<p>Trying to plan ahead, couple questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Easter 2013 is Sunday, March 31, the last day of spring break. There are only two direct flights on Southwest from Chicago to BHM, one that leaves at 12:45 and one that leaves at 8:30, landing at 10:10 which means the 11 p.m. shuttle. Neither option is particularly appealing. Will there be classes as usual early Monday morning? What do you experienced parents recommend? Skipping the big family get-together or getting back after midnight with an 8 am class the next morning?</p></li>
<li><p>I see an Honors week and Honors Day on the calendar and am wondering what those are. Can anyone provide details? Thanks.</p></li>
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<p>Classes will resume as normal on Monday as it is not a holiday in most of the US and UA is only closed for 3 holidays during the school year: Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/Robert E. Lee Day.</p>
<p>Remember that your student will have a different schedule spring semester than the current one.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to make a connection, fly another airline ($25 to check a bag is not very expensive), or have the major family get together on Saturday and celebrate only the essentials on Sunday. The latter suggestion would be like celebrating Christmas on December 24th or Boxing Day.</p>
<ol>
<li>Honors day is the date for many departmental award ceremonies and honor society inductions/tappings. There are no classes on Honors Day. Honors Week is a continuation of Honors Day for scheduling purposes. There are classes as normal during the rest of Honors Week.</li>
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<p>Robert E Lee Day? This northerner learns something new every day and that was today’s lesson. </p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder of the different schedule. Am going by what son had planned for next semester. I’ll let him decide what he wants to do as far as going back. Just wanted to make sure that there would be classes as usual (at least for the most part) so he can make an informed decision. </p>
<p>Helpful as always, SEA_Tide.</p>
<p>This info is most helpful.
Now a question about the last day of school PRIOR to Spring Break. Is it Thurs (Mar 21) or Fri (Mar 22)? Forgive me if this is posted somewhere else and I’m just missing it. The UA Shuttle to airport operates Thurs, Fri, and Sat, so I was not sure which day was the actual last day of class. I’m guessing the Thurs and early Fri shuttles are for those kids who do not have classes on Fri? Ugh…don’t know son’s Spring schedule until after reg…and want to get flights sorted!</p>
<p>The last day of school is Friday, March 22nd. In previous years, students had to be out of the dorms by 5PM, despite many students having class/labs until that evening. Luckily now, students can stay until Saturday morning.</p>
<p>aeromom, I don’t think you need to wait until your son makes his schedule to book flights. If you are booking on Southwest, the latest flight out on Thursday is at 5:30 direct and 6:00 if you want to travel for 5+ hours. Friday there are only two direct flights, with no connecting flights less than a 4+ hour total travel time, and I doubt your son would want to get up at 4 am to make the 6:15 flight. So that leaves you with only one possible choice, unless you opt for Saturday, which has rather dismal choices.</p>