Preparation for Basis Exam

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My BASIS 5th grader can’t get over how much more interesting school is this year compared to the elementary school experience. My kid is so excited to tell me about the day and what the class learned. The school might have its faults, but if my child is happy, that’s good enough for me. We will take it year by year and hope that it continues to work out well!

This is the most important factor. Is your child happy? Both my children at BASIS are happy. That is all that matters,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Latin has recess. That's one of the many reasons people choose Latin over Basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

Private school, Walls, Wilson/JR, move, etc. Many people may not have the money to spring for better middle schools, but can scrape enough together to afford private high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

When did your kid go to Basis? My kid started 5th grade last year, and they were allowed to go outside for lunch quite often. I'm wondering if this was a change that came after the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

?? Every public school in DC gets funding based on how many students they have. By choosing not to backfill, Basis is giving up money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My BASIS 5th grader can’t get over how much more interesting school is this year compared to the elementary school experience. My kid is so excited to tell me about the day and what the class learned. The school might have its faults, but if my child is happy, that’s good enough for me. We will take it year by year and hope that it continues to work out well!

This is the most important factor. Is your child happy? Both my children at BASIS are happy. That is all that matters,

I'm a BASIS parent who doesn't agree with this statement. My nerdy 12 year-old wouldn't be harmed by receiving a better rounded education at school. She'd probably be happy without any humanities work, along with any PE, music or art. She'd also be happy eating ice cream and Doritos at every meal. Fresh air - she could do without that, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

The usual places of course. Privates, the burbs, Wilson, Banneker, Walls, moved from the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

Why do you care what posters think about BASIS? Why are parents obligated to improve public schools at all?

BS post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Watch 5th graders bouncing off the walls in the narrow BASIS hallways around 3:30 each school day and tell me that none of them would benefit from a little recess.

Shame on them. They don't deserve MIT or Yale later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

You must not have grown up in Fairfax, MoCo, Boston, NYC, Chicago, San Fran or any other jurisdiction with bona fide test-in magnet middle schools and high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Watch 5th graders bouncing off the walls in the narrow BASIS hallways around 3:30 each school day and tell me that none of them would benefit from a little recess.

Shame on them. They don't deserve MIT or Yale later on.

wtf is wrong with you?