Best Charter High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS DC is ranked the number one charter high school in the DC area.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=district-of-columbia&charter=true

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-charter-high-schools/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

Somebody posts this on every charter HS or BASIS thread. Yea, guy, we know. We also know that BASIS admitted 135 5th graders eight years ago but only 42 are left in the senior glass. If the school were really fantastic, two-thirds of the students wouldn't bail along the way.

For some families, this is a feature, not a bug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS DC is ranked the number one charter high school in the DC area.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=district-of-columbia&charter=true

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-charter-high-schools/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

Somebody posts this on every charter HS or BASIS thread. Yea, guy, we know. We also know that BASIS admitted 135 5th graders eight years ago but only 42 are left in the senior glass. If the school were really fantastic, two-thirds of the students wouldn't bail along the way.

DP. BASIS is 100% lottery and doesn’t backfill. Kids leave for various reasons and only those who can keep up stay. That makes it unique in DC and explains the numbers.

BASIS is not unique wrt its backfilling policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is pretty good

+1. IB program is rigorous. Great facilities, beautiful campus, lots of extracurriculars, clubs, sports - similar to your typical suburban school.

The issue is that it’s very difficult to get in.

Sort of. DCI has often been boring for my 8th grader, who excels at STEM and doesn't want to stay for HS. Admins insist on lumping kids who work years behind grade level into the same MS English, science and social studies classes as advanced students. The arrangement leads to many classroom disruptions. 8th grade has been better than 6th and 7th because social studies classes are taught in the target language and she's finally being allowed to take more challenging math. Most of the other families don't take language as seriously as we'd like, e.g. few of the high SES families paying for summer immersion camps, and we've had good teachers quit during the school year. The HS is getting better but isn't great. Their clueless college counselors don't seem to know the basics about IBD for Americans, like doubling up on AP tests that correspond to IB subjects so kids have standardized subject test scores to submit with college applications (IBD exams aren't taken until June of senior year).

Middle school is typically the weak link in DC. Starting grade with 6th grade with lots of different kids coming in is like a transiting year at most school. I would expect 7th and 8th to be better. We are in a feeder and following closely.. We know families with older siblings at the school and we have talked to parents and actual students and although anecdotal they are all happy.

Feedback from high school that I have gotten is that if your kid is in the IB program it’s pretty rigorous and the highest track. Also the Spanish track of course is the strongest track with the most fluent students and families who take the language seriously.

BTW, even better than summer immersion camp is that DCI allows study abroad which is a rare opportunity for high school.

Meh. Average MS academics and ECs lead to middling HS academics and ECs. The highest-performing families we know at DCI appear to have payed plenty to supplement in every grade. Top 8th graders commonly seek an alternative HS option, particularly the STEM minded.

From what I've observed, the happiest families aren't the most ambitious ones. If you're shooting for elite college admissions, in this country or abroad, you're going to need a lot of hustle for DCI. Parents hire writing tutors, pay to supplement for math, schlep kids to heritage language classes in MoCo on weekends, fork out for Concordia camp ($6,000 for HS program this summer, 4 wks). Some hire private college counselors.

DCI is better than moving to the burbs for more serious IBD, but only marginally. One gratis summer immersion camp is nice, but won't cut it alone for high scores on IBD language exams.

[Anonymous]

Most families don't supplement or care about aiming high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most families don't supplement or care about aiming high.

Most can’t afford to supplement in the ways mentioned. Do you think only rich parents care about their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good question. Thinking about disciplinary issues (outside of normal teen issues), school attendance, student motivation…

I have one kid at an application high school that will probably leave for our inbound (JR) at the end of the year. Kids don’t show up on time to the point where teachers can’t get started with class until they’re 20-30 minutes in. Many kids below grade level and/or not doing their work. Kid is just trying to get to the end of the school year but very discouraged as this was their dream school.

Sorry your kids is so discouraged. I hope you find the right fit school. I never quite understood the teacher approach of not starting on time. In the high school I attended, the teachers started on time and if you missed part of their class they gave you zero participation points. Most (but not all) kids started showing up on time because it impacted their grade and class standing.

Are you familiar with the grading policy? Zeroes no longer exist. Everybody gets a trophy, even if they do nothing.

Try explaining that to your child who works hard just to get a (deserved) B while others do nothing and are rewarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families don't supplement or care about aiming high.

Most can’t afford to supplement in the ways mentioned. Do you think only rich parents care about their kids?

So why choose immersion/partial immersion if you can't afford for your kids to learn to speak a language not spoken at home? Arguably, low SES DC families shouldn't be encouraged to do this.

I'm not convinced that many of the "rich" parents at DCI are remotely serious about immersion, or academics in general. Their kids coast, fine by DCI. No advanced/honors/intensified classes in middle school (outside math and, supposedly, language) makes for an easy ride, particularly in 6th and 7th grades. Things are better in high school, but not by leaps and bounds. Plenty of unrealistic parents onboard at DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like McKinley, or maybe Ellington.

I’m curious as to why you suggest these schools. Is that a hunch or do you have a kid who goes there? There are other selective schools that the PP could be referring to that don’t get mentioned a lot, like CHEC, Bard, Coolidge, Phelps.

CHEC is not a selective HS and Coolidge is nobody's dream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like McKinley, or maybe Ellington.

I’m curious as to why you suggest these schools. Is that a hunch or do you have a kid who goes there? There are other selective schools that the PP could be referring to that don’t get mentioned a lot, like CHEC, Bard, Coolidge, Phelps.

CHEC is not a selective HS and Coolidge is nobody's dream.

CHEC is selective for high school, just not for middle school.

https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/26

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like McKinley, or maybe Ellington.

I’m curious as to why you suggest these schools. Is that a hunch or do you have a kid who goes there? There are other selective schools that the PP could be referring to that don’t get mentioned a lot, like CHEC, Bard, Coolidge, Phelps.

CHEC is not a selective HS and Coolidge is nobody's dream.

Bard and Coolidge both have early college academies that are selective, and CHEC HS program is selective for students who did not complete 8th grade at CHEC https://www.myschooldc.org/how-apply/applying-high-school

[Anonymous]

OP here

The school is DESA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here

The school is DESA

PP, not OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like McKinley, or maybe Ellington.

I’m curious as to why you suggest these schools. Is that a hunch or do you have a kid who goes there? There are other selective schools that the PP could be referring to that don’t get mentioned a lot, like CHEC, Bard, Coolidge, Phelps.

CHEC is not a selective HS and Coolidge is nobody's dream.

Bard and Coolidge both have early college academies that are selective, and CHEC HS program is selective for students who did not complete 8th grade at CHEC https://www.myschooldc.org/how-apply/applying-high-school

Selective is really stretching it for your garden variety DCUM family.

[Anonymous]

OP- what are you really looking for?

[Anonymous]

Rich families in DC send their kids to private school. Poor families move. Poor families who cannot afford to move need to take advantage of special programs within DC (usually targeted to black and brown families) to get a leg up. If you are somehow to poor to move but also white (a demographic that according to DCUM, doesn't really exist), you are doomed.