BASIS--opinions please
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Anonymous
P.S. Since the re-enrollment forms are due late in the year, by the time the school offers a spot off the waitlist, the waitlistee has already committed to another school. So the school goes further down the waitlist. |
Anonymous
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Here is a link to an article about BASIS in the WaPo. Not much about kids experience in the school- more about operations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/03/30/what-the-public-doesnt-know-about-high-performing-charter-schools-in-arizona/?utm_term=.9e284e8a573a |
Anonymous
| Is it weird (or will they allow) a shadow day if you are on the waitlist. Our number is high so by the time we would potentially get a spot school will be over. |
Anonymous
Doesn't hurt to ask. Right now the website only offers tours but they may be scheduling more shadow days. |
Anonymous
I hate when Valerie Strauss gives her column over to bloggers. Much to criticize about BASIS, but many of the things noted about the AZ schools do not apply to DC. The DC school is far more diverse, the free lunch program is offered in DC and students at all charter and public schools get free transportation via Metro and Metrobus. A significant percentage of students choose to graduate early, after 11th (not drop out). Most important, the management fees that go back to Basis.ed are lower -- because the DC board insisted on it. Thankfully our charter oversight is stronger in DC -- maybe not strong enough, but still much more robust than in Arizona. |
Anonymous
| My take is that if you have a kid that's organized or easy to get organized, he/she will do well at Basis. As a PP said, it is intense and I'm still amazed at the level of materials they cover in 6th grade. I don't remember doing balancing of chemical equations in 6th grade. However, if your child is super disorganized, it will be a struggle as it has been for us since 5th grade. There is also a huge amount of home work which takes up most of my child's evening with no room for other extracurricular activities. We're seriously considering another school for 7th grade for my kid's and my peace of mind. I have to stay up most nights to make sure every homework is completed and it becomes tiring after a while. The school expects a high level of independence from the students. There are no parent teacher conferences though there are parent hours which are scheduled through the front office. You can email the teachers but some of them are not good at responding. I've had to send several before getting one response. But, it hasn't been all bad. My kid has become better organized, learnt a lot and in spite of all the challenges, loves the school. Good luck deciding. |
Anonymous
Consider your other options carefully before choosing BASIS. |
Anonymous
We have a low waitlist number and will probably say no if offered a spot. We are at a Deal feeder, my kid really enjoyed playing on the school's basketball team this year and hopes to play next year (5th grade.) Our DCPS has amazing extracurriculars and enrichment programs so I don't think we will take a chance with Basis and the possibility that it doesn't work out for our kid. |
Anonymous
So why did you enter? Truly curious. |
Anonymous
Not the PP but come from a similar view. The answer is "why not?" There is no cost to enter the lottery and keeping options open for your family and child is a prudent thing to do. The lottery opens up in December and isn't complete until April. A lot can happen during that time. Maybe your child was having a wonderful experience at their school but then that changed? Maybe your child started to show real academic prowess and suddenly the idea of a place like Basis seems right? And also, even if you don't get a spot in the lottery drawing you're still on the waitlist, so again, if things change for your child or family and your current school isn't so great anymore, it's nice to know you might still have an option. Really, unless there is some financial cost or the possibility of losing access to your current school just by entering the lottery, there is really no reason NOT to. |
Anonymous
| Exactly. We were panning to homeschool for MS. We entered the lottery and got into a school we heard good things about. We will now investigate the school to see if it looks like a good fit for DC. If it looks promising, we will enroll and try it out in the fall, with homeschooling as our backup plan. |
Anonymous
We wanted to consider a more rigorous academic environment, but the basketball has made a huge difference (self esteem, collaboration, etc etc.) and we didn't realize that before entering lottery. I would consider moving to Basis a big risk coming from a DCPS with decent academic offerings and what seems like unlimited extras (I know they are limited but I am truly impressed by what our school offers to supplement 9-3.) My kid has high scores and seeks out opportunities to learn but I've never considered that he is gifted. He loves to learn and enjoys school, my gut is that moving him out of that environment to one considerably more rigorous without the extracurriculars he likes is a big gamble. |
Anonymous
In the early years, BASIS type kids are very excited to be learning so much. But instruction is spotty, 7th and 8th grade are repetitive in Physics and Chemistry due to the "spiral model" and the fact that in order to learn more, you have to have the math. The building is depressing, and when you see your friends from Deal and Wilson being able to do other things with their lives, especially in MS, smart kids start to wonder why 1) they have to do 15 out of 30 math problems each night that are "review" 2) why there are crappy teachers and so little reading that they start handing out vocab lists in 9th grade 3) why the misbehaved kids are still with them (hint: it is all about the money before high school, so they keep the kids til 8th - that is why mastery defense exists as well, which puts well performing kids in a dilemma about whether the grades are worth the extra time - but especially if they want to leave it matters), 4) why LEAP no longer works (this is what kept my daughter there for 8th, but the next year it was made impossible - they wanted the kids to take TWO chemistry classes, and the LEAP Chem attrition from her year (not only in terms of kids who left, but those who stayed was horrible), 5) and why so many of the kids who stay for high school are so miserable (they finally start teaching English so it is a steep learning curve). If you want to actually learn AP Computer science from a teacher, don't count on it. But by all means stay for 9th because at Wilson you cannot take APs If you want to learn Spanish or Chinese at a reasonable speed instead of a crawl, don't count on it. If you want to take AP World History it is now much more tough because you have to review what you learned in 6th (not 7th) grade And if you want a HOS who stays for more than a year - and the last two were terrible - don't count on it. The demographics of the students are changing rapidly... But the method of teaching (guided note-taking, extremely passive) and the quiz/test ratios are not either, and mastery defense is designed mostly to keep their pyramid scheme going until 8th grade. And the building is grim which would be fine if it were full of happy children.... But if you suffer through and do extremely well you might get into Princeton EA. |
Anonymous
| Two kids there, and my older is opting to stay for high school. They complain (like I did when I was their age) about work, but I never see them working incessantly on school stuff. My kids have a robust social life with many mixed activities and plenty of sleep. I am very happy that nothing gets dumbed down at Basis. Kids KNOW their stuff. The academic program is great... I do not love the shifting of staff so much. The mid year hires don't seem to do as good a job as the ones who have been there for a while. I recommend the program, but I feel as a parent that what has made it successful for us is that I do not project stress onto my kids. They get out of the program what they choose to with a clear understanding of what this program can give them (an edge on college applications/ options) and what it is not designed to give (lifegiving a-ha moments). School does the teaching, parents do the shepherding. It's very unproductive to get on to the school to do a parents' job and plant seeds of frustration in kids' minds that make them resent the wor . IMHO. So, get behind the school and enroll, or don't send your child. Don't send your kid there confused yourself and project those feelings on the children. That messes kids up! |
Anonymous
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I'd wait and see who they announce as the new HOS.
They will almost certainly announce it before the May 1 deadline. I'm sure the choice will be discussed here at length, no matter who is picked. |