BASIS high school versus middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As my child moved to 9th grade, I haven't noticed a huge change from middle school. The main difference is the switch to two English classes in 9th and additional writing. We weren't that interested in changing: I think our child appreciates the consistency and being with the same small group of students. I can understand moving if you're looking for different extracurriculars or a change.

OP here. From what we've seen in the middle school, it's a huge focus on memorization and study skills. These are great skills to have, but I've been unimpressed with the lack of critical thinking and writing skills. Is there really more of this in high school? I'm also concerned about how some beloved teachers have recently left the high school.

No, in our experience, the BASIS HS experience doesn't emphasize the development of critical thinking or writing skills. There's a strong AP test prep orientation all the way up, hence the lack of emphasis on critical thinking, writing, creative work, arts, globalism, sports etc. There's also little in the way of structured leadership, ethics and character development and, frankly, diversity of the student body. Almost all of the other UMC immigrant families we came in with who aren't super assimilated/Americanized left for privates or the burbs before 9th.

The best teachers aren't paid well enough to stay, so they tend to go after 2-5 years. But if you can't afford privates, your kid has done well academically in the middle school, you aren't willing to move from DC and want a STEM focus (without serious Technology) BASIS is fine, at least where elite college admissions is concerned. If you stay and have the dough, you send your HS kid to strong summer programs to fill gaps.

Your kid dropped out of BASIS DC a while ago, before high school. So, you don't really have the "BASIS HS experience." I would rather listen to people who actually have kids at the HS.

[Anonymous]

NP. We stayed for all four years for our eldest and agree 100% with the pp above. V. mixed bag despite impressive college admissions results for our family. If you can afford to leave w/out turning your life upside down, go. The boosters and sycophants who were a drag in middle school become insufferable later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One more note on the size.

I just looked up the stats. For the 2022-23 school year, there are 663 students in the whole school.

There are about 150 in 9-11 grade. All but one or two of of those 150 have been there for 5 years. That is a small, tight high school. For us, it is amazing.

Contrast (using four year numbers, not three, as all others standardly have 4 years of attendance):
Walls:600
JR: 2000+
DCI: 500+
St. Albans: 250
Gonzaga: 972
Visi: 492
Sidwell: 500

. The BASIS HS math makes no sense to me (my kids are too young for BASIS). You’re saying no more than 150 in the HS currently, so not even 40 per class (maybe a few more in 9th and 10th and a few less in 10th and 11th?). Wait a minute, don’t most of the 8th graders stay for HS? Aren’t some of the 9th grade cohorts 70 or 80? How can 5th grade classes have, what 130 or 140 students and 12th grade just three dozen year after year?? Serious question.

[Anonymous]

I feel this particular issue is discussed ad nauseam but here we go. Classes get smaller and smaller at BASIS because there is attrition and no backfilling. People leave the school in particular and DC in general for various reasons and cannot be replaced with new students. BASIS is not for everyone or becomes a bad fit as the intensity increases or is a great option for middle school but students want or need a different high school experience for various reasons (different/more extra curriculars, different learning environment that’s less test focused, etc.). It’s not a traditional school and just like any other school has its pros and cons. It seems a family has to really value the things it does very well (test prep, college admissions) to justify foregoing a more traditional high school experience.

[Anonymous]

I want to add that it seems as though the attrition at BASIS is not going to be as high in the future given the school’s focus on improving community building and improving/increasing its extra-curricular offerings. Also, this forum is full of complaints with respect to the other DC public high school options that people at BASIS MS and on this forum tend to consider (Walls and JR) which should likely contribute to an increasing number of BASIS MS students remaining for the HS program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. We stayed for all four years for our eldest and agree 100% with the pp above. V. mixed bag despite impressive college admissions results for our family. If you can afford to leave w/out turning your life upside down, go. The boosters and sycophants who were a drag in middle school become insufferable later on.

Troll alert.

[Anonymous]

Yea, anybody who gets fed up with basis boosters and parents who kiss up to admins has to be a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One more note on the size.

I just looked up the stats. For the 2022-23 school year, there are 663 students in the whole school.

There are about 150 in 9-11 grade. All but one or two of of those 150 have been there for 5 years. That is a small, tight high school. For us, it is amazing.

Contrast (using four year numbers, not three, as all others standardly have 4 years of attendance):
Walls:600
JR: 2000+
DCI: 500+
St. Albans: 250
Gonzaga: 972
Visi: 492
Sidwell: 500

. The BASIS HS math makes no sense to me (my kids are too young for BASIS). You’re saying no more than 150 in the HS currently, so not even 40 per class (maybe a few more in 9th and 10th and a few less in 10th and 11th?). Wait a minute, don’t most of the 8th graders stay for HS? Aren’t some of the 9th grade cohorts 70 or 80? How can 5th grade classes have, what 130 or 140 students and 12th grade just three dozen year after year?? Serious question.

As pp explained, the number of students in each grade is necessarily lower as the grades go up. This is opposite of most schools. A typical high school combines classes from more than one middle school or at least allows people to enter after 9th grade. You can only enter Basis in 5th grade. Lots of people leave between 5th and 6th when they realize it is a bad fit. Others leave at later times for whatever reason, including a bunch who go through the analysis we are discussing and leave before 9th. So the numbers only decline, and in some grades rapidly; they do not grow.

Also, these are not direct grade to grade comparisons as I used 9-12 grade for all other schools and onlY 9-11 for Basis. So, if you are looking at a class size comparison you might want to subtract a fourth of the students from any of the other school numbers. My point isn’t the class size, it is the size of the entire high school. Basis has an abbreviated program, so all requirements are completed by the end of 11th grade. Twelfth graders do colleges counseling and special classes or independent studies or internships or go to college early, so they are really a different animal. I could have included them, but as there were only 18 last year because that cohort entered when basis was new new. I see an argument for including the seniors and saying it will be about 200 students. But the senior year oddities are definitely an issue that should be considered when picking the school,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea, anybody who gets fed up with basis boosters and parents who kiss up to admins has to be a troll.

I hate people who call out trolls. On the other hand, I certainly haven’t seen that. I think the ra ra is gone from just about everyone by high school. I’m certainly haven’t seen it. The school is what it is. I still think it is a good decision for our family. But I’m certainly not ra ra, and if I have met anyone who is, they certainly haven’t shared it with me.

[Anonymous]

I certainly wish I could certainly edit my last post to remove all the certainty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea, anybody who gets fed up with basis boosters and parents who kiss up to admins has to be a troll.

Anyone who lies about sending kids to Basis is a troll.

FTFY

[Anonymous]

What if it? Why not just answer OP’s question. Leave the troll stalking and counter-stalking to those with too much time on their hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel this particular issue is discussed ad nauseam but here we go. Classes get smaller and smaller at BASIS because there is attrition and no backfilling. People leave the school in particular and DC in general for various reasons and cannot be replaced with new students. BASIS is not for everyone or becomes a bad fit as the intensity increases or is a great option for middle school but students want or need a different high school experience for various reasons (different/more extra curriculars, different learning environment that’s less test focused, etc.). It’s not a traditional school and just like any other school has its pros and cons. It seems a family has to really value the things it does very well (test prep, college admissions) to justify foregoing a more traditional high school experience.

I guess I disagree. Yes, everything you’ve written here has been discussed. But, it doesn’t answer OP’s question which is what is the high school like. What are hs classes like? We know they are small, but are lessons taught the same way? Is there more discussion between students and teachers? Is there more emphasis on good writing skills? Or is it still a lot like middle school? Still a lot of power points, guided notes and multiple choice quizzes and tests? I don’t see that discussed very often here.

[Anonymous]

My post was not in response to the OP but in response to the poster just before my response who expressed trouble making sense of the number of students in each grade at BASIS. I think the OP asked a valid question and I hope more people will weigh in on the HS experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel this particular issue is discussed ad nauseam but here we go. Classes get smaller and smaller at BASIS because there is attrition and no backfilling. People leave the school in particular and DC in general for various reasons and cannot be replaced with new students. BASIS is not for everyone or becomes a bad fit as the intensity increases or is a great option for middle school but students want or need a different high school experience for various reasons (different/more extra curriculars, different learning environment that’s less test focused, etc.). It’s not a traditional school and just like any other school has its pros and cons. It seems a family has to really value the things it does very well (test prep, college admissions) to justify foregoing a more traditional high school experience.

I guess I disagree. Yes, everything you’ve written here has been discussed. But, it doesn’t answer OP’s question which is what is the high school like. What are hs classes like? We know they are small, but are lessons taught the same way? Is there more discussion between students and teachers? Is there more emphasis on good writing skills? Or is it still a lot like middle school? Still a lot of power points, guided notes and multiple choice quizzes and tests? I don’t see that discussed very often here.

Still a lot like middle school, just with smaller classes and somewhat better teachers overall.