The father of two elementary aged children proved to be the real MVP when he replied to a letter from his children’s school that said they were not accepting a family trip to Boston as an excusable absence.
Michael Rossi took to Facebook to share the letter he received from Rochelle S. Marbury, Principal of Rydal Elementary School after his kids Jack and Victoria missed April 17, 20 and 21, 2015.
“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rossi,” the letter read, “I understand your family recently took a family vacation. I want you to be aware that the Abington School District does not recognize family trips as an excused absence, regardless of the activities involved in the trip. The school district is not in the position of overseeing family vacations or evaluating the educational nature of a family trip. The dates that your children were absent were recorded as unexcused. An accumulation of unexcused absences can result in a referral to our attendance officer and a subsequent notice of a violation of the compulsory school attendance law.”
Mr. Rossie served a hot cup of tea back, validating why he took his children with him and even gave them turned it into a field trip that allowed them to walk through historical places their classmates have yet to learn about, and he allowed them to witness the resilience of #BostonStrong.
After learning that the main purpose of the trip had to do with the death of a loved one, it sort of made me wonder if the person who drafted the letter doesn’t consider compassionate days for kids also.
But with one month left in the school year, Jack and Victoria have earned so much more than a grade – they’ve earned bragging rights for having a father who has lessons that are far from the confines of a classroom
#Parentoftheyear!
MATTHEW ROSSI’S RESPONSE TO SCHOOL:
Dear Madam Principal,
While I appreciate your concern for our children’s education, I can promise you they learned as much in the five days we were in Boston as they would in an entire year in school.
Our children had a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one that can’t be duplicated in a classroom or read in a book.
In the 3 days of school they missed (which consisted of standardized testing that they could take any time) they learned about dedication, commitment, love, perseverance, overcoming adversity, civic pride, patriotism, American history culinary arts and physical education.
They watched their father overcome, injury, bad weather, the death of a loved one and many other obstacles to achieve an important personal goal.
They also experienced first-hand the love and support of thousands of others cheering on people with a common goal.
At the marathon, they watched blind runners, runners with prosthetic limbs and debilitating diseases and people running to raise money for great causes run in the most prestigious and historic marathon in the world.
They also paid tribute to the victims of a senseless act of terrorism and learned that no matter what evil may occur, terrorists can not deter the American spirit.
These are things they won’t ever truly learn in the classroom.
In addition our children walked the Freedom Trail, visited the site of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre and the graves of several signers of the Declaration of Independence.
These are things they WILL learn in school a year or more from now. So in actuality our children are ahead of the game.
They also visited an aquarium, sampled great cuisine and spent many hours of physical activity walking and swimming.
We appreciate the efforts of the wonderful teachers and staff and cherish the education they are receiving at Rydal Elementary School. We truly love our school.
But I wouldn’t hesitate to pull them out of school again for an experience like the one they had this past week.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Michael Rossi
Father
