If you gave BASIS a chance and it didn't work out, when did you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

[Anonymous]

We have a kid in 7th now and he’s doing great academically and likes his friends and classmates. However, I’ve started to wonder whether a different environment for high school might be better for him—one that provides more sports and clubs and would allow him to advance his language skills. He’ll stay at BASIS for 8th grade but we might move him in high school. I think he’ll be well-prepared for high school wherever he ends up. Or maybe he’ll want to stay for high school.

We also have a younger child and will not be sending him to BASIS. It would not be a good fit because he is a totally different kid and a different student. He doesn’t have strong executive functioning skills—something I think is critical at BASIS due to the volume of work and material being taught. He isn’t ready for the level of independence kids need at BASIS. As much as I’d love for my kids to be at the same school again, it’s more important to us to find a place where the youngest can live up to his potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

It's not that simple. Middle school kids can develop new interests, including ECs that are standard at most good schools but aren't available at BASIS (like halfway decent performing arts and serious sports).

Our family wasn't impressed with too many of the middle school teachers. They were young with insufficient training and weak classroom management skills. And we disliked the top-down management and pressure to donate to top up teachers' pay. None of this had anything to do with my kids' strong interest in STEM.

All you guys want to talk about is kids being able to handle the workload. That's around half the story at BASIS. It's not a very happy environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

It's not that simple. Middle school kids can develop new interests, including ECs that are standard at most good schools but aren't available at BASIS (like halfway decent performing arts and serious sports).

Our family wasn't impressed with too many of the middle school teachers. They were young with insufficient training and weak classroom management skills. And we disliked the top-down management and pressure to donate to top up teachers' pay. None of this had anything to do with my kids' strong interest in STEM.

All you guys want to talk about is kids being able to handle the workload. That's around half the story at BASIS. It's not a very happy environment.

This. It's so tiresome how the only reason not to like BASIS is that your kid can't hack it. And what about people who do like BASIS, they just like something else a little more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

Your first sentence is easy to say if your IB is okay. In some neighborhoods the IB middle schools are a non starter. So yes many people would choose Basis over the other option. And I don’t blame them at all.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I think spring of 6th. We had one friend leave at end of that year who was top of the class in grades but hated the pressure and atmosphere- went to private, one friend pulled out in Feb and went to in bounds bc student just couldn’t stay organized with all the assignments, we pulled out a kid due to bullying and also determined the curriculum was not a good fit. It’s tough when you don’t have another good option, which is why a number of families stay/the kid is stuck there. And then there are a large number who like it and choose to stay!

[Anonymous]

It’s a no-brainer. Don’t plan on BASIS working out. If you start in 5th; think in terms of taking it year by year. Adolescence is complicated and BASIS is strange. The best laid plans can fall apart for teenagers in any school. We know kids who became non-plussed by BASIS in various grades, all the way from 5th to 10th It happens so cover your bases; have a Plan B at all times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a no-brainer. Don’t plan on BASIS working out. If you start in 5th; think in terms of taking it year by year. Adolescence is complicated and BASIS is strange. The best laid plans can fall apart for teenagers in any school. We know kids who became non-plussed by BASIS in various grades, all the way from 5th to 10th It happens so cover your bases; have a Plan B at all times.

Non plussed has two meanings and I can't seem to fit either one into that sentence.

In any case, the tricky thing about BASIS is that it's an incredible opportunity for some kids, a disaster for others, and just not that great of an experience for others. For us, our kids are happy, learning a ton and we all feel extremely grateful literally every day for the opportunity. But we know others in the other two categories.

If you have a kid who will actually enjoy it, you don't want to miss out on the chance to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

It's not that simple. Middle school kids can develop new interests, including ECs that are standard at most good schools but aren't available at BASIS (like halfway decent performing arts and serious sports).

Our family wasn't impressed with too many of the middle school teachers. They were young with insufficient training and weak classroom management skills. And we disliked the top-down management and pressure to donate to top up teachers' pay. None of this had anything to do with my kids' strong interest in STEM.

All you guys want to talk about is kids being able to handle the workload. That's around half the story at BASIS. It's not a very happy environment.

That’s not universally true, obviously. There are plenty of kids who are happy there, but what makes one kid happy will be different from the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It took us until 7th grade before we pulled the plug. It's not that it "didn't work out" - kids was academically advanced and the top of the class. But it wasn't the environment we wanted him in long term. We moved out of the city.

That is what not working out means. Would be so helpful if those who don’t find it a good fit aren’t so defensive.

[Anonymous]

I had secured back up plans before my child started. But I was pretty certain it was the absolute best option for my child in this area. I did not pick it as a back up. None of the privates fit (NCS was prob closest fit for my kid, but I walked out mid open house; had I a boy with the same personality, we may have chosen St Albans), we had no good inbound and the other charters seemed like a good fit in younger years but not for later. I also firmly believed my child would learn more living in the city. All of this turned out to be true in my opinion.

Many kids left after 6th. We contemplated it before 9th because walls would have been a great option. But in the end, the cohort was way too good to leave. Very happy we stayed. Wasn’t always easy, but I still firmly believe it was the right choice. If I hadn’t started with that belief, I’m sure the whole experience would have been frustrating for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

It's not that simple. Middle school kids can develop new interests, including ECs that are standard at most good schools but aren't available at BASIS (like halfway decent performing arts and serious sports).

Our family wasn't impressed with too many of the middle school teachers. They were young with insufficient training and weak classroom management skills. And we disliked the top-down management and pressure to donate to top up teachers' pay. None of this had anything to do with my kids' strong interest in STEM.

All you guys want to talk about is kids being able to handle the workload. That's around half the story at BASIS. It's not a very happy environment.

That’s not universally true, obviously. There are plenty of kids who are happy there, but what makes one kid happy will be different from the next.

Not really buying it. What we experienced in the BASIS MS was that, by 8th grade, even dyed-in-the-wool booster families weren't doing more than making the best of an OK school in a bad building with an unstable teaching force (indicating not-so-great working conditions, including training, pay and hours) a narrow curriculum and a lot of unserious ECs. As far as I could tell, electives and ECs weren't too hot mainly for lack of funding in a cash-strapped charter. No kid is leaping for joy in a crappy building where electives aren't too good and inspiration isn't the strong suit.

I went to Hunter in NYC. Our building was almost as bad, but it was GT program where hands-on learning (like sophisticated research projects in the community), offbeat interests, unique talents and unusual backgrounds were celebrated. In our experience, BASIS DC is essentially a factory, a one-size-fits all education with 4 years of HS stressfully crammed into 3. Had it been a happier place, with better choices for us, we'd have stayed for HS. We know many Ward 6 BASIS families who've stayed through 12th grade in the last 15 years. I've never heard any of them talk about loving BASIS, although some of the students have gone on to top 10 SLACs and Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a question of what your options are for 6th-- like what are you willing to accept if you have a bad number.

People leave BASIS in 6th just because they thought it was fine but like something else better. An good-not-great number gets you into BASIS but it takes a really good number for Latin and DCI. So their 6th grade pick might be what they preferred all along.

People should really not choose BASIS bc they lack better options. Those people (like people who would rather be at Latin) are almost always super unhappy and then leave.

they should only do it if their kid actively wants that curriculum, and is interested in STEM. We made sure we gave our kid a shadow day there, told him all about the academics, and knew he could handle the workload and memorization necessary to succeed there.

A much higher proportion of these kinds of kids stay. Everyone we know who ranked BASIS higher than Latin is still there.

It's not that simple. Middle school kids can develop new interests, including ECs that are standard at most good schools but aren't available at BASIS (like halfway decent performing arts and serious sports).

Our family wasn't impressed with too many of the middle school teachers. They were young with insufficient training and weak classroom management skills. And we disliked the top-down management and pressure to donate to top up teachers' pay. None of this had anything to do with my kids' strong interest in STEM.

All you guys want to talk about is kids being able to handle the workload. That's around half the story at BASIS. It's not a very happy environment.

That’s not universally true, obviously. There are plenty of kids who are happy there, but what makes one kid happy will be different from the next.

Not really buying it. What we experienced in the BASIS MS was that, by 8th grade, even dyed-in-the-wool booster families weren't doing more than making the best of an OK school in a bad building with an unstable teaching force (indicating not-so-great working conditions, including training, pay and hours) a narrow curriculum and a lot of unserious ECs. As far as I could tell, electives and ECs weren't too hot mainly for lack of funding in a cash-strapped charter. No kid is leaping for joy in a crappy building where electives aren't too good and inspiration isn't the strong suit.

I went to Hunter in NYC. Our building was almost as bad, but it was GT program where hands-on learning (like sophisticated research projects in the community), offbeat interests, unique talents and unusual backgrounds were celebrated. In our experience, BASIS DC is essentially a factory, a one-size-fits all education with 4 years of HS stressfully crammed into 3. Had it been a happier place, with better choices for us, we'd have stayed for HS. We know many Ward 6 BASIS families who've stayed through 12th grade in the last 15 years. I've never heard any of them talk about loving BASIS, although some of the students have gone on to top 10 SLACs and Ivies.

I don't know what to tell you. I have a middle schooler in my house who is genuinely happy to be there. The other day i asked him if he was glad we sent him to BASIS and he actually raised his arms up to the sky and pumped them. Maybe all the things you mention have gotten a bit better (there are way more clubs and sports than even a couple years ago, and my kid enjoys them, and the teachers seem mostly excellent with only one this year who is kind of lackluster and doesn't seem to be explaining things well). Teachers seem much happier under the new HOS, too. The vibe is different.

Anyone who wants to make the claim that there are 0 happy students at BASIS is simply incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Nobody's making that claim. Right, BASIS is improving. But the reality is still that around half the original middle students are gone by HS in any given year, and not necessarily because they aren't strong students. HS electives and ECs still aren't serious enough for many, along with some of the academic offerings.

My kid wouldn't stay for HS (recently), despite claiming that she liked BASIS. She wanted out for the simple reason that all of her close friends were planning to bail for Walls or privates.

[Anonymous]

Not unusual for kids to want to leave because their best buds are heading to Walls etc. My best answer to OP is 8th grade is the pivotal year.