How to help child succeed at BASIS

[Anonymous]

We’ve been at Basis long enough to advise that half the battle is to accept that it’s a very strange school. Love Basis or hate it, it’s just not a remotely normal school. Preparing your family mentally for the weirdness of BASIS is in fact answering the question. That’s the reality of the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Circumstances, divorce. BASIS for 5th, 6th for eldest. Kid did very well academically but not socially/emotionally or with extra curriculars (mostly music). Ex moved to Arlington; we share custody. Comprehensive middle school with big campus, strong music program, advanced languages etc. Writing classes much better- 15 students max, much more experienced teacher. STEM subjects not quite as challenging but never mind. Good luck at BASIS.

Sounds like residency fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been at Basis long enough to advise that half the battle is to accept that it’s a very strange school. Love Basis or hate it, it’s just not a remotely normal school. Preparing your family mentally for the weirdness of BASIS is in fact answering the question. That’s the reality of the situation.

Can you elaborate on that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

There are kids at basis that do serious sports, this answer is probably kid dependent. Fifth grade is a lot of organization and definitely more academic than elementary school. You know your kid and whether that will be a big adjustment. I also think they’ve toned it down between my fifth grader and my seventh grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

I found it especially important for my son to keep sports/ movement in his out of school time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

My kid is in 5th grade there and he continued his sport both in fall and now spring, as did lots of his friends. It's not necessary to cancel outside activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

Just be super organized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

My kid is in 5th grade there and he continued his sport both in fall and now spring, as did lots of his friends. It's not necessary to cancel outside activities.

Yes, but dealing with outside activities gets old even if the kid can handle the time commitment, especially if both parents have demanding commutes. You start to envy families with serious sports, music and other extra curriculars at a school, whatever type of school.

Weak extra curricular options are one reason the Basis loses half of it students between 6th and 9th grades. Everybody who leaves doesn't do it because the academics are too much, or their life circumstances change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

My kid is in 5th grade there and he continued his sport both in fall and now spring, as did lots of his friends. It's not necessary to cancel outside activities.

Yes, but dealing with outside activities gets old even if the kid can handle the time commitment, especially if both parents have demanding commutes. You start to envy families with serious sports, music and other extra curriculars at a school, whatever type of school.

Weak extra curricular options are one reason the Basis loses half of it students between 6th and 9th grades. Everybody who leaves doesn't do it because the academics are too much, or their life circumstances change.

Our fifth grader is capable of getting to their outside sports on their own, or via carpool with neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child loves it there. It was a steep learning curve. We needed to cancel outside activities and really prioritize giving her time to do work as she started. No more taking her out to long dinners with friends on weeknights. By 6th grade, she had lots of extracurriculars again. Other than that, basis did the work to get her up to speed.

Is it really necessary to cancel outside activities? My kid does a sport fairly seriously.

No, that is not necessary. My kid does maybe 20 minutes of homework at home every other day. She gets a lot of homework done in class. However, she's a pretty organized kid. She says that some kids do goof off during school time when they could be working on homework. Still, it's nowhere near the amount of homework I used to hear some kids having years ago. My kid is in 5th grade fwiw.

[Anonymous]

I am the pp that said I cancelled activities. It wasn’t necessary, but it was helpful for us. But really it was getting into a schedule and respecting sleep and that school is actually active and not just nap time like her last one. Even 5th grade she kept soccer, school play and talent show. She never had homework as she did it at school. Once she got used to the rigor, it hasn’t been a problem.

We have found the extracurriculars to be amazing in the years since, though again, only if it is a good fit for your child. But track/cross country is awesome. And she has another very time consuming extracurricular that works very well for her. The school can be a great all around school for the right kid.

[Anonymous]

Awesome is a stretch. Running without facilities, experienced coaches or a competitive program gets old for talented and driven kids who want more than a little fresh air, friendship and exercise on the National Mall. If you want serious extra curriculars, be prepared to foot the bill and do the legwork. If you want your MS or HS student to do Yale Certanum classics competitions, for example, be prepared to shoulder full costs for travel to competitions. Kids represent Basis for this and that competition without the school footing any of the bill. Before you enroll, you should know that Basis just isn't serious about extra curriculars and that parent input on the subject is irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Awesome is a stretch. Running without facilities, experienced coaches or a competitive program gets old for talented and driven kids who want more than a little fresh air, friendship and exercise on the National Mall. If you want serious extra curriculars, be prepared to foot the bill and do the legwork. If you want your MS or HS student to do Yale Certanum classics competitions, for example, be prepared to shoulder full costs for travel to competitions. Kids represent Basis for this and that competition without the school footing any of the bill. Before you enroll, you should know that Basis just isn't serious about extra curriculars and that parent input on the subject is irrelevant.

You again?

You don’t have a kid at Basis. Go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Awesome is a stretch. Running without facilities, experienced coaches or a competitive program gets old for talented and driven kids who want more than a little fresh air, friendship and exercise on the National Mall. If you want serious extra curriculars, be prepared to foot the bill and do the legwork. If you want your MS or HS student to do Yale Certanum classics competitions, for example, be prepared to shoulder full costs for travel to competitions. Kids represent Basis for this and that competition without the school footing any of the bill. Before you enroll, you should know that Basis just isn't serious about extra curriculars and that parent input on the subject is irrelevant.

The girls middle school team placed first yesterday, the boys placed second, and the kids had an incredible time. I don’t know how you define awesome, but I was there and it was pretty spectacular.