BASIS proposal to expand to K-4--PCSB hearing today

[Anonymous]

Nope. Comps begin in 6th grade and end in 8th grade. Even the current fifth graders don’t take comps. Please don’t oppose the elementary school without knowing the facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Comps begin in 6th grade and end in 8th grade. Even the current fifth graders don’t take comps. Please don’t oppose the elementary school without knowing the facts.

So how will they run off the kids who can't handle it? I'm not sure their "success" can happen without that filter.

[Anonymous]

Is it known yet where the ES will be located?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it known yet where the ES will be located?

No, so far they have failed to find a building. They claim to be open to anywhere, but I think they don't actually want EOTR. Low income areas are not their model, even if they say what the PCSB wants to hear to get approved.

[Anonymous]

BASIS schools in urban areas such as NYC often have 2 different campuses. Generally, they try to find two schools in proximity to allow the schools to share facilities. In this case, they are looking for a largish space for the lower school that includes outdoor grounds and space for a gym. That way the middle/upper school (located downtown near the National Archives) could use those facilities. That is why they have been looking for a building in the Capitol Hill/Dupont Circle area, which would be convenient for many existing families.

[Anonymous]

This. There is no nefarious plan here. The expansion has been presented both as a way to improve performance of students by the time they reach middle school and to improve physical space options for the middle/high school, which is sadly stuck in the current building without the possibility of moving for now. If the elementary school offered nice indoor and/or outdoor space, the middle/high school would have the option to use it. Most elementary schools offer little to no rigor and students are behind by 5th grade when they arrive at BASIS currently. An elementary school would not be designed to weed kids out so much as to give families a chance to have more insight to the program early on so that they can make a more informed decision about middle school and potentially set their kids up for a higher chance of success in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BASIS schools in urban areas such as NYC often have 2 different campuses. Generally, they try to find two schools in proximity to allow the schools to share facilities. In this case, they are looking for a largish space for the lower school that includes outdoor grounds and space for a gym. That way the middle/upper school (located downtown near the National Archives) could use those facilities. That is why they have been looking for a building in the Capitol Hill/Dupont Circle area, which would be convenient for many existing families.

Riiiiight. The wealthiest parts of town are, purely by coincidence, where BASIS wants to always be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This. There is no nefarious plan here. The expansion has been presented both as a way to improve performance of students by the time they reach middle school and to improve physical space options for the middle/high school, which is sadly stuck in the current building without the possibility of moving for now. If the elementary school offered nice indoor and/or outdoor space, the middle/high school would have the option to use it. Most elementary schools offer little to no rigor and students are behind by 5th grade when they arrive at BASIS currently. An elementary school would not be designed to weed kids out so much as to give families a chance to have more insight to the program early on so that they can make a more informed decision about middle school and potentially set their kids up for a higher chance of success in middle school.

Please name some possible real estate offerings in the target area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BASIS schools in urban areas such as NYC often have 2 different campuses. Generally, they try to find two schools in proximity to allow the schools to share facilities. In this case, they are looking for a largish space for the lower school that includes outdoor grounds and space for a gym. That way the middle/upper school (located downtown near the National Archives) could use those facilities. That is why they have been looking for a building in the Capitol Hill/Dupont Circle area, which would be convenient for many existing families.

So it's just a really big coincidence that all of BASIS' locations, in the entire country, are located in middle-tohigh-income areas?

[Anonymous]

I have no idea about possible real estate offerings. There may not be an ideal place available but hopefully the school will try its best.

BASIS does better with kids who are not at risk. Doesn’t mean at risk kids can’t do well. In fact, parents who take the time and effort to enter the lottery for a school like BASIS likely have a greater interest in their kid’s education (it takes zero effort to go to one’s in-bound DCPS school). Parent involvement/interest might be just as or possibly more important than SES to some degree in ensuring a successful outcome.

But obviously kids who don’t have basic needs met at home are unlikely to thrive (or will certainly have a tough time) at a school like BASIS. BASIS makes sense located in higher income areas because there will be a greater number of families able to support their students’ success. These families might be willing to travel further for BASIS but BASIS does not benefit from being most convenient to students unlikely to succeed in its program. BASIS will not lower its academic standards even if a majority of the grade is failing.

Unfortunately most kids in the poorer areas of DC don’t have enough supports and encouragement to excel at BASIS. This is a problem worth fixing for sure, but BASIS is not going to solve it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea about possible real estate offerings. There may not be an ideal place available but hopefully the school will try its best.

BASIS does better with kids who are not at risk. Doesn’t mean at risk kids can’t do well. In fact, parents who take the time and effort to enter the lottery for a school like BASIS likely have a greater interest in their kid’s education (it takes zero effort to go to one’s in-bound DCPS school). Parent involvement/interest might be just as or possibly more important than SES to some degree in ensuring a successful outcome.

But obviously kids who don’t have basic needs met at home are unlikely to thrive (or will certainly have a tough time) at a school like BASIS. BASIS makes sense located in higher income areas because there will be a greater number of families able to support their students’ success. These families might be willing to travel further for BASIS but BASIS does not benefit from being most convenient to students unlikely to succeed in its program. BASIS will not lower its academic standards even if a majority of the grade is failing.

Unfortunately most kids in the poorer areas of DC don’t have enough supports and encouragement to excel at BASIS. This is a problem worth fixing for sure, but BASIS is not going to solve it.

You mean, BASIS does better with the kids who are easiest to educate, because they're not up to the challenge of working with kids who need more support. And also they don't want to! And they don't have to! So Dupont Circle it is.

Enjoy your expensive real estate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS schools in urban areas such as NYC often have 2 different campuses. Generally, they try to find two schools in proximity to allow the schools to share facilities. In this case, they are looking for a largish space for the lower school that includes outdoor grounds and space for a gym. That way the middle/upper school (located downtown near the National Archives) could use those facilities. That is why they have been looking for a building in the Capitol Hill/Dupont Circle area, which would be convenient for many existing families.

So it's just a really big coincidence that all of BASIS' locations, in the entire country, are located in middle-tohigh-income areas?

You understand that BASIS DC is 100% lottery for all of DC including poorer areas and in fact poorer kids get a lottery preference at BASIS, right?

Please get off your high horse and start advocating for busing from Wards 7 and 8 to Janney, J-R, and other schools in wealthy NW DC.

[Anonymous]

So is it correct to conclude that BASIS elementary will be spending less on things like teacher salaries and other stuff for the kids, because it's going to spend a huge amount of money on a location in an expensive neighborhood?

There's a reason charters tend not to locate WOTP...

[Anonymous]

Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

[Anonymous]

Nope. BASIS can work with kids who need more support. What they can’t do - like pretty much any school - is overcome a complete lack of support or interest at home in a child’s education. There’s a different between helping a student who needs extra support and helping a student who needs EVERYTHING. It’s crazy how people on this forum tend to hold BASIS to a standard that no other school is subjected to. They are great at educating kids from great backgrounds - like pretty much any school. They are also great at providing a much better education to anyone who can/wants to commit to it. Kids from great backgrounds at often do well despite the school they attend and not because of it. At BASIS kids from all backgrounds are exposed to a vast amount of material at a much younger age. This is not appropriate for the vast majority of people - including kids from high SES backgrounds. This is what many people don’t seem to realize. It’s also okay to have some schools best at bringing up the bottom students and some schools best at raising the top.