PSA on math classes for kids who switch from BASIS to Walls for 9th

[Anonymous]

I thought I would post a possible strategy for anyone whose kid decides to switch to Walls from BASIS for 9th. The rumors are true - your kid will be placed/have to repeat Geometry in 9th grade. Assuming you have a strong math kid, your 9th grade kid can also take (concurrently) precalculus as one of their two electives for the year. What I would suggest trying (and would have tried, if I'd known what I know now) is taking Geometry over the summer in a DCPS-approved (online) course - maybe CTY (I know one kid who got credit via CTY for either algebra or geometry - not sure which)? (Obviously once you get in to Walls, talk to the school/counselor to figure out what DCPS will give credit for). This way, hopefully, you can avoid your kid having to take a super boring, repetitive, and tedious Geometry class (kid's least favorite class by far in 9th) for an entire year.

[Anonymous]

Another strategy -
ask BASIS to write their Geometry curriculum so that it aligns with DCPS.
The issue that Walls faces is that it is a DCPS requirement that all students take (and pass) Geometry for graduation. The BASIS course does not map so the Walls (or other DCPS) counselor does not have an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another strategy -
ask BASIS to write their Geometry curriculum so that it aligns with DCPS.
The issue that Walls faces is that it is a DCPS requirement that all students take (and pass) Geometry for graduation. The BASIS course does not map so the Walls (or other DCPS) counselor does not have an option.

Why would they water down their program for people who choose to leave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another strategy -
ask BASIS to write their Geometry curriculum so that it aligns with DCPS.
The issue that Walls faces is that it is a DCPS requirement that all students take (and pass) Geometry for graduation. The BASIS course does not map so the Walls (or other DCPS) counselor does not have an option.

Not gonna happen - why would BASIS do this? To facilitate kids leaving BASIS? And DCPS refusing to grant credit because course doesn't "map" is form over function. The fact is that DCPS 9th grade Geometry class is a repeat (no, actually an easier version) of things my kid already learned in math courses at BASIS. Complete waste of time (but I guess an easy A for the GPA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought I would post a possible strategy for anyone whose kid decides to switch to Walls from BASIS for 9th. The rumors are true - your kid will be placed/have to repeat Geometry in 9th grade. Assuming you have a strong math kid, your 9th grade kid can also take (concurrently) precalculus as one of their two electives for the year. What I would suggest trying (and would have tried, if I'd known what I know now) is taking Geometry over the summer in a DCPS-approved (online) course - maybe CTY (I know one kid who got credit via CTY for either algebra or geometry - not sure which)? (Obviously once you get in to Walls, talk to the school/counselor to figure out what DCPS will give credit for). This way, hopefully, you can avoid your kid having to take a super boring, repetitive, and tedious Geometry class (kid's least favorite class by far in 9th) for an entire year.

If your kid had stayed he or she would be taking AP Precalculus in 9th, a class not even offered at Walls, rather than repeating geometry, which Basis covers in 7th and 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought I would post a possible strategy for anyone whose kid decides to switch to Walls from BASIS for 9th. The rumors are true - your kid will be placed/have to repeat Geometry in 9th grade. Assuming you have a strong math kid, your 9th grade kid can also take (concurrently) precalculus as one of their two electives for the year. What I would suggest trying (and would have tried, if I'd known what I know now) is taking Geometry over the summer in a DCPS-approved (online) course - maybe CTY (I know one kid who got credit via CTY for either algebra or geometry - not sure which)? (Obviously once you get in to Walls, talk to the school/counselor to figure out what DCPS will give credit for). This way, hopefully, you can avoid your kid having to take a super boring, repetitive, and tedious Geometry class (kid's least favorite class by far in 9th) for an entire year.

Any other thoughts about the transition to Walls from BASIS, good or bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought I would post a possible strategy for anyone whose kid decides to switch to Walls from BASIS for 9th. The rumors are true - your kid will be placed/have to repeat Geometry in 9th grade. Assuming you have a strong math kid, your 9th grade kid can also take (concurrently) precalculus as one of their two electives for the year. What I would suggest trying (and would have tried, if I'd known what I know now) is taking Geometry over the summer in a DCPS-approved (online) course - maybe CTY (I know one kid who got credit via CTY for either algebra or geometry - not sure which)? (Obviously once you get in to Walls, talk to the school/counselor to figure out what DCPS will give credit for). This way, hopefully, you can avoid your kid having to take a super boring, repetitive, and tedious Geometry class (kid's least favorite class by far in 9th) for an entire year.

My kid did CTY geometry when going from DCPS to a private (when kid did not pass the private's placement test ).

I mention this because CTY will accept a DC math PARCC score of 98%+ in lieu of their test(s) for acceptance into their program<-----Just an FYI regarding this loophole--it saved my kid from testing!

[Anonymous]

Back when I went to CTY, the sessions were 3 weeks. Are kids learning an entire year of Geometry in a 3 week summer session?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back when I went to CTY, the sessions were 3 weeks. Are kids learning an entire year of Geometry in a 3 week summer session?

…. they already learned Geometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when I went to CTY, the sessions were 3 weeks. Are kids learning an entire year of Geometry in a 3 week summer session?

…. they already learned Geometry.

Skeptical that Walls would not accept 2 years of Basis geometry to get out of 9th grade geometry but would accept a 3-week online CTY geometry course…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back when I went to CTY, the sessions were 3 weeks. Are kids learning an entire year of Geometry in a 3 week summer session?

When I went to CTY, kids were definitely using the classes to take Algebra 1 or Geometry and then get credit for that subject in their schools. All the kids I know who did this were totally fine in the next year at school.

It's three weeks, but it's all day long and a tremendous amount of information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when I went to CTY, the sessions were 3 weeks. Are kids learning an entire year of Geometry in a 3 week summer session?

…. they already learned Geometry.

Skeptical that Walls would not accept 2 years of Basis geometry to get out of 9th grade geometry but would accept a 3-week online CTY geometry course…

DCPS is just going down a checklist of topics. There are topics on that checklist that Basis does not even claim to cover. So, no credit.

The part that doesn’t make sense is where DCPS will give you credit if your school claims to have covered a topic, even if in fact they didn’t teach it and you didn’t learn it.

[Anonymous]

DCPS will accept credit for Geometry as long as the kid’s transcript says they took one year of Geometry. There’s no checklist of topics, no test to determine mastery, etc. Basis wouldn’t need to change their curriculum or rigor at all. They would need to code geometry as a full credit independent course on the transcript. They’ve known this for almost a decade now and refuse to do it.

[Anonymous]

As a side note basis refuses to do this for Algebra I and Algebra II as well. DCPS gave in for those two but not geometry. Basis doesn’t want kids to leave so they won’t change the coding on the transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when I went to CTY, the sessions were 3 weeks. Are kids learning an entire year of Geometry in a 3 week summer session?

…. they already learned Geometry.

Skeptical that Walls would not accept 2 years of Basis geometry to get out of 9th grade geometry but would accept a 3-week online CTY geometry course…

DCPS is just going down a checklist of topics. There are topics on that checklist that Basis does not even claim to cover. So, no credit.

The part that doesn’t make sense is where DCPS will give you credit if your school claims to have covered a topic, even if in fact they didn’t teach it and you didn’t learn it.

I commented about this above but it’s not about topics covered. It’s Carnegie units on the transcript. This is on Basis, not DCPS.