<p>When you need to stay home to study for an AP Test, when parents call in to the school can they just say that directly and it will be excused or do they need to call them in “sick”?</p>
<p>Check school polices. There is often a “keeping him home at parents’s discretion” or “keeping him home for educational purposes”. There are usually other reasons than just sick. Or none at all -sometimes you can just call in as absent</p>
<p>I never let my kids stay home to study for a test. We did let our daughter stay home to complete an honors college application. When I called in, I said “this is Mrs. Thumper. Thumpgirl will not be in school today.” and that was that.</p>
<p>Well that’s a new one on me. I would never have allowed my kids to skip school to study for an AP. Time can be managed adequately to do both.</p>
<p>Students who are well prepared would find your question really repulsive.
Kids are expected to be prepared for AP exams like any other tests. To call in sick to cram for an AP exam is #1: useless. #2: shamefull. I fully expect a number of students to ask what #2 means.</p>
<p>Why would you stay home to study for an AP test? Kids study all year or all semester for these tests. Cramming the last day isn’t going to help much.</p>
<p>Better say you’re “sick,” otherwise the absence probably won’t be excused.</p>
<p>Calling in and saying ‘sick’ for this would be lying so I wouldn’t do that. However, there’s no good reason for a student to skip a day of school to study for an AP test. If they feel they need to then it’s probably already too late. I’ve actually never heard of someone skipping school to study for an AP test.</p>
<p>“sick”= sick of studying, sick with worrying that you’ll bomb an AP test, stomach ache? headache? sore eyes? sleep deprived? etc. 
Lots of different ways you can be “sick.” No need to lie. I’m sure you can cook up something.</p>
<p>Since its ap week, we aren’t doing anything in our classes because there are so many absences. We are either watching some movie or having “fun” days since there are too many students taking ap tests for regular class. I don’t think its unreasonable for someone to choose to spend that time doing some extra studying at home instead of wasting time at school.</p>
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<p>you are aware that during these exams the students that go to school often have like 5 kids in their classes so they don’t do anything productive, right?</p>
<p>also, cramming for a test is not useless. You can improve a lot by doing it. Ask anyone that has ever taken a test.</p>
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<p>not true… it can help plenty. It could be the difference between a 3 and a 4 or a 4 and a 5.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s necessary to provide an explanation for a study day. </p>
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<p>At least at my (very average public) high school it was the norm. It didn’t help that we did absolutely nothing in our classes during exam period. It’s kind of up to the individual to determine their study schedule, or lack thereof, as long as they do the preparing before the exam. People do have varying amounts of preparation time based on teachers, extracurricular activities, family circumstances, jobs, etc. </p>
<p>I can see why it might be considered unfair in high school if most students actually go to school before AP exams.</p>
<p>If you feel like you need to skip classes prior to an AP test, maybe that is telling you something: you shouldn’t have been in the class in the first place.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the people that are saying staying home to study is useless, repulsive, shameful, etc. Like others have pointed out, during AP season many kids are missing from classes, so most teachers don’t do anything productive during class. Most of my classes have a large chunk of students gone anyways so teachers have free study periods or extra review sessions. I see no problem with staying home to study if you aren’t going to miss anything in class.</p>
<p>As for the OP’s question, I’m not sure you need to give a reason. You should just be able to say that your child will be absent.</p>
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If you are not doing anything productive in the classes you are missing (which is usually the case during AP testing), what is the issue with staying home for some last-minute studying? Sure, studying well in advance would be ideal but it is not always easy for many students who have tons of other AP classes, extracurricular activities, jobs, etc. Even if you do prepare in advance, what’s the harm in studying right before?</p>
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<p>If you are attending a public school, this will not be an excused absence, and you’ll have to call in “sick” or the district will lose their state funds. If you attend private school, you probably can just say you won’t be there without giving a reason. Check with your school handbook first, though. The rules for excused absences should be in there.</p>
<p>Guess I missed out on the whole “not doing anything in class” experience but the scenario of “too many other things” has also grown old. Prioritize. And maybe rethink why we’re forcing college classes at he high school level again anyway…</p>
<p>I think it should be the parent’s call.</p>
<p>S’s school has a policy where you can request this in advance. He was unable to take advantage of it due to in class assignments in non AP classes, though.</p>
<p>When D was in HS, I let her stay home if she felt she needed to. I called in and just said that she wouldn’t be there. Period. Never was questioned about it.</p>
<p>Wow. Some very judgemental comments here. Shameful? Really? A bit better than thou? What is shameful is to suggest this when you aren’t in someone’s situation. For many it’s not a problem with time management, it’s a problem that there just isn’t enough time. Students don’t need to be berated further with harsh criticism, they need to get their work done. If they need to study, the best time management practice is to study! There are so many things that waste time at school. One can be much more productive at home. </p>
<p>When I call in to one school I just leave the message that my kid won’t be there that day. The other school wants a note written the next day: Please excuse my kid for being absent yesterday. . . .</p>
<p>I teach my kids to hold their commitments and responsibilities. At the same time, I teach them to honor their own needs and make judgement calls within themselves about what is best to do. Sometimes that means questioning authority, as in this situation.</p>
<p>^^ good post!</p>
<p>At our high school, having a parent call you in sick still results in an unexcused absence. If you want the absence excused, you need a doctor’s note. </p>
<p>I suspect it was this sort of thing that led to that policy, with the unintended consequence that kids who are legitimately sick with some self-resolving illness, like a stomach bug, tend to come to school even if they haven’t been 24 hours without throwing up. Ten unexcused absences gives you an automatic D in the class, no matter what your gradebook grades, and if you don’t have great insurance, a doctor’s note costs $100.</p>