I have been an educator for over 20 years, so let me just start by saying how much I value school and education. I believe that consistent school attendance is important.

I also believe that travel is an educational experience. Travel presents SO many opportunities for learning; kids get exposure to different languages, geography, modes of transportation, currencies, foods, customs…the list goes on. 

I attempt to schedule our family’s travel around school breaks, but sometimes, award travel presents unexpected opportunities that you just can’t pass up–even if it means missing some school. If my kids are going to be absent from school for a trip that I consider to be educational, I attempt to get those absences excused. Here’s how I do it.

Locate Your School or District’s Educational Absence Request Form

The first step is to locate the form or identify the protocol for submitting an educational absence request for your school or district. If your child is in a district school, this is probably just a matter of Googling “[District name] educational absence.” If your child is in a charter or private school, this form is probably located on your school’s website, and/or the process is outlined in your student handbook. 

Here’s what the form looks like for Wake County, where I live.

Pull Up Your State Standards

Every state has a set of educational standards, which identify content and skills that all public schools are responsible for teaching at each grade level. Here in North Carolina, this is called the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. You can probably get the document you need by Googling “[State name] standards for grade [#].” Here’s what this looks like for fourth grade in North Carolina:

Go through the standards and look for content and skills that align with your plans. Here are some ideas by content area:

• Science: Are you going to observe any natural process or noteworthy geography, like the Northern Lights or an active volcano? Will you be visiting any science museums or encountering wildlife?
• Math: Will you be doing currency conversions or changing time zones?
• Social studies: This is probably the easiest one to align with travel. Will you be experiencing a different culture? Will your kids have opportunities to learn about the history, geography, and political system of the place you’re visiting? Will you be visiting art museums or historical sites?
• World languages: Will you be speaking, listening to, and/or reading a foreign language?

Make note of the numbers associated with the standards that make the most sense for your itinerary. You may also want to look more closely at museum websites and tour descriptions for more detail about the content your kids might encounter there.

Fill Out the Form

There’s usually an open-text field where you can describe the educational opportunity for which your child will be missing school. This is your chance to describe what specifically your kid(s) will be learning, and how it aligns with what they need to learn in school. Referencing specific standards lends your request more credibility; you’re speaking the school’s language. It helps the school justify granting your request.

Here’s an example of the narrative I provided when my son missed two days of school for a trip to New York:

“My child has the opportunity to visit the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. There he will visit the Hall of Planet Earth, where he can capitalize on the interest in geography and geology that he has developed this year. This learning connects to North Carolina Essential Standard in science K.P.2, and will also reinforce prior learning about patterns, scale, proportion, and quantity. This experience is consistent with the Montessori ethos of hands-on, experiential learning.”

This request was approved, and these two days were recorded as excused absences.

Final Thoughts

I of course can’t guarantee that this will work for your child in your specific context. Different schools and districts display varying degrees of leniency when it comes to excusing absences, and there’s probably some variation by grade level as well. Administrators may find that there’s more educational value in a trip to visit the Mayan ruins in Guatemala than in a trip to Disney World. Still, I hope this guidance is helpful the next time your travel plans conflict with the school calendar.