Anon Early dismissal from school- logistics? Advice?

[Anonymous (c133)]

My child is currently at a private school and makes it to practice with just enough time to change, do her hair, and play around briefly before warmups. Next year at the same school, her grade will be dismissed later. Due to traffic patterns, the extra 15 minutes means she would arrive at practice 30 minutes late based on a recent test drive.

We could switch schools to one that is public and dismisses earlier, but their schedule is in flux and may switch to later dismissal times in the future.

So my question for experienced parents is: when did you approach your school about early dismissal for a sport?

1) in the spring?
2) in the summer before teacher assignments?
3) in the summer after teacher assignments?

Did you approach the principal/head of school with an early dismissal request or go straight to the classroom teacher?
Also, how does your school handle dismissal logistics? Does your student walk themselves out? Do you have to go in and sign them out? Are they allowed to quietly pack up mid-class or do they have to wait for the teacher to signal to them that it’s ok? I’m imagining my obedient child at the mercy of an uncooperative teacher and I already feel like I’m stressing out in the parking lot.

To make it more complicated, her school’s specialist and block scheduling mean that certain classes might only take place at the end of the day and once per week. She’s only in elementary school, but I would feel awful if she had to miss a favorite class like art for an entire year because of gymnastics. Unfortunately teachers are assigned before specialists’ schedules are arranged, so I can’t request that she join the classroom that doesn’t have X class during the final period on Y day. And it’s probably obvious from my question, but no one from her school goes to her gym. The majority go to nearby public districts with earlier dismissals and there are a few who are homeschooled.

I don’t know how to handle this but want to make it work for my daughter!

 

[Anonymous (0d34)]

We have a somewhat similar situation, there just isn't enough time to get from school to gym in time. I chose not to take my daughter out of school early and she arrives late to practice. Granted it is only 5-15 minutes usually. Our gym is okay with it as long as she properly warms up. Their philosophy seems to be that that little bit of lost time is not going to make the difference between going to the Olympics or not and therefore they just deal with it. You gym might not be as relaxed and understanding though. If your daughter is happy in her current school, I wouldn't change to a different school just for gymnastics. What if she hates the other school or if she if she decides next week that it is time to retire?

 

[Anonymous (34f0)]

Cannot speak to elementary school, other than, yes, the odds are that your child could miss core content instruction. I am intrigued by block scheduling at elementary level. I would start the conversation with admin, as the classroom teachers change each year.

In high school, we started the conversation in the spring, and worked through the summer to make things work for my child. He left at lunch every day. He also had to do a 0 hour class before school and an online class each semester and in the summer. These were sacrifices he was willing to make.

It is always worth a conversation with the school. You never know what they are willing to do to work with you. We were very lucky with our school, and I know not all are as accommodating as ours was, but you don't know until you try.

 

[Anonymous (5dc6)]

My daughters school from K-8 got out at 4:30….yes 4:30 for elementary and middle school kids! For the lower grades I had to go in and sign her out but she usually already in the office waiting for me. She worked out with her teacher the cue for leaving the classroom so that it wasn’t disruptive. I waited until schedules came before working out any conflicts or requesting schedule changes because that was how the school preferred to deal with it. One year she had history last hour and since history had lots of group work she requested a change and it was no problem. I’d run it by your schools counselor or principal and see how they want to deal with it. I could see in your situation that they may want to know sooner than later.

 

[Anonymous (c133)]

I wish I could bring my daughter a bit late but they don’t allow girls to work out if they haven’t warmed up. Some of the optionals girls manage their own warmups but no compulsory girls from what I’ve seen. The tricky part is that my daughter’s gym has had recent success at the junior elite level,
and this has put the homeschool/daytime workout groups on a pedestal. The coaches have a big group of parents who will drop anything to be in those groups. It’s disappointing because when we joined the gym, the girls who were celebrated were
high schoolers getting college offers while staying on normal high school schedules- I took that as a signal of the gym’s values and felt like it was the right fit for how we approached school and academics in our family. Now that I’ve written all that out, I’m not sure what to do because this is obviously more complicated that just early release!

 

[Anonymous (b576)]

How many days a week would this be? Can there be a happy medium where she misses some school and some practice time? I would suggest talking with them before the end of this school year. I think it would be easier to create her schedule the way you need it from the beginning.

When my dd was level 3 in public elementary school, we had the same issue. I would pick her up from school 15 minutes early 2x a week, and she would be 15 minutes late to practice both days. I emailed the principal and teacher at the beginning of the school year to let them know. Since it was only 15 mins, 2x a week, I wasn't really concerned about her missing. If there was a test or something she couldn't miss, she was just later getting to the gym. I had to send in a note to her teacher that made its way down to the office every time I picked her up early so that they would know that they had to send her to the office early to leave. She would just quietly pack up her stuff and leave.

The gym was understanding with girls being late just for that 3:30 practice time and gave the late girls warm ups to do when they arrived.

 

[Anonymous (7e2b)]

My DD (used to be both of my DDs) leave school mid-day for gym. It is a parochial K-8 school and small, so there is no flexibility to rearrange schedules so as not to miss certain classes. She has done it for two years now and it is definitely not easy; we were definitely concerned with her missing core academics but luckily that has been less of an issue. She misses free reading time and art. She definitely misses them a lot but when given the option to stay the full day, she has said no.

So my question for experienced parents is: when did you approach your school about early dismissal for a sport?

1) in the spring?
2) in the summer before teacher assignments?
3) in the summer after teacher assignments?

We ask as early as possible, but usually early spring. I have found that waiting until summer (we did this for our first year of leaving early with my older child) we have a tougher time nailing down replies. We actually met with the head of school in person to discuss and that's what I'd recommend if there is a chance that she could miss class time. If it turns out that the last 15 minutes is free time, etc than should be easy.

Did you approach the principal/head of school with an early dismissal request or go straight to the classroom teacher?

We started with the head of school and then discuss more specifically with the teachers after having received approval.

Also, how does your school handle dismissal logistics? Does your student walk themselves out? Do you have to go in and sign them out? Are they allowed to quietly pack up mid-class or do they have to wait for the teacher to signal to them that it’s ok? I’m imagining my obedient child at the mercy of an uncooperative teacher and I already feel like I’m stressing out in the parking lot.

So at our school, pickup within 20 minutes of actual dismissal are not permitted unless it is an emergency. They feel that it causes too much chaos so check that this is not a policy at your school. We have to park on the street and walk to the front office and sign her out every day. The office calls the classroom she is in when we arrive and then they release her. Despite us leaving at the same time for years, she is not released until the office calls and the office won't call until they see my face.

It's a pain but it has been worth it for her.

 

[Gymnast2009]

i am in middle school. i am joining team in the summer but for now to keep up my skills (complicated situation, im not in rec, i used to be team ect) i am doing a high school class made for girls who want to join high school team. high school dismisses at 1:55. middle school dismisses at 2:55. gym is 30 minutes away. practcice is at 3 on mondays annd wednesdays. i get out early on those days. i miss my last period, i lucked out which is PE. sometimes i have to skip practice so i can go to health but the school is fine with it because im still getting exersize.

 

[Gymnast2009]

my school works early dissmisial with this format. parent goes to main office, admin does an announcment over speaker in class room and aks for "suzie" for early dissmisial. then suzie goes to her locker and ect.,

 

[Anonymous (c133)]

Does a home have a school that has said no or pushed back?

 

[gymnast30]

I am a high schooler at a private school, we always tell my school what early release I will need next year during spring before scheduling begins, but every school is different.

 

[Anonymous (0897)]

Yes, my daughter has been leaving school early for the past 2 years (elementary). For us it was totally worth it as it allows her to do an earlier practice time and have more time at home in the evenings.

• We started the process mid to late spring beforehand.
• Started with Principal.
• She manages her own schedule and leaves quietly- no one comes to dismiss her.

Getting this approved beforehand has paid off in spades - we don't need to make up excuses or get permission on a frequent basis and teachers know to give her work beforehand since they already know her schedule. It also worked for us because she is not missing core classes.

Next year she will go to middle school and we have already started that process with her new guidance counselor. The process works differently but she will end up missing PE and Health which we can home school. So it's a different process but works the same way. The challenge will come later down the road when she is asked to miss a core class but we are dealing with it year by year.

For us, it's been wonderful so I'd suggest at least looking into it, if nothing else.

 

[Anonymous (7e2b)]

I replied above. Our school worked it out for my kid to leave at lunch for the past two years and previously my older one did the same. But now they have said they will no longer allow it for middle school. Many schools in our area, public and private have said no to leaving early but we all asked for lunchtime dismissal. I can’t imagine any school would give you a hard time for just 15-30 minutes.

 

[Madden3]

I took my son out of school early on practice days for a short time. This was at a small public charter school. In any case, the teacher did NOT like it and complained to me a lot. It was only for a short time so we just let her complain. It was not like they could actually do anything about it, really.

If it is only once or twice a week, you could just show up to pick her up and wait until someone notices this is a regular pattern. That's the "Ask forgiveness rather than permission" approach. If it's going to be like every day, I suggest, call the school and explain your daughter will need to leave school early X days a week next year, and ask who you should talk to about it. It won't (or should not) depend on the teacher, there should be school policy on this. But it is going to depend on the school what the policy is. In general a private school should be able to be more flexible (which does not mean they WILL be more flexible.)

The sign out/early pick up policy will also depend on the school. In fact the sign out policy should be in your school handbook, but I have never had my kids at any school where early pick up was not handled by the parent coming to the office (or, for HS, calling the office with a prescribed time) and the kid being permitted to leave at the time the parent requests.

I would also suggest, talk to the gym and explain the problem and see if/where they can be flexible.

 

[Anonymous (e5e5)]

My daughter leaves early and misses a core class. We started it this year and "told" rather than asked but that is because we had worked it out with the teacher beforehand. She does the work before school and takes tests in class the day of the test- (misses or goes to gym late). Next year, she will make up the whole course during the summer. It really works well for our schedule to have her leave early.

 

[Anonymous (75ee)]

Just to throw a different opinion in, when my older daughter was still a gymnast she was 30 min late to practice for 3 years (6th-8th grade), even if she could have gotten out early we had no way to pick her up that early and get her to the gym. It wasn't ideal, but she made it work.

 

[Anonymous (c133)]

Just to throw a different opinion in, when my older daughter was still a gymnast she was 30 min late to practice for 3 years (6th-8th grade), even if she could have gotten out early we had no way to pick her up that early and get her to the gym. It wasn't ideal, but she made it work.

Which part of practice did she miss? My daughter has conditioning and then apparatuses rotating in the exact same order every day. Her coaches would probably ask her to move to xcel if she was never at conditioning or always missing the same apparatus. We are in a place with release times between 2:00-4:30, and the gym’s response to that is to accommodate no one. They’ve definitely set an expectation of half-days, early sign-outs or homeschool.

 

[Anonymous (75ee)]

I think she missed warmup and part of conditioning and would do that on her own and then join the first rotation late. She competed levels 6,7,8 those years (and made regionals), so while not ideal, the coaches made sure she got what she needed done at practice.

 

[Aussie_coach]

As a gym owner. I would be okay with a kid coming late to gym if they couldn’t get there as long as they were warmed up safely.

If they kiss a bit of our early conditioning they could stay late after training and complete it instead, so they don’t really miss anything.

Driving through school traffic can be very slow, and if they go to school far away, I know they do their best to get there when they can.

Having said that though, some schools in the US seem to have very long days, with very few breaks. I couldn’t. Believe the 4:30 finish!

Australian kids spend about 4 1/2 hours a day in the classroom and about 1 1/2 hours a day on breaks (lunch and recess), all the way through to 12th Grade.

It makes me wonder how much a kid is actually learning at the end of the school day in the US, with such long days. How many kids can still focus after spending so many hours in the classroom.

 

[bookworm]

My kids left school early for the majority of their gymnastics careers ..we were initially an hour away and then for the last 5 years we were 2 hours away from the gym so we had to leave early. They were at a small parochial K-8, then parochial high school and they were absolutely fabulous with working with us and making it work.

The teachers each year would adjust their schedule so the core courses weren't being taught at the end of the day and they would leave around 1 pm...I'd pick them up and off we went. My girls were always very proactive about their school work and leaving early was never an issue for us.