BASIS charter expansion is up for public comment

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. Capitol Hill families have centered themselves a few times in this thread. A few pages back someone lamented the “unfair disruption” to Capitol Hill elementary schools because BASIS starts at 5th grade instead of 6th grade. Boohoo. There is the same “disruption” at every elementary school. Many students come from Capitol Hill and also from across the city. BASIS’s location makes it appealing from many directions and it’s unfortunate some people only see it one way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our years at BASIS have taught me that it draws a whole bunch of high SES kids from all wards in DC. Mostly it draws UMC Ward 6 students. Stop pretending otherwise.

No, it doesn't. My guess is your kids are high SES from W6. Since that's what you know and who your kids friends are you assume that's all that is at BASIS. This is a standard human response. As is the fact that you will read this and be incapable of feeling shame or embarrassment. The data on where BASIS kids come from is publish. It isn't mostly W6. You also have no idea what anyone else's financial situation is. Guessing you see white folks who remind you of you and Larla and just assume they are also high SES.

White folks in DC ARE overwhelmingly UMC. The W6 majority is obviously not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP. Capitol Hill families have centered themselves a few times in this thread. A few pages back someone lamented the “unfair disruption” to Capitol Hill elementary schools because BASIS starts at 5th grade instead of 6th grade. Boohoo. There is the same “disruption” at every elementary school. Many students come from Capitol Hill and also from across the city. BASIS’s location makes it appealing from many directions and it’s unfortunate some people only see it one way.

The disruptive effect of BASIS (& other charters) on all DCPS ESes is a real problem. DC was insane to allow different starting years in the first place. They probably could use this expansion as a chance to walk that back with regards to BASIS, but obviously it wouldn't solve the Latin problem and they can't walk that back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea if I want to send my kid to Basis or not (they're still in early elementary).

But I'm genuinely asking...does anyone know why they're asking to start an elementary instead of a second middle/high school? I get that Basis wants to prepare students for its academic approach earlier than grade 5, but DC has a lot of strong elementary schools. There aren't nearly as many strong middle/high schools.

Aren't there more than enough interested families to fill a second Basis middle/high?

No, there aren’t. There are more than enough interested families to fill a third Latin middle/high though.

Is that a possibility? Third Latin?

[Anonymous]

Oh come on. Basis has more kids from Ward 6 than any other Ward (because it is very close to Ward 6 and also because buy-in for the Hill area DCPS middle schools is rather mixed and less strong than it is WOTP). The Hill area elementary schools are for whatever reason disrupted by Latin and Basis to a greater degree than schools in other neighborhoods are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh come on. Basis has more kids from Ward 6 than any other Ward (because it is very close to Ward 6 and also because buy-in for the Hill area DCPS middle schools is rather mixed and less strong than it is WOTP). The Hill area elementary schools are for whatever reason disrupted by Latin and Basis to a greater degree than schools in other neighborhoods are.

It’s because by 4th grade you realize that there are a lot of UMC bums on Capitol Hill and smart ones try to run to the Latins to get away from them. The ones who lose the lottery stay at BASIS for a year or two while they figure out plan B and then leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

The bolded is incorrect. All of the other Basis schools are open lotteries, just like Basis DC. The only difference is that the other Basis schools can administer a placement test when they are backfilling for grades 6+. The placement test is not rigorous. The kid only has to take the comprehensive exam for the previous grade for both math and English and earn a 60% on each exam. If the kid fails, they will still be offered a placement in the previous grade.

I agree with some PPs that at the high school level, the Basis offerings are similar to any other reasonably affluent school that offers a lot of AP classes. The main difference is that kids at Basis can start taking them earlier and can take more of them. Some classes might be limited because there aren't enough students to support the class or they can't find a teacher. Most Basis schools offer all of AP Physics 1, 2, and both C exams, but they need enough interested students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh come on. Basis has more kids from Ward 6 than any other Ward (because it is very close to Ward 6 and also because buy-in for the Hill area DCPS middle schools is rather mixed and less strong than it is WOTP). The Hill area elementary schools are for whatever reason disrupted by Latin and Basis to a greater degree than schools in other neighborhoods are.

Why do you only compare ward 6 to WOTP? There is likewise very little buy in to DCPS middle schools in many other non-WOTP wards as well. Plenty of other elementary schools outside of Capitol Hill are disrupted at 5th grade because many families realize they need to secure their desired middle school feeder by 5th, even if it’s to go to a WOTP ES or some charter other than Latin or BASIS. The problem is having very few good middle school options and that is a widespread problem that sadly there seems to be little interest in fixing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

The bolded is incorrect. All of the other Basis schools are open lotteries, just like Basis DC. The only difference is that the other Basis schools can administer a placement test when they are backfilling for grades 6+. The placement test is not rigorous. The kid only has to take the comprehensive exam for the previous grade for both math and English and earn a 60% on each exam. If the kid fails, they will still be offered a placement in the previous grade.

I agree with some PPs that at the high school level, the Basis offerings are similar to any other reasonably affluent school that offers a lot of AP classes. The main difference is that kids at Basis can start taking them earlier and can take more of them. Some classes might be limited because there aren't enough students to support the class or they can't find a teacher. Most Basis schools offer all of AP Physics 1, 2, and both C exams, but they need enough interested students.

Sorry, but this statement isn't factually correct. I worked at BASIS DC briefly and also taught in a MoCo HS test-in magnet program with a county-wide draw. Fact is, in this century, teenagers can take any AP exams they want any spring they want, including homeschooled students, through self-prep. Same with Cambridge exams, given in May and Nov. In MoCo, there are kids who take AP language and art exams in 8th and 9th graders and score 5s. That's clearly not happening at BASIS. I taught many MoCo students who took 8, 10 even 12 AP exams, scoring all 4s and 5s. Why anybody would do that wasn't clear to me, but they did, aiming high in college admissions from around 7th grade. In MoCo, you don't need enough interested students to take any of the four AP physics classes. They're taught at the magnets and bigger neighborhood high schools, like Bethesda Chevy-Chase, every year.

[Anonymous]

I don’t find that BASIS parents tend to know much about the highest performing suburban schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t find that BASIS parents tend to know much about the highest performing suburban schools.

This premise is weird. We don't live in the suburbs. If there is some kind of urgency to move to the best school district in the country, I guess that makes sense. But many of us live here, are looking for a "good enough" option, and have faith that our kids will take it from there.

The end conclusion is not "we all must move to MoCo or Fairfax County or sending our kids to private school." While there are completely unacceptable schools in DC, there are also a handful that are totally sufficient, and BASIS is one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t find that BASIS parents tend to know much about the highest performing suburban schools.

That’s because the ones who do know leave to the suburbs and are no longer at BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t find that BASIS parents tend to know much about the highest performing suburban schools.

This premise is weird. We don't live in the suburbs. If there is some kind of urgency to move to the best school district in the country, I guess that makes sense. But many of us live here, are looking for a "good enough" option, and have faith that our kids will take it from there.

The end conclusion is not "we all must move to MoCo or Fairfax County or sending our kids to private school." While there are completely unacceptable schools in DC, there are also a handful that are totally sufficient, and BASIS is one.

+1. If you want the best schools for your kids, you won’t be living in the city. That’s the bottom line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t find that BASIS parents tend to know much about the highest performing suburban schools.

This premise is weird. We don't live in the suburbs. If there is some kind of urgency to move to the best school district in the country, I guess that makes sense. But many of us live here, are looking for a "good enough" option, and have faith that our kids will take it from there.

The end conclusion is not "we all must move to MoCo or Fairfax County or sending our kids to private school." While there are completely unacceptable schools in DC, there are also a handful that are totally sufficient, and BASIS is one.

+1. If you want the best schools for your kids, you won’t be living in the city. That’s the bottom line.

The other important part of this is that you don't need to send your kid to the "best" school in order to get them to a great outcome for life. They aren't necessarily related. A kid can have an excellent outcome from a good enough school (they can't from a school that is not good enough, which is the anxiety in DC).

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is also quit trying to con us with BASIS exceptionalism here in 2024. You’re beating a dead horse. The average consumer has wised up in the last few years.