We also attended a school in which the field trips were considered required and parents were not allowed to attend (especially the overnights, which freaked me out in a big way since they started those in 4th grade). If the child did not attend the field trip, then they received a zero for that day. DS was so far ahead, who cared?

I always managed to schedule a doctor appointment those days.

I figure that very few things in life are MUST dos. How DS handles different situations can be dicey without me there. So I figure it's my call - not the school's (who treats everyone the same).