How's basis going so far?

[Anonymous]

I don't know where this "BASIS beavers starting threads" thing is coming from. Looking at the last many threads, most look to me like most are either coming from a.) people who weren't involved in BASIS, and are asking questions about it, or b.) a few started by the resident anti-BASIS cynic(s) who aren't willing to even give BASIS a chance and want to start spreading their doubts and speculations before BASIS has even gotten rolling.

[Anonymous]

FYI, according to the weekly email I received from BASIS DC a couple of days ago, the school still has a few spots for this year. If you are interested in having your child attend this year, please visit the following url: https://www.basisdc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=236&Itemid=426

[Anonymous]

What about those of us like 18:12 whose kids are at the school and want to share experiences?

[Anonymous]

Go for it, 19:10. No one can stop you.

[Anonymous]

Well you just did. Byee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

(I find it hard to believe BASIS still needs its energetic beavers to start new BASIS threads every day. Dial back, beavers and let the school prove its excellence on its own merit.)

Hey, why not? For those of us interested, we have no other source of info. We don't know who's at this school, there are no alumni, no listserv, no directory, no 'school grounds' to mill about chatting with other parents, nothing on Great Schools, nothing on the Boosters website. How can you begrudge us this forum? If the thread has the word BASIS in it, that's your clue not to read it.

+1
I didn't enroll my child, but I'm still curious, and hoping it works.

[Anonymous]

Look, does it really matter? Children of professional,highly educated, upper middle class parents will do fine at Basis. They'll do fine at any school. The parents who pulled their kids out of charters claiming there wasn't enough "rigor" there will tell you that their child has never been happier and that it was the best move ever. Seriously, what are they going to say: "Gosh, I put my kid in a school with no track record here and it sucks. I was duped." Of course not. Again their kid will be fine and good for them.

There real question is what happens to the children who do not have family support and who have learning needs. Can we track children who have entered this month and see where they are 3 years from now? I'd like to know the demographics of those who are NOT around 3 years from now.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 941. You summed it up.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, 941, and 1037. The question was, "how is it going so far?" You're answering a different question that belongs on the general Basis thread.

Here's one child's view on how it's going so far (Nobody knows except what their children are telling them.) My kid has made some friends in lunch and he actually eats the school lunch for a change.

It's strange to him that there is no real downtime - strange but good. Every other school has had tons of downtime and it and it was not that fun. In a vast difference between Latin and Basis, he gets his homework done during after-care. No electronics are allowed, thank god. (Latin's aftercare was a complete waste; they might have discontinued it there, I know it was undersubscribed.) So far he's not had any homework that he couldn't finish in aftercare. Extracurriculars start this coming week and he wants to do robotics so we'll see if that hinders homework completion. It does feel a little isolated because I don't know any other families, but it's not my experience that matters.
Basis sweats the details which I like a lot: for instance, when you drop something off for the child, you fill out a form what it is and who it's for. When you want a teacher conference you set it up with the front office, I like that I don't have to worry about bothering the teacher or waiting for a return email. The kids are directed to keep binders in their lockers or at home so they don't have to lug them around every day. For class they bring an accordion folder and a 'communication journal' and transfer papers at the end of the week...Elegant system.
The only negative I can see is that it's a bit formal, not set up for a family-like feel, but like my kid, I'll prefer a clear organization over a freeform setting if given the choice. My other kid thrives in the freeform setting - she would probably not like Basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, does it really matter? Children of professional,highly educated, upper middle class parents will do fine at Basis. They'll do fine at any school. The parents who pulled their kids out of charters claiming there wasn't enough "rigor" there will tell you that their child has never been happier and that it was the best move ever. Seriously, what are they going to say: "Gosh, I put my kid in a school with no track record here and it sucks. I was duped." Of course not. Again their kid will be fine and good for them.

There real question is what happens to the children who do not have family support and who have learning needs. Can we track children who have entered this month and see where they are 3 years from now? I'd like to know the demographics of those who are NOT around 3 years from now.

NO, there's plenty of children who won't "do fine at any school". When DC has classroom after classroom full of kids who are barely proficient, with kids who are disruptive and so on - a chunk of the teacher's time is spent on remediation and managing crises rather than teaching. The brighter kids end up losing out, because the class ends up gravitating toward the lowest common denominator, and the bright kids end up bored and not getting what they need, it's a waste of time for them. The well-behaved kids end up losing out, they end up surrounded by negative influences and disruption. The hard-working kids lose out because they see those who don't do the work getting promoted right alongside them. All of that erodes away at the child.

With regard to those low-SES students who don't have family support - I don't see how anyone can find fault in BASIS or any other school where it comes to that. Schools do not have the mission, means, mandate or ability to intervene in students' homes where there is a lack of parental support or where there are other problems - and those students will by and large struggle regardless of the school setting. Those are issues which must be dealt with by other means.

[Anonymous]

"With regard to those low-SES students who don't have family support - I don't see how anyone can find fault in BASIS or any other school where it comes to that. Schools do not have the mission, means, mandate or ability to intervene in students' homes where there is a lack of parental support or where there are other problems - and those students will by and large struggle regardless of the school setting. Those are issues which must be dealt with by other means."

Ok, but that's exactly the opposite argument that Rhee/Kamras/Kaya have made over the past 5 years.

Rhee said all it takes is a rockstar teacher and all will be well. And she and now Kaya have fired many, many teachers on this principal.

If a low SES child fails to perform, it is the fault of the teacher. The whole IMPACT system is predicated on this "fact."

I'm just saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, does it really matter? Children of professional,highly educated, upper middle class parents will do fine at Basis. They'll do fine at any school. The parents who pulled their kids out of charters claiming there wasn't enough "rigor" there will tell you that their child has never been happier and that it was the best move ever. Seriously, what are they going to say: "Gosh, I put my kid in a school with no track record here and it sucks. I was duped." Of course not. Again their kid will be fine and good for them.

There real question is what happens to the children who do not have family support and who have learning needs. Can we track children who have entered this month and see where they are 3 years from now? I'd like to know the demographics of those who are NOT around 3 years from now.

NO, there's plenty of children who won't "do fine at any school". When DC has classroom after classroom full of kids who are barely proficient, with kids who are disruptive and so on - a chunk of the teacher's time is spent on remediation and managing crises rather than teaching. The brighter kids end up losing out, because the class ends up gravitating toward the lowest common denominator, and the bright kids end up bored and not getting what they need, it's a waste of time for them. The well-behaved kids end up losing out, they end up surrounded by negative influences and disruption. The hard-working kids lose out because they see those who don't do the work getting promoted right alongside them. All of that erodes away at the child.

With regard to those low-SES students who don't have family support - I don't see how anyone can find fault in BASIS or any other school where it comes to that. Schools do not have the mission, means, mandate or ability to intervene in students' homes where there is a lack of parental support or where there are other problems - and those students will by and large struggle regardless of the school setting. Those are issues which must be dealt with by other means.[/quote

Totally agree, PP. Teachers are not miracle workers. I don't understand how people fail to understand this. Ultimately, family and home environment has a much greater impact on children than any teacher can hope to have, unless the children are boarded at school.

[Anonymous]

agree also, but the system in DCPS is set up to punish teachers who are not miracle workers.

and of course to financially reward teachers who are miracle workers.

This becomes a great way to save money on teachers' salaries (due to dearth of miracles) while disregarding children's education -- and paying the salaries of the geniuses who devise the evaluation and merit pay systems that do not effect student learning.

[Anonymous]

With regard to those low-SES students who don't have family support - I don't see how anyone can find fault in BASIS or any other school where it comes to that. Schools do not have the mission, means, mandate or ability to intervene in students' homes where there is a lack of parental support or where there are other problems - and those students will by and large struggle regardless of the school setting. Those are issues which must be dealt with by other means.

Not quite. Public charter schools share the public school mission of providing supports that mitigate the challenges faced by struggling students. It is very much a part of the mission, means, mandate and ability of the PS and PCS school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, does it really matter? Children of professional,highly educated, upper middle class parents will do fine at Basis. They'll do fine at any school. The parents who pulled their kids out of charters claiming there wasn't enough "rigor" there will tell you that their child has never been happier and that it was the best move ever. Seriously, what are they going to say: "Gosh, I put my kid in a school with no track record here and it sucks. I was duped." Of course not. Again their kid will be fine and good for them.

There real question is what happens to the children who do not have family support and who have learning needs. Can we track children who have entered this month and see where they are 3 years from now? I'd like to know the demographics of those who are NOT around 3 years from now.

NO, there's plenty of children who won't "do fine at any school". When DC has classroom after classroom full of kids who are barely proficient, with kids who are disruptive and so on - a chunk of the teacher's time is spent on remediation and managing crises rather than teaching. The brighter kids end up losing out, because the class ends up gravitating toward the lowest common denominator, and the bright kids end up bored and not getting what they need, it's a waste of time for them. The well-behaved kids end up losing out, they end up surrounded by negative influences and disruption. The hard-working kids lose out because they see those who don't do the work getting promoted right alongside them. All of that erodes away at the child.

With regard to those low-SES students who don't have family support - I don't see how anyone can find fault in BASIS or any other school where it comes to that. Schools do not have the mission, means, mandate or ability to intervene in students' homes where there is a lack of parental support or where there are other problems - and those students will by and large struggle regardless of the school setting. Those are issues which must be dealt with by other means.

Wow. Could you explain some more about how these children are so traumatized? Because according to the data, upper middle class kids in DC do just fine on testing regardless of the school they're in. Are these kids turning to drugs or dropping out of school? Are they showing up at the ped's office with a higher rate of illness? What is this "eroding" look like?

As for the low SES kids, Basis IS saying that it can find success for all students. That includes the ones where there isn't family support. It IS their mission to intervene at school and mitigate any home circumstances.