Why don’t more parents send their kids to Basis McLean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NYC where Basis is well regarded. I attended the open house before Basis opened and there seemed to be a lot of interest back then. We are interested again due to pandemic. What turned me off was that the graduating class was tiny, like 30 kids. It made me think that more people didn’t want to send their kids there.

How is the culture? College admissions?
Do they even have enough kids for sport teams?

The culture is heavy on testing and APs and more testing. It's the core of the curriculum. Works really well for some, but many others have left. The problem with sports is tiny, limited facilities and space.

If the enrollment really is headed to 600+ next year like they targeted for a few years ago, that could change the character of the school away from the tiny grades, tiny clubs, no upper school performing arts, etc.

You really need to talk to current parents to see if it's a fit. For most, it clearly is or isn't. Then go see it up close and decide if those facilities are enough.

You are right. I did not scroll down to the incoming. Now it’s 643.
see my post above. Now we have 640 students.

Do you have a link to that somewhere? They used to treat the enrollment numbers like a state secret, especially when they were crashing in spring 2020. I think I saw a number 478 on their website in the past, but I don't see it on there now.

What is your source?

I saw 640 students from ParentSquare. All have names. The website may not up to date.

According to my parent square that includes the 114 incoming students to basis in the fall - it does not include the students leaving this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NYC where Basis is well regarded. I attended the open house before Basis opened and there seemed to be a lot of interest back then. We are interested again due to pandemic. What turned me off was that the graduating class was tiny, like 30 kids. It made me think that more people didn’t want to send their kids there.

How is the culture? College admissions?
Do they even have enough kids for sport teams?

The culture is heavy on testing and APs and more testing. It's the core of the curriculum. Works really well for some, but many others have left. The problem with sports is tiny, limited facilities and space.

If the enrollment really is headed to 600+ next year like they targeted for a few years ago, that could change the character of the school away from the tiny grades, tiny clubs, no upper school performing arts, etc.

You really need to talk to current parents to see if it's a fit. For most, it clearly is or isn't. Then go see it up close and decide if those facilities are enough.

You are right. I did not scroll down to the incoming. Now it’s 643.
see my post above. Now we have 640 students.

Do you have a link to that somewhere? They used to treat the enrollment numbers like a state secret, especially when they were crashing in spring 2020. I think I saw a number 478 on their website in the past, but I don't see it on there now.

What is your source?

I saw 640 students from ParentSquare. All have names. The website may not up to date.

According to my parent square that includes the 114 incoming students to basis in the fall - it does not include the students leaving this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NYC where Basis is well regarded. I attended the open house before Basis opened and there seemed to be a lot of interest back then. We are interested again due to pandemic. What turned me off was that the graduating class was tiny, like 30 kids. It made me think that more people didn’t want to send their kids there.

How is the culture? College admissions?
Do they even have enough kids for sport teams?

I never post but would like to give the OP an honest perspective from an actual Basis parent with the input of her high schooler. Even with the plethora of choices, there are very few choices that would have given my student the academic challenge/curriculum that matched his abilities (TJ and Basis). At Basis, there's a better balance of humanities with STEM. Basis's smaller high school community was viewed as an asset because of the individualized attention from teachers. In the latter part of high school that relationship will be even more valuable as he embarks on research and senior project (equivalency of college thesis). And if the college admission is the end game -- those differences will give him the bigger advantage.

Graduates have gone on to top tier schools. UC Berkeley & other UCs, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, UVA, Columbia just to name a few from current and last year's class. But there's a big emphasis in the even bigger picture -- alignment with long term goals vs. big-name recognition/impressive-to-others factor.

The high school experience is more quiet--no rowdy football homecomings, lacrosse championships, etc. The collective value here is more the life of the mind. Ie. The Model UN team always win accolades, HS QuizBowl just placed 2nd nationally, etc etc - all "novice", small teams but have smart, passionate, hardworking kids that enjoy the 'underdog' win. Sports is approached as fun extracurricular and less competitively due to scale. With that said, HS has champion fencers and other elite athletes but they usually pursue it elsewhere. The HS student body is close knit. There are low/no incidences of deviant behavior -- they all are meaningfully engaged and value their future. All in all, my student loves his high school experience and values where it will launch him.

Also, there's a family with 3 high schoolers that transferred from Basis Brooklyn to McLean this year due to parent job relocation. They said it's been seamless for them and the kids will be here for duration of high school. That should say a lot.

[BTW, these forums are too often used for trashing of schools and for personal attacks -- usually from parents/adults. Pls refrain -- It's so ugly and immature, lending little insight]

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who's taking her kid out of a local public school district for two reasons: more rigorous curriculum and "most of the kids look like mine". I think some Asians / S. Asians are experiencing more racism than their White friends know about. That makes me sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who's taking her kid out of a local public school district for two reasons: more rigorous curriculum and "most of the kids look like mine". I think some Asians / S. Asians are experiencing more racism than their White friends know about. That makes me sad.

Racism at basis? My FCPS ES is 30% Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who's taking her kid out of a local public school district for two reasons: more rigorous curriculum and "most of the kids look like mine". I think some Asians / S. Asians are experiencing more racism than their White friends know about. That makes me sad.

Are you surprised?

[Anonymous]

The BASIS independent school administration in Tyson's is a sham. Completely not qualified. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Anonymous]

Please don't use this platform to trash schools and for personal attacks as too often seen. Pls refrain -- It's so ugly and immature especially coming from parents/adults. PP You leave hate without qualifying anything,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who's taking her kid out of a local public school district for two reasons: more rigorous curriculum and "most of the kids look like mine". I think some Asians / S. Asians are experiencing more racism than their White friends know about. That makes me sad.

Racism at basis? My FCPS ES is 30% Asian.

No not at Basis, on the contrary. I think you misread prev. post

[Anonymous]

It’s ok for some to have an amazing experience like the poster above and others to have a less amazing experience like many have posted. The truth (and I was a parent) is that the school is meant for a very very narrow definition of student. They expect total obedience and dedication. The administration and one part time guidance counselor do not have the training, education, or band width to support anything else. So if your child fits the narrow mold, they will have a fantastic experience. If your child is brilliant, but with some social challenges or not brilliant, but smart and delightful or just a hard worker but not super focused or a very competitive athlete that wants to keep playing travel soccer, they won’t flourish there. Those are examples of the friends we know who left. Nothing we say will change the school. Nysmith exists for K-8 (which is a where quite a few moved) or TJ and Langley for high school. All seem to be doing great. And those flourishing at Basis seem to be doing awesome too - the good news w Basis is you know where you stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NYC where Basis is well regarded. I attended the open house before Basis opened and there seemed to be a lot of interest back then. We are interested again due to pandemic. What turned me off was that the graduating class was tiny, like 30 kids. It made me think that more people didn’t want to send their kids there.

How is the culture? College admissions?
Do they even have enough kids for sport teams?

I never post but would like to give the OP an honest perspective from an actual Basis parent with the input of her high schooler. Even with the plethora of choices, there are very few choices that would have given my student the academic challenge/curriculum that matched his abilities (TJ and Basis). At Basis, there's a better balance of humanities with STEM. Basis's smaller high school community was viewed as an asset because of the individualized attention from teachers. In the latter part of high school that relationship will be even more valuable as he embarks on research and senior project (equivalency of college thesis). And if the college admission is the end game -- those differences will give him the bigger advantage.

Graduates have gone on to top tier schools. UC Berkeley & other UCs, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, UVA, Columbia just to name a few from current and last year's class. But there's a big emphasis in the even bigger picture -- alignment with long term goals vs. big-name recognition/impressive-to-others factor.

The high school experience is more quiet--no rowdy football homecomings, lacrosse championships, etc. The collective value here is more the life of the mind. Ie. The Model UN team always win accolades, HS QuizBowl just placed 2nd nationally, etc etc - all "novice", small teams but have smart, passionate, hardworking kids that enjoy the 'underdog' win. Sports is approached as fun extracurricular and less competitively due to scale. With that said, HS has champion fencers and other elite athletes but they usually pursue it elsewhere. The HS student body is close knit. There are low/no incidences of deviant behavior -- they all are meaningfully engaged and value their future. All in all, my student loves his high school experience and values where it will launch him.

Also, there's a family with 3 high schoolers that transferred from Basis Brooklyn to McLean this year due to parent job relocation. They said it's been seamless for them and the kids will be here for duration of high school. That should say a lot.

[BTW, these forums are too often used for trashing of schools and for personal attacks -- usually from parents/adults. Pls refrain -- It's so ugly and immature, lending little insight]

Thanks for spending time typing such a detailed and informative response. I am not the OP but greatly appreciate this. The impression I got from talking to the parents of some current high school kids at Basis is very similar to what you have written. Some families have kids at both TJ and Basis prefer Basis due to its smaller class size for the attentions of the teachers and councilor. Less distractions too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NYC where Basis is well regarded. I attended the open house before Basis opened and there seemed to be a lot of interest back then. We are interested again due to pandemic. What turned me off was that the graduating class was tiny, like 30 kids. It made me think that more people didn’t want to send their kids there.

How is the culture? College admissions?
Do they even have enough kids for sport teams?

I never post but would like to give the OP an honest perspective from an actual Basis parent with the input of her high schooler. Even with the plethora of choices, there are very few choices that would have given my student the academic challenge/curriculum that matched his abilities (TJ and Basis). At Basis, there's a better balance of humanities with STEM. Basis's smaller high school community was viewed as an asset because of the individualized attention from teachers. In the latter part of high school that relationship will be even more valuable as he embarks on research and senior project (equivalency of college thesis). And if the college admission is the end game -- those differences will give him the bigger advantage.

Graduates have gone on to top tier schools. UC Berkeley & other UCs, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, UVA, Columbia just to name a few from current and last year's class. But there's a big emphasis in the even bigger picture -- alignment with long term goals vs. big-name recognition/impressive-to-others factor.

The high school experience is more quiet--no rowdy football homecomings, lacrosse championships, etc. The collective value here is more the life of the mind. Ie. The Model UN team always win accolades, HS QuizBowl just placed 2nd nationally, etc etc - all "novice", small teams but have smart, passionate, hardworking kids that enjoy the 'underdog' win. Sports is approached as fun extracurricular and less competitively due to scale. With that said, HS has champion fencers and other elite athletes but they usually pursue it elsewhere. The HS student body is close knit. There are low/no incidences of deviant behavior -- they all are meaningfully engaged and value their future. All in all, my student loves his high school experience and values where it will launch him.

Also, there's a family with 3 high schoolers that transferred from Basis Brooklyn to McLean this year due to parent job relocation. They said it's been seamless for them and the kids will be here for duration of high school. That should say a lot.

[BTW, these forums are too often used for trashing of schools and for personal attacks -- usually from parents/adults. Pls refrain -- It's so ugly and immature, lending little insight]

Thanks for spending time typing such a detailed and informative response. I am not the OP but greatly appreciate this. The impression I got from talking to the parents of some current high school kids at Basis is very similar to what you have written. Some families have kids at both TJ and Basis prefer Basis due to its smaller class size for the attentions of the teachers and councilor. Less distractions too.

Thanks for sharing
My DS just got accepted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NYC where Basis is well regarded. I attended the open house before Basis opened and there seemed to be a lot of interest back then. We are interested again due to pandemic. What turned me off was that the graduating class was tiny, like 30 kids. It made me think that more people didn’t want to send their kids there.

How is the culture? College admissions?
Do they even have enough kids for sport teams?

I never post but would like to give the OP an honest perspective from an actual Basis parent with the input of her high schooler. Even with the plethora of choices, there are very few choices that would have given my student the academic challenge/curriculum that matched his abilities (TJ and Basis). At Basis, there's a better balance of humanities with STEM. Basis's smaller high school community was viewed as an asset because of the individualized attention from teachers. In the latter part of high school that relationship will be even more valuable as he embarks on research and senior project (equivalency of college thesis). And if the college admission is the end game -- those differences will give him the bigger advantage.

Graduates have gone on to top tier schools. UC Berkeley & other UCs, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, UVA, Columbia just to name a few from current and last year's class. But there's a big emphasis in the even bigger picture -- alignment with long term goals vs. big-name recognition/impressive-to-others factor.

The high school experience is more quiet--no rowdy football homecomings, lacrosse championships, etc. The collective value here is more the life of the mind. Ie. The Model UN team always win accolades, HS QuizBowl just placed 2nd nationally, etc etc - all "novice", small teams but have smart, passionate, hardworking kids that enjoy the 'underdog' win. Sports is approached as fun extracurricular and less competitively due to scale. With that said, HS has champion fencers and other elite athletes but they usually pursue it elsewhere. The HS student body is close knit. There are low/no incidences of deviant behavior -- they all are meaningfully engaged and value their future. All in all, my student loves his high school experience and values where it will launch him.

Also, there's a family with 3 high schoolers that transferred from Basis Brooklyn to McLean this year due to parent job relocation. They said it's been seamless for them and the kids will be here for duration of high school. That should say a lot.

[BTW, these forums are too often used for trashing of schools and for personal attacks -- usually from parents/adults. Pls refrain -- It's so ugly and immature, lending little insight]

Thanks for spending time typing such a detailed and informative response. I am not the OP but greatly appreciate this. The impression I got from talking to the parents of some current high school kids at Basis is very similar to what you have written. Some families have kids at both TJ and Basis prefer Basis due to its smaller class size for the attentions of the teachers and councilor. Less distractions too.

Thanks for sharing
My DS just got accepted

Congratulations!! which grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who's taking her kid out of a local public school district for two reasons: more rigorous curriculum and "most of the kids look like mine". I think some Asians / S. Asians are experiencing more racism than their White friends know about. That makes me sad.

Racism at basis? My FCPS ES is 30% Asian.

No not at Basis, on the contrary. I think you misread prev. post

The previous post was unclear, I was asking for clarification, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Why some basis teachers don’t send their kids to Basis. Does Basis waive the whole tuition for their kids?