2023 Niche results: Basis McLean #1 in VA in 3 categories: best private HS in VA, best college prep…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basis Mclean is on a PR overdrive. Suddenly there are “Love being a BIM family” lawnsigns everywhere. Don’t know much about the school but there is obviously an effort to get the word out.

This is done every year. I know as I am a parent of a child in the early learning program. If you are seeing more signs, it indicates there are more BIM students in your area (or wherever you are seeing the signs). And yes it is advertising, as is everything in the US.

Agreed. Also a parent here. PP makes it sound like the school owns all these houses and yards and are plastering people with their ads involuntarily. These are homes of parents and they are apparently happy (contrary to the same negative posters on this forum) to put the signs up on their own yard. So that point kind of backfired.

My point as the PP was not to pass judgement on the school. But hey there are many privates in the area. Don’t see too many families posting signs saying how they love being part of the XYZ school family. It like the guy who holds a 4 foot tall teddy bear with a heart in International arrivals to express his love. I am sure it works for people but is a little out of step with everyone else.

Every school is different.
Basis McLean is relatively new in this area.


Same reason politicians do it. Yard signs look positive and bright; they don't come with the clutter of scandal and turmoil that one might find if they read up on a given candidate (like several in this fall's elections).

Unvarnished rah rah is needed to offset documented records of turbulence like BIM has had since it opened. The wave of teacher and staff departures in 2022 just reinforces that need.

Let’s remember: advertising matters in a major way to BIM — it is a *for profit school* that reportedly has bled red ink since it opened. The Big 3, the Big 5 and the Big 10 aren’t going to run out of applicants at any time in the next decade with or without advertising (ofc they all run the obligatory parent magazine ads and have the window/bumper stickers) because their reputations, networks and feeder school relationships are well-established. But BIM has none of this so understandably it needs a much more visible, active, in-your-face marketing campaign to put butts in seats (or keep the proverbial lights on). It’s odd the BIM boosters don’t seem to understand this and get so defensive when stuff like this is pointed out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2023 niche results :
Best Private High Schools in Virginia
1 of 139

Best College Prep Private High Schools in Virginia
1 of 131

Best Private K-12 Schools in Virginia
1 of 97

https://www.niche.com/k12/basis-independent-mclean-mclean-va/

Their lower school is even better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2023 niche results :
Best Private High Schools in Virginia
1 of 139

Best College Prep Private High Schools in Virginia
1 of 131

Best Private K-12 Schools in Virginia
1 of 97

https://www.niche.com/k12/basis-independent-mclean-mclean-va/

Their lower school is even better

Yeah, Niche will create a ranking higher than #1 for this special school. The rah rah here is just absurd. Listen to yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2023 niche results :
Best Private High Schools in Virginia
1 of 139

Best College Prep Private High Schools in Virginia
1 of 131

Best Private K-12 Schools in Virginia
1 of 97

https://www.niche.com/k12/basis-independent-mclean-mclean-va/

Their lower school is even better

Yeah, Niche will create a ranking higher than #1 for this special school. The rah rah here is just absurd. Listen to yourselves.

Lol

[Anonymous]

Sudden opening for an AP Physics teacher in December? Not a smooth operation there.

https://jobs.basisindependent.com/ap-physics-and-linear-algebra-teacher-high-school/job/20917963?utm_source=jobing.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CFE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sudden opening for an AP Physics teacher in December? Not a smooth operation there.

https://jobs.basisindependent.com/ap-physics-and-linear-algebra-teacher-high-school/job/20917963?utm_source=jobing.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CFE

Force of friction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But do they teach the three genders?

I was thinking the same - I am a democrat, but the woke-ness at the 50k-a-year private school is now becoming detrimental to rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sudden opening for an AP Physics teacher in December? Not a smooth operation there.

https://jobs.basisindependent.com/ap-physics-and-linear-algebra-teacher-high-school/job/20917963?utm_source=jobing.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CFE

Force of friction?

They have two HS teachers in this niche, one quite senior and the other new in the last year or two. Very curious which one has bailed. They are both still on the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean and know several kids who switched over to Basis. I have toured several times - before the school even opened, when they first started accepting students and recently.

Basis McLean is like a private TJ and has mostly very smart rich Asian kids. The kids we know who go there are far smarter than the kids who we know who chose Potomac, Langley, Flint Hill, Landon and the other suburban privates. I don’t doubt that Basis has the best academics around.

I have athletic boys and the lack of sports is a dealbreaker for us. Extracurriculars seem lacking unless you are only interested in STEM. The school gives a ton of homework. Class sizes also seem too small. I know it is a new school but the graduating class has only 30-40 kids. That is too small in my opinion.

While the school is not a good fit for our family, it may work for a super smart kid who is not athletic.

BIM is nothing like TJ. BIM is for TJ wannnabees and the HS is full of TJ rejects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean and know several kids who switched over to Basis. I have toured several times - before the school even opened, when they first started accepting students and recently.

Basis McLean is like a private TJ and has mostly very smart rich Asian kids. The kids we know who go there are far smarter than the kids who we know who chose Potomac, Langley, Flint Hill, Landon and the other suburban privates. I don’t doubt that Basis has the best academics around.

I have athletic boys and the lack of sports is a dealbreaker for us. Extracurriculars seem lacking unless you are only interested in STEM. The school gives a ton of homework. Class sizes also seem too small. I know it is a new school but the graduating class has only 30-40 kids. That is too small in my opinion.

While the school is not a good fit for our family, it may work for a super smart kid who is not athletic.

BIM is nothing like TJ. BIM is for TJ wannnabees and the HS is full of TJ rejects.

That’s not true. There were 5 8th graders got admitted by TJ this summer from a very small 8th grade class. Only one joined TJ, the other 4 are all stay at BIM and in their 2026 class now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sudden opening for an AP Physics teacher in December? Not a smooth operation there.

https://jobs.basisindependent.com/ap-physics-and-linear-algebra-teacher-high-school/job/20917963?utm_source=jobing.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CFE

Force of friction?

They have two HS teachers in this niche, one quite senior and the other new in the last year or two. Very curious which one has bailed. They are both still on the website.

Is it possible they are adding an additional teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sudden opening for an AP Physics teacher in December? Not a smooth operation there.

https://jobs.basisindependent.com/ap-physics-and-linear-algebra-teacher-high-school/job/20917963?utm_source=jobing.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CFE

Force of friction?

They have two HS teachers in this niche, one quite senior and the other new in the last year or two. Very curious which one has bailed. They are both still on the website.

Is it possible they are adding an additional teacher?

To start in December when their HS grades aren't very big to begin with?

That doesn't add up, pardon the pun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean and know several kids who switched over to Basis. I have toured several times - before the school even opened, when they first started accepting students and recently.

Basis McLean is like a private TJ and has mostly very smart rich Asian kids. The kids we know who go there are far smarter than the kids who we know who chose Potomac, Langley, Flint Hill, Landon and the other suburban privates. I don’t doubt that Basis has the best academics around.

I have athletic boys and the lack of sports is a dealbreaker for us. Extracurriculars seem lacking unless you are only interested in STEM. The school gives a ton of homework. Class sizes also seem too small. I know it is a new school but the graduating class has only 30-40 kids. That is too small in my opinion.

While the school is not a good fit for our family, it may work for a super smart kid who is not athletic.

BIM is nothing like TJ. BIM is for TJ wannnabees and the HS is full of TJ rejects.

That’s not true. There were 5 8th graders got admitted by TJ this summer from a very small 8th grade class. Only one joined TJ, the other 4 are all stay at BIM and in their 2026 class now.

That's not believable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three? Get with the times.

Flint hill apparently has a rep for that. Basis (and their Chinese owners) not so much. Matters to some more than others.

I think we are going to go in a tour of Basis just to see why everyone thinks it’s so awful. The comments on here are beyond ridiculous to an almost farcical level.

If you do, ask them for their exact enrollment numbers for the school and by grade. Somehow, they never appear on their website anywhere. What a coincidence.

They provide grade by grade enrollment numbers to the US Department of Education, so they’re there for anyone whose cares to look. FYI, Potomac and FH do not, which seems sus.

https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?HiGrade=-1&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&NumOfStudentsRange=more&SchoolName=in&Search=1&SchoolPageNum=4&ID=A1703643

Wow, those numbers are really low!

Enrollment by Grade:
PK KG 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Students 66 17 34 22 23 17 37 30 40 49 30 24 34 29

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three? Get with the times.

Flint hill apparently has a rep for that. Basis (and their Chinese owners) not so much. Matters to some more than others.

I think we are going to go in a tour of Basis just to see why everyone thinks it’s so awful. The comments on here are beyond ridiculous to an almost farcical level.

If you do, ask them for their exact enrollment numbers for the school and by grade. Somehow, they never appear on their website anywhere. What a coincidence.

They provide grade by grade enrollment numbers to the US Department of Education, so they’re there for anyone whose cares to look. FYI, Potomac and FH do not, which seems sus.

https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?HiGrade=-1&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&NumOfStudentsRange=more&SchoolName=in&Search=1&SchoolPageNum=4&ID=A1703643

Wow, those numbers are really low!

Enrollment by Grade:
PK KG 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Students 66 17 34 22 23 17 37 30 40 49 30 24 34 29

Way to mislead by not putting this into context. This is for school year 2019 - 2020 (bottom of the URL’s webpage), which is 2 years after the school opened.