If you gave BASIS a chance and it didn't work out, when did you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

My 6th grader and his friends go to the MLK library to study after school quite often. It's great because not only is there a cafe for snacks, but they can also play on the slide when they want to take breaks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

[Anonymous]

What's your point? If you think the school is lacking, then don't apply, don't send your kid there. My kid is super happy and could not care less about the library space.

[Anonymous]

My child reserves a private room at the library several times a week during heavy work times. Some kids have lunch there every day. Ignorance breeds ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

"You can have both." Specifically which school? And if it's private, great for you, but not great for those who can't pay. And if it's the suburbs, great for you, but not great for those who live in DC. And if it's your neighborhood school, great for you, but not great for those who live in a different neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

MLK has a teen room, which is where lots of BASIS kids go, and a kids room, if the younger kids feel more welcome there, where the librarians are well versed in the good books for that age group. In addition to countless places to study.

I don't think there is any school library that can compare to MLK? I mean, it's enormous. That's not a serious comparison. And again, as we keep reiterating, its SO close to school that BASIS kids can and do make it part of their routine. They can go at 3:40, and they can also go during their free hour midday once they reach 8th grade.

I say this is someone who put kids through DCPS elementary schools and love the DCPS librarians, who, in addition to keeping the library supplied with books, would run book clubs for the good readers, sign them up for various DCPL activities like haiku contests, and where "library" was incorporated into the day as a special. I would say having a Library added serious value to elementary school.

so, honest question -- how is the school library used in middle and high schools that have them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

You sound like you need a life. Not a guy and haven't posted for a year let alone years. There's no quiet or comfortable place for the kids to read/study at the campus and it sucks. Too many of the kids in my son's classes obviously shouldn't be at BASIS.

We went to a school performance recently that was embarrassingly bad if you stepped back and thought about it. Christ, a middle school auditorium is a basic facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

This. Shame on DC public schools for not ensuring that many of the charters don't have adequate facilities. We'd have switched from BASIS to DCI is we'd had the option.

[Anonymous]

Basis is a shining light amidst the darkness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

This. Shame on DC public schools for not ensuring that many of the charters don't have adequate facilities. We'd have switched from BASIS to DCI is we'd had the option.

DCI has a fantastic librarian at their library, in addition to gym, auditorium, 2 cafeteria, fields, actual science labs, among other things. They can also meet the needs of the high performers too.

It’s going to be the closest thing to your typical school in the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

This. Shame on DC public schools for not ensuring that many of the charters don't have adequate facilities. We'd have switched from BASIS to DCI is we'd had the option.

DCI has a fantastic librarian at their library, in addition to gym, auditorium, 2 cafeteria, fields, actual science labs, among other things. They can also meet the needs of the high performers too.

It’s going to be the closest thing to your typical school in the burbs.

Good for DCI. Hope all those who want those things get in and go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grade BASIS parent here. My son loves it. He is the textbook definition of a BASIS student. We will sending kid #2 next year. Crossing my fingers it works out as they are a very different kids. Very much appreciated this thread as I sometimes wonder what is going on with the kids who aren't like my son and are hating life every day with the giant case-it and endless packets.

From what I've observed few of the kids love or hate BASIS. They're OK with it, not more, or less.

The motivated students appreciate good teachers and challenging work. But almost everybody would love to have the use of outdoor space, a stage, classrooms flooded with natural light, wide hallways, a real gym, a pleasant school library/media center, and an auditorium. They'd also go for a range of strong electives (including foreign language instruction from day 1, and not just at the beginning level) and serious ECs, better teachers across the board, fewer classmates who shouldn't be there etc.

The kids make the best of things. That's all BASIS DC is worth. No secret that those with wherewithal and/or admissions luck almost always leave after a point.

This guy has posting variations on a theme for literally years. Gym? Sure. Theater? Yep. No MS kid comes home to lament a lack of library. And you are dating yourself making reference to a "media center".

My DC was horrified to hear BASIS doesn’t have a library and still brings it up from time to time when people talk about the school.

Really? This is not a big deal. My middle schooler sometimes goes to MLK after school and like the PP said, starting in 8th grade you can leave campus for a hour for lunch so you could easily go to MLK every day if you like. It's a 5 minute walk away.

I'd much rather send my kid to a school where they are still required to read novels and reading is part of the culture (right now my son has "Drop Everything and Read" every Friday during English class, they have to bring a novel and get to read it for 40 minutes) than a school with a beautiful library and no books on the curriculum.

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have both. School is lacking in facilities no matter what other alternative options there are nearby.

BTW having a school library tailored to kids 6-12th and librarian is much better than general library like MLK. I say this as having been to MLK dozens of times.

This. Shame on DC public schools for not ensuring that many of the charters don't have adequate facilities. We'd have switched from BASIS to DCI is we'd had the option.

DCI has a fantastic librarian at their library, in addition to gym, auditorium, 2 cafeteria, fields, actual science labs, among other things. They can also meet the needs of the high performers too.

It’s going to be the closest thing to your typical school in the burbs.

Good for DCI. Hope all those who want those things get in and go there.

Isn't it great that we have options at charters that get us closer to what our kids need and want? BASIS would have been perfect had it been available when I had to make these decisions. I agree that DCI is a very good option -- for a family who wants language immersion, who is able to get a seat and has a kid that would do well in a much larger environment.

[Anonymous]

There's a pretty broad range for "didn't work out." It's one thing if your child was harmed in some way by attending Basis, or you had to give up a slot elsewhere and then had few options. It's something entirely different if your kid was well educated and received a strong academic foundation in their years at basis, but then chose to enroll somewhere else. A lot of people here seem to lump kids into the "didn't work out" category when they built a strong academic foundation at basis in middle school, and then used that strong foundation to get into an application or private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a pretty broad range for "didn't work out." It's one thing if your child was harmed in some way by attending Basis, or you had to give up a slot elsewhere and then had few options. It's something entirely different if your kid was well educated and received a strong academic foundation in their years at basis, but then chose to enroll somewhere else. A lot of people here seem to lump kids into the "didn't work out" category when they built a strong academic foundation at basis in middle school, and then used that strong foundation to get into an application or private school.

+1