

 

[raenndrops]

As some other posters said, sometimes in 2nd grade, the afternoon is when they do their "specials" - Art, Music, Computer, Gym, Library. If Friday happens to be gym day, then it should be simple... explain to the principal that this is "special gymnastics instruction" - however you want to put it. Since she has gym at that time anyways, would it be possible...

If they don't have specials in the afternoon or if Friday is NOT gym day, it might be a little tougher... but often the teachers will work with you to come up with the best solution. (I know of a girl who went to music on gym day and went to practice on music day).

Of course, in my LOCAL district, if you are even 1 minute late you are tardy... and 3 tardies in 1 grading period, and you get charged for 1 full day absent. That means that my little gymmie can't spend the night at her dad's on a school night unless my brother goes into and gets off work early. If he works his normal schedule, he would be getting her to school at 8:00 (on time) - 8:02, depending on traffic and trains and school busses in the three districts he goes thru from Dad's house to the school. That means that she could be given a full day's absence for missing 3-6 minutes total over 3 days AT THE BEGINNING of the day. Can't wait til she is in 7th and online school is an option!

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

I recently had to approach our school about DD (8th grade level 10) leaving early from school. I approached this thinking that they were going to say "no" and we would go back to our normal, hectic schedule of school, homework, gym, dinner, homework! In our school, PE is only twice a week, rotating with "specials" (art, music, computers, foreign language) so its not a period they can do without.

I presented her case to the Superintendent who was very supportive of her uptraining and impressed with her accomplishments. We talked very briefly about homeschooling (which none of us wanted). The earlier training schedule will give DD a block of time in the evening to do homework and study, versus getting home at 9pm for dinner and HW. Finally, in consultation with her principal, they determined that her schedule would be such that she would only miss about 1/5 of one subject each week, in a subject that lends itself readily to independent study. This is not unlike schedule modifications they do for kids on IEP's. DD is one of the top students and having been in this district for 11 years, and my involvement with school activities, they know our family and know that we will do required work for DD to keep up her grades.

In high school, we are hoping to be able to substitute her training for the PE requirement to allow for an early dismissal as well.

 

[CreateMagic]

Try to find out what the school districts policies are first...I know everything for my district is posted on the website. It sounds like some people on this site have had some difficulties, but I know that we had an aspiring elite ice skater here for awhile and they worked it out without much issue. My cousin used to get pulled out every Friday early so that her parents would miss the traffic to get to their camp on a lake.......

 

[cbifoja]

I wish you all the luck in the world. I can't even get my district to excuse an absence during meet season. They are very unsupportive. The principal shut us down immediately and when we met with the district liaison, she said she always sides with the principal (not exactly the definition of a liaison, Braintrust). I went up to the Super and was totally shot down, albeit in a very nice manner. My next step would have been the BoE but since I am an employee, I wasn't sure I wanted to go over my boss's boss's head, you know?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

just ask and bring a letter from your gym outlining what they are trying to accomplish. some schools will work with this.

 

[happychaos]

Two of DD's teammates leave their public school early two days per week. I don't think they really asked permission, they just informed the school when they would be picking the kids up, and asked the teachers to have them ready

Your DD will certainly gain more from this cool training opportunity than she would gain from the last hour of school Friday afternoon. Good luck!

 

[littlegirlsdream]

My DD leaves school 3 hours early 3 days a week and 1 hour early one day a week. She is in 4th grade. We expected a bit of a fight and possibly having to put her in as a part time student. Suprisingly both principle and teacher were fine with it. DD gets her the work she is missing on Mon and turns it in Fri, then gets caught up on any additonal quizes or test she may have missed on Fri. It is early in the year but so far so good. Like many here she is an A student and an independant worker so it works for her. We didnt have to sell it to the school we simply said here is what she does and will you be able to work with us. Good luck, hopefully your school will be happy to work with you too

 

[Jen H.]

I would just quietly sign her out early on Fridays and make as little noise about it as possible.

 

[txgymfan]

Since she is in second grade and it's only one day a week, I am inclined to agree with Jen H. If asked in a few weeks, you can explain that it was a for a "trial period" and have "just realized" that it will be a weekly class.

 

[GymBeeMom]

If you choose this path, be sure you talk with your child so they understand why you are willing to do this. I think it is easy to send the message that gym is more important than school if you are willing to take her out of part of school for gym. Our actions speak volumes and this move would certainly show her you support her ambition as a gymnast, as long as you can carefully show your same support with her ambitions as a student.
That being said, I would do the same thing you are doing if she has the opportunity to get some good training that she wants to do and if she is academically strong. There is more to an education than school and gymnastics can provide part of that worldly education. Good luck dealing with the school!

 

[J&A's mom]

We dealt with something similar, and the school has allowed us to sign out the boys when they are getting packed up to go, no sooner. Unfortunely, there are now some others who also suddenly need special treatment. I feel terrible. I wish there was some way that we could quietly get the boys out of school without everyone seeing us doing so. But the setup of the parking lot doesn't allow this. I think I may end up just doing it like everyone else this year and the boys will be late for practice everyday. Luckily, flexibility and strength is not what they need the most help with, so it won't affect them to much!

 

[skschlag]

My ds is late nearly every day, and that is with getting dressed and eating in the car. He gets out of school at 3:45 (meaning they start down the stairs then) and we have gym at 4. Next year will get easier, but that is what we do for now.