 |
|
|
|
|
Schools try to minimize impact of long breaks
SJUSD students visiting Mexico can be gone for weeks
By Kate Carter
For some Mexican-American families, the holidays are an important time to return to Mexico and celebrate with family and friends south of the border. Unfortunately, taking a long trip can make it hard for students to keep up with schoolwork while they're gone.
Holiday and Christmas celebrations in Mexico are a big draw for many Mexican-American families, but to attend they have to take their children out of school for extended lengths of time, said Willow Glen Middle School parent's liaison and Latino Club coordinator Gloria Hernandez. Administrators say the missed class time and schoolwork can hurt a student's ability to learn.
While celebrations vary throughout Mexico, students can miss between three and four weeks of school from after Thanksgiving until January, Hernandez said. With the end of the semester in late January, so many missed days and late assignments can impact students' grades, she said.
"Year after year I tell the parents, 'Please, don't take your child out of school,'" Hernandez said.
San Jose Unified School District schools provide students who leave for extended vacations with independent studies packets that include information and schoolwork they will miss. Students are expected to complete the packets and return them when they come back.
But sometimes parents neglect to tell the school of their children's absence before they leave, Hernandez said.
The school can then remove a student from enrollment after their 15th day of unexcused absence, she said.
"They have to re-enroll after 15 days, and they might not come back to the same school," she said.
Gary Rose, who teaches U.S. History and World Geography at Willow Glen High School, said the school encourages students to tell their teachers when they will be leaving and get their assignments ahead of time.
But, he also said the make-up work is just not as good as being there.
"The only perfect system is having students in the classroom," he said. "Once they leave the classroom, they're out of your control. It makes our jobs as teachers much more difficult."
District spokesman Bill Erlendson said the district's schools address the needs of their individual students. The district, as a whole, does not have a policy on the issue because there isn't a need for one, he said.
"It's never been a real problem," he said. "It's been there, but it's been taken care of at the site."
Hernandez said, although the students' absences are excused ahead of time, that doesn't mean the school or the district is giving them permission to leave for so long.
Hernandez said in the southern areas of Mexico the celebrations begin on Dec. 1 and last through Dec. 12. But families stay until Christmas instead of flying back and forth.
"They're usually back the first day of school" in January, Hernandez said.
Celebrations such as the Posada, the Virgin of Guadalupe day and Christmas are big community festivals in areas of Mexico, she said.
Although she deals firsthand with families who leave for the holidays and sees the challenges it poses to their children, Hernandez has plans to take her daughter, who will be in second grade, out of school for two weeks next year. "It's so meaningful because it's not only a celebration, but it's religious," Hernandez said.
|
|
|
|
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
