All-Star Missing School For Competitions

[njallday]

wow, when i was in high school we were allowed up to 20 absences a school year... and i knew plenty of kids who had a hard time staying under that. According to the state of NJ only religious holidays and "bring your child to work day" ( seriously ridiculous) are considered excused absences. We had to have a note the day we returned signed by a parent.

Basically, we had to plan accordingly. I don't think I ever missed more than 10 days (and I get sick quite often on top of cheer) If I stayed in school until 11:50, it counted as a full day or if I came in late before 11:30 it would count as well.. so we tried to plan leaving for trips at 12 and morning after comps I maybe got to sleep a little longer and be in school by 11.

Since I went to school in the olden days (not even that long ago) things have changed. They now have a "parent portal" online where parents can view report cards and absences. There is a calendar that tells you every day you've been absent and i believe you can "pre-plan" absences on there as well.

 

[rfw1955]

When my cp was in high school, they had a policy that if you missed more that 5 days, all teachers were required to drop your grade 1 letter grade. She was offered to perform in Hawaii at the ProBowl and would miss a week of school if she attended. She wanted to go and we managed to find a loop hole to the 5 days absense. You can obtain a "principal's leave" where the absense would not be held against you. If you are planning to go to worlds and need the extra time and your school system has a similar policy, check into it. Could be the difference between a 3.0 and a 4.0 GPA

 

[Giselle]

Now I am sure that times have changed, but when I was an all star cheerleader in high school it was my senior year 2007 and we were going to Final Destination "Worlds" (not even close but thats a whole 'nother convo in itself) anywho.. It was the biggest competition my team has ever been to and me and my best friend were on this team together. Our parents told the school that we were on an elite cheer team and would not be attending school friday or monday. They told the school that this was a great opportunity for us and it is compared to being on an olympic team (not so true but apparently it worked). SO they excused our absences and even wished us luck over the morning and after school announcements lol ! It was pretty cool and I am wondering if the same thing would happen today to other people if they pulled that "excuse"? TRY IT !

Haha my mom did the same thing the first time I went to Worlds.

 

[KikiD22]

My CP's school doesn't differentiate between excused/unexcused. An absence is an absence, but I tell them when we are traveling for cheer. I've tried to limit the days that she misses due to cheer, which was only 4 days this year. They don't seem to mind since I pre-arrange it with her teacher, get assignments ahead of time, and have her take her spelling tests on Thursdays when she's going to miss a Friday.

The funny thing is that there are a ton of UA kids at her school, and there are kids from Mini 1, Mini 2, Junior 1, Youth 3, Junior 5, and Senior 5 at her school that I know of off-hand. Her kindergarten teacher from 2 years ago is a cheer mom from our gym too. They didn't travel when she was on the Tiny team that year, so on the Friday's before away competitions, I'd always ask her, "Did you have a sub today?" She'd always answer "yes."

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

I always say we were out of town for a cheer competition. I don't care if it's considered excused or unexcused. I will not lie about the reason.

 

[TheVipersMom]

I always say we were out of town for a cheer competition. I don't care if it's considered excused or unexcused. I will not lie about the reason.

Well her school allowed 6 unexcused absences a year ...(and a note saying she was cheering is unexcused)

up to 10 parent notes for excused absences such as sickness
And anything else had to be a doctors note.

I refuse to get arrested for truancy at 7 absences if unexcused and obviously her teacher knew and didn't care it's just the county/state required these notes then yes I would lie and say my child is sick because I'm not going to jail for something that dumb when my daughter is an outstanding student.

 

[magical mom]

I always email the teacher/teachers when my child is going to be missing for a competition a few weeks prior. The best thing to do would be to communicate with the teachers at the beginning of the year and tell them how involved they are in this sport. My kids teacher understood, because she knew this was a big part of our life. The teachers dont seem to worry as long as you communicate and I always ask for missing work. My 9 year old has missed 6 days this year for competitions. This is the most she has ever missed and I am very lucky that she dosent get sick and have to miss for that also. I dont know our school policy, but being close to Los Angeles there are lots of kids involved in the entertainment industry that miss a lot also and as long as the parent communicates I havent seen a problem with the school making it a huge deal. I think each school district is a little different but communicating up front has helped us.

 

[Love2Cheer143]

Thank you sooo much this has really helped

 

[C*A-Shelby K]

I miss all the time for cheer! If i leave early to go to a competition i always leave after 12 and then it doesnt count against me at all If i miss a whole day i say either vacation or sick, and if i come in late i say sick. It all basically depends on the amount of vacation says i have left. I usually miss around 10 days for cheer because farther competitions we leave in the morning on Friday and then on mondays im too tired to go in!

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

Well her school allowed 6 unexcused absences a year ...(and a note saying she was cheering is unexcused)

up to 10 parent notes for excused absences such as sickness
And anything else had to be a doctors note.

I refuse to get arrested for truancy at 7 absences if unexcused and obviously her teacher knew and didn't care it's just the county/state required these notes then yes I would lie and say my child is sick because I'm not going to jail for something that dumb when my daughter is an outstanding student.

Maybe your area is stricter than ours? They tell us that we can be taken before a magistrate for truancy, but I have never once heard of anyone here actually going to jail or getting fined for their children missing. Also, my attitude - albiet not a good one - is that I am not required to send her to a public school, so they really can't tell me that I can't take her out of school for something I deem appropriate.

 

[cheerKT]

I didn't know attendance policies at schools were so strict. My school really doesn't care how many days you miss as long as you have good grades and don't get in trouble. I've missed at least like 11 days this year. They haven't said one thing to me.

Wow, I had no idea some schools were so slack on their rules!

 

[cljacks99]

I can't even begin to count how many times I've sent my cp to school sick, because she was maxed out on days from cheer comps... I wish schools would consider the absences as field trips and excuse them, if you also went some where educational and provided a receipt. It is a tough situation. Especially since most often it's Fridays that are missed, and Fridays are usually big testing days...

 

[cheerKT]

My school seriously was not joking about absences. I was in make up school (aka NovaNet) at the end of the year junior year with a kid whose dad had been murdered and he missed about 2 weeks of school. He went over his 8 allowed absences and they made him pay to make them up. Rough.

 

[cheergirl4444]

I am so surprised that schools are so strict. i missed all the time in high school. my senior year i don't think i went 1 full week without missing at least one class. they never said a thing to me about missing to much. i know in one of my HALF year classes i had a total of 14 absences.

 

[Cheer Dad]

Depends on situation. If missing whole day we say family trip, coming in late is overslept since that usually means getting home in the wee hours of the morning after driving most of the night and leaving early is usually doctors appointment but the teachers and am guessing most of the staff know it is for cheer. Pretty much all his teachers know where and why he is out and they are good about giving him assignments ahead of time. It is the attendance office we don't say anything too. Helps that he is a good student.