BASIS board meeting minutes: I Street elementary Location meets obstacles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way I read this is that DC PCSB recommended that BASIS to do a phased enrollment increase (so only adding a few grades a year), not just filling all the extra grades at once. However, BASIS can't afford the I ST building if they don't fill it completely from the start. Someone at the meeting probably asked if they could just move the high school over instead, but that was rejected because they have debt on the current building and the market value is probably awful right now (hello all those empty DC office spaces). So, I doin't read into this that they are planning to move the high school - sounds like BASIS is stuck with that office building they started with.

Partially filling the grades (not being at 100% capacity) was one of the ways they tried to sell this idea to existing families.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they should look in more affordable neighborhoods. But they can't, because their "success" only happens if almost all of the kids are high-income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way I read this is that DC PCSB recommended that BASIS to do a phased enrollment increase (so only adding a few grades a year), not just filling all the extra grades at once. However, BASIS can't afford the I ST building if they don't fill it completely from the start. Someone at the meeting probably asked if they could just move the high school over instead, but that was rejected because they have debt on the current building and the market value is probably awful right now (hello all those empty DC office spaces). So, I doin't read into this that they are planning to move the high school - sounds like BASIS is stuck with that office building they started with.

+1. Phased enrollment increase is a good idea. BASIS basically took 10 years to figure out how to work its middle school model in DC, and still haven't figured out how to do its high school properly. Why should anyone believe that it would know how to elementary school immediately?

[Anonymous]

I wonder if they'll phase it from PK up (which is what most schools do) or from 4th down (which would allow them a quicker opportunity to get those kids into the upper school).

Have they considered making the current school 6-12 and moving the 5th graders to the elementary school? That makes a lot of sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Im a former basis parent, and putting 5th grade with the younger kids makes sense. There is such a shift in curriculum after 5th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im a former basis parent, and putting 5th grade with the younger kids makes sense. There is such a shift in curriculum after 5th grade

So at what point would they run off the kids who aren't as smart? Because right now that happens in 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im a former basis parent, and putting 5th grade with the younger kids makes sense. There is such a shift in curriculum after 5th grade

So at what point would they run off the kids who aren't as smart? Because right now that happens in 5th.

No, it happens in 6th and 7th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im a former basis parent, and putting 5th grade with the younger kids makes sense. There is such a shift in curriculum after 5th grade

So at what point would they run off the kids who aren't as smart? Because right now that happens in 5th.

I don't think an elementary school is a good idea, but one reason some kids struggle in 5th and 6th grade is because they come from weak elementary schools. For those kids, starting at Basis in elementary would them more likely to succeed in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im a former basis parent, and putting 5th grade with the younger kids makes sense. There is such a shift in curriculum after 5th grade

So at what point would they run off the kids who aren't as smart? Because right now that happens in 5th.

I don't think an elementary school is a good idea, but one reason some kids struggle in 5th and 6th grade is because they come from weak elementary schools. For those kids, starting at Basis in elementary would them more likely to succeed in middle school.

Sounds like a great reason for BASIS to locate near the city's weaker elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Amusing to get a banner ad on this site asking for my feedback of a BASIS expansion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way I read this is that DC PCSB recommended that BASIS to do a phased enrollment increase (so only adding a few grades a year), not just filling all the extra grades at once. However, BASIS can't afford the I ST building if they don't fill it completely from the start. Someone at the meeting probably asked if they could just move the high school over instead, but that was rejected because they have debt on the current building and the market value is probably awful right now (hello all those empty DC office spaces). So, I doin't read into this that they are planning to move the high school - sounds like BASIS is stuck with that office building they started with.

Partially filling the grades (not being at 100% capacity) was one of the ways they tried to sell this idea to existing families.

No it wasn't. Are we sure the HOS is a poor communicator and the issue isn't people like you who just don't listen? What was said was that the expected class size for ES would be about 80-ish. Meaning there would be some seats available in the lottery for 5th. What is being discussed here is not enrolling al ES grades on day one and growing over time - the "empty seats" are the grades with no kids enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way I read this is that DC PCSB recommended that BASIS to do a phased enrollment increase (so only adding a few grades a year), not just filling all the extra grades at once. However, BASIS can't afford the I ST building if they don't fill it completely from the start. Someone at the meeting probably asked if they could just move the high school over instead, but that was rejected because they have debt on the current building and the market value is probably awful right now (hello all those empty DC office spaces). So, I doin't read into this that they are planning to move the high school - sounds like BASIS is stuck with that office building they started with.

+1. Phased enrollment increase is a good idea. BASIS basically took 10 years to figure out how to work its middle school model in DC, and still haven't figured out how to do its high school properly. Why should anyone believe that it would know how to elementary school immediately?

Because they currently operate 20+ of them. Or was that rhetorical?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im a former basis parent, and putting 5th grade with the younger kids makes sense. There is such a shift in curriculum after 5th grade

So at what point would they run off the kids who aren't as smart? Because right now that happens in 5th.

No, it happens in 6th and 7th.

Let's change this narrative - not all kids who "run off" after 5th, 6th, or 7th "aren't as smart." We took our "Honor Roll" kid out of BASIS because we wanted a different school experience. My "smart" kid is much happier with their new school, as are we. BASIS isn't just for "smart" kids. It's for kids/families that are ok with a school that has a very rigid curriculum, few electives and is very test heavy and/or don't have other options.

[Anonymous]

Yes, let's change the narrative. My BASIS student earned straight As for 5 years but we left anyway, fed up with teacher "experts" without scant background in the subjects they teach due. We also hit the wall with poor leadership, very limited elective and HS EC choices, the bad building, and the seriously stressful high school curriculum featuring few choices (10th grade, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Cal, want something different, shut up).

If you can afford better or are willing to move to Upper NW or the burbs, you get out of BASIS. Last year, a large parent pressure group formed to monitor board meetings and push for change. The group seems to be getting some results but their campaign has been little too late for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way I read this is that DC PCSB recommended that BASIS to do a phased enrollment increase (so only adding a few grades a year), not just filling all the extra grades at once. However, BASIS can't afford the I ST building if they don't fill it completely from the start. Someone at the meeting probably asked if they could just move the high school over instead, but that was rejected because they have debt on the current building and the market value is probably awful right now (hello all those empty DC office spaces). So, I doin't read into this that they are planning to move the high school - sounds like BASIS is stuck with that office building they started with.

+1. Phased enrollment increase is a good idea. BASIS basically took 10 years to figure out how to work its middle school model in DC, and still haven't figured out how to do its high school properly. Why should anyone believe that it would know how to elementary school immediately?

Because they currently operate 20+ of them. Or was that rhetorical?

No, it wasn't rhetorical. If you've noticed, BASIS has had a tough time acclimating its charter AZ model in DC, primarily because the student landscape in the DC and the DMV area is very different from AZ.