BY JENNIFER MARINO WALTERS
L More and more
families are traveling
during the school
year. Here’s how
to minimize the
impact—and maximize the
benefits—of school-
year vacations.

16 Washington FAMILY AUGUST 2022
Eliza Weeks, a Burke, Virginia mom who’s
pulled her second-grader out of school for
short trips to Disney World and Universal
Studios. “We save money, we’re less stressed
and we have fun.”
Many teachers and administrators also
acknowledge the benefits of school-year
vacations. Amy Goodwill, principal of Rocky
Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia,
says, “Travel can provide some outstand-
ing learning opportunities that complement
the child’s studies. Plus, sometimes families
just need a break.”
Others are more concerned about longer
school-year trips than shorter ones. “Try to
plan the vacation so your child only misses
one day,” says Kyria Joseph, executive direc-
tor of secondary schools for Baltimore County
Public Schools. “More vacation days unin-
tentionally impact school achievement data,
leading administrators to spend additional
time writing school improvement plans.”
There are plenty of benefits to vacationing
Here are some expert tips on what to
during the school year. Flights, accommoda- consider when planning a family vacation
tions, and even rental cars are often much during the school year and how to minimize
cheaper during off-peak times than over the the negative impacts—and maximize the
summer or during school breaks. For many benefits—of the trip.

families, that means school-year trips are
the only vacations they can afford.

Crowds are also much thinner during off-
peak times. Families can relax on emptier
• Know that vacation days are considered
beaches, enjoy theme park attractions with-
unexcused absences and will go on your
out waiting in two-hour lines and take road
child’s record as such. If a child is absent
trips without sitting in crazy traffic (and
for a certain number of consecutive days,
therefore save money on gas), etc.

that child will be disenrolled from school
It’s no surprise, then, that more and
and will have to re-enroll. (The exact
more families are pulling kids out of
number of days varies by school district.)
school to go on vacations. In an April 2022
• Time it right. It’s tempting to squeeze in
survey of more than 3,000 parents by Family
one last summer trip after school starts—
Destinations Guide, two thirds of respon-
when it’s still hot but beach rentals and
dents said they believe the benefits of family
hotels have gone way down in price—but
travel far outweigh the missed school days.

Goodwill cautions against it. “It’s hard
Parents also said they’d be willing to pay
on kids to miss the very beginning of the
an average of $883 to take their kids on
school year,” she says. “Kids need to settle
vacation during the school year in response
in and acclimate.”
to a California school district charging
Joseph says to also avoid traveling
parents daily fines for unexcused absences.

during testing and assessments such
“For my family, traveling during the
as the SAT or ACT and to consider the
school year is the only way to travel,” says
ast January, my family took an epic
11-day vacation to Oahu, Hawaii. We
swam, snorkeled, hiked and—most
importantly—bonded. The best part? Our kids, twin boys in fifth
grade and a daughter who was in second grade
at the time, only missed three and a half days of
school. That’s because we traveled on a week
when Fairfax County Public Schools were
closed on Monday for Martin Luther King,
Jr. Day, had an early release that Thursday,
and were closed again on Friday and the
following Monday for teacher workdays.

When we returned, the kids were able to jump
right back into school without having missed
much at all.

Not everyone thinks of taking school-
year vacations. Here’s why they are not only
possible, but worth it.

Benefits of School-Year Vacations
Planning a School-Year Vacation