Basis families: talk to me about the building

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP what is the pay like for Basis teachers compared to DCPS or Private .. curious.

Funny you should mention private schools. Most privates pay much less than DCPS. It doesn't get spoken about here on DCUM because it doesn't fit the narrative. Last time I saw data on it public teachers made, on average, about 25-30% more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP what is the pay like for Basis teachers compared to DCPS or Private .. curious.

DCPS >>>>>>>>>Privates>>Charters (and Basis is on the extremely low end of any charter you would be considering)

[Anonymous]

Does Basis have science labs. I’m a HS science teacher at a different school and science should have an emphasis on hands on work and labs.
I hope the memorization that people keep mentioning is not happening in physics and chemistry classes because that is not the way these classes should be taught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The HOS is pretty universally hated and the teachers get low pay and have no contracts. They are told extremely frequently by the HOS that that can be fired at any time for no reason whatsoever. They jump asap.

Current BASIS parent. I can't speak to other people, but we deeply dislike the HoS. We have found him to be disingenuous when giving families information on a number of occasions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The head of school himself said during a recent tour that the teacher turnover rate last year for 30 percent, and that he acknowledged it was a problem. that number is stunning and is high above the norm.

And he also acknowledged the departure rate of top teachers is extremely high. They raise money from parents all year long for a fund designed to get teachers to stay by giving them bonuses in part to try to stem this, but it doesn't seem to be working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HOS is pretty universally hated and the teachers get low pay and have no contracts. They are told extremely frequently by the HOS that that can be fired at any time for no reason whatsoever. They jump asap.

Current BASIS parent. I can't speak to other people, but we deeply dislike the HoS. We have found him to be disingenuous when giving families information on a number of occasions.

8th grade parent here - not a fan at all. Toots his own horn all the time, only takes positive feedback. Then is shocked when the mid year feedback parent survey was not great. I honestly feel like my son will be targeted if I speak up in a non-anonymous format

[Anonymous]

I worked at BASIS DC briefly. The school can't raise nearly enough from parents to provide competitive salaries to strong, experienced teachers.

The building and top-down nature of the franchise's management doesn't help either for many teachers. It's not unusual for inexperienced teachers who went to highly competitive colleges and grad schools to gain enough experience teaching at BASIS to move on to suburban public schools with nice facilities, better management, more teacher training and professional autonomy and significantly better pay. BASIS teachers can't join a union or even a PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HOS is pretty universally hated and the teachers get low pay and have no contracts. They are told extremely frequently by the HOS that that can be fired at any time for no reason whatsoever. They jump asap.

Current BASIS parent. I can't speak to other people, but we deeply dislike the HoS. We have found him to be disingenuous when giving families information on a number of occasions.

8th grade parent here - not a fan at all. Toots his own horn all the time, only takes positive feedback. Then is shocked when the mid year feedback parent survey was not great. I honestly feel like my son will be targeted if I speak up in a non-anonymous format

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe what you want. We consider the guy a jerk and a bully. His predecessor was great.

We would have left for Walls for our younger kid if had been admitted (despite a high GPA). We stay because we don't have a better option and the friend situation is good. You must know that even with the performance bonuses, BASIS can't match DCPS pay.

Whatever. The HoS gets very high ratings in parent surveys. So, you are in a small minority.

Pay isn't everything. That is why DC has the highest urban teacher turnover rate in the entire United States.

Good pay doesn't hurt.

Source for his very high ratings? Please post a link to a parent survey where high school parents rate him highly.

Many of the 11th and 12th grade parents can't stand him (we are indeed a minority at BASIS). MS is essentially all laid out for BASIS families: there are hardly any choices. Dealing with him when the choices are more plentiful and higher stakes can be a real drag. He's a control freak and not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Troll alert. They provide that information to Basis parents. Either you aren't a Basis parent or are completely clueless.

You sound like a sycophant. PP is correct that the HoS is more popular with middle school parents than high school parents. The ratings don't provide granular data. I'm not seeing a conspiracy here.

No one cares what you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HOS is pretty universally hated and the teachers get low pay and have no contracts. They are told extremely frequently by the HOS that that can be fired at any time for no reason whatsoever. They jump asap.

Current BASIS parent. I can't speak to other people, but we deeply dislike the HoS. We have found him to be disingenuous when giving families information on a number of occasions.

8th grade parent here - not a fan at all. Toots his own horn all the time, only takes positive feedback. Then is shocked when the mid year feedback parent survey was not great. I honestly feel like my son will be targeted if I speak up in a non-anonymous format

Paranoid much? Feel free to drop out and go elsewhere.

If you’re a current parent and don’t like it, leave. No one wants to hear your anonymous whining about how the HoS hurt your delicate feelings by being “disingenuous” by giving you “information.” Have fun at Walls, Eastern, Cardozo, or wherever you end up. I’m sure the HoS there will give you much less disingenuous information. Bye!

[Anonymous]

Speak for yourself. I want to hear what other parents who've been on the scene longer have to say about the HoS without the school filter distilling possible insight down to banalities.

Something seems off about him to me, but I'm not familiar enough with his MO as a 5th grade parent to know quite what to think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe what you want. We consider the guy a jerk and a bully. His predecessor was great.

We would have left for Walls for our younger kid if had been admitted (despite a high GPA). We stay because we don't have a better option and the friend situation is good. You must know that even with the performance bonuses, BASIS can't match DCPS pay.

Whatever. The HoS gets very high ratings in parent surveys. So, you are in a small minority.

Pay isn't everything. That is why DC has the highest urban teacher turnover rate in the entire United States.

Good pay doesn't hurt.

Source for his very high ratings? Please post a link to a parent survey where high school parents rate him highly.

Many of the 11th and 12th grade parents can't stand him (we are indeed a minority at BASIS). MS is essentially all laid out for BASIS families: there are hardly any choices. Dealing with him when the choices are more plentiful and higher stakes can be a real drag. He's a control freak and not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Troll alert. They provide that information to Basis parents. Either you aren't a Basis parent or are completely clueless.

You sound like a sycophant. PP is correct that the HoS is more popular with middle school parents than high school parents. The ratings don't provide granular data. I'm not seeing a conspiracy here.

No one cares what you think.

More to the point, BASIS leaders don't give a hoot about the rating of admins. If they did, we wouldn't have half a dozen heads in the years before my kid graduated last year. The joke appears to be on the sycophants who believe that franchise leaders care about the ratings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The HOS is pretty universally hated and the teachers get low pay and have no contracts. They are told extremely frequently by the HOS that that can be fired at any time for no reason whatsoever. They jump asap.

Current BASIS parent. I can't speak to other people, but we deeply dislike the HoS. We have found him to be disingenuous when giving families information on a number of occasions.

8th grade parent here - not a fan at all. Toots his own horn all the time, only takes positive feedback. Then is shocked when the mid year feedback parent survey was not great. I honestly feel like my son will be targeted if I speak up in a non-anonymous format

Paranoid much? Feel free to drop out and go elsewhere.

If you’re a current parent and don’t like it, leave. No one wants to hear your anonymous whining about how the HoS hurt your delicate feelings by being “disingenuous” by giving you “information.” Have fun at Walls, Eastern, Cardozo, or wherever you end up. I’m sure the HoS there will give you much less disingenuous information. Bye!

Feel very free to leave this board in search of fellow condescending jerks for company, those who revel in invalidating the bruising experiences of others.

[Anonymous]

Well, count me among those who likes the HOS.

I find him dedicated, approachable and exceedingly hard-working. We’ve had a few tricky issues over the years, due to behavioral issues (with one of my own kids), teacher challenges, and the like — he’s always been responsive and worked to solve the problems.

Teacher turnover at BASIS is concerning, but I don’t know enough to blame him. (The three teachers who I know left because of him were all atrocious, so I give the HOS kudos for having pushed them out.)

There have have been some gems who have left too. One is now at Walls. I can’t imagine the HOS was the only factor.

I have two kids at BASIS, including an 8th grader who interviewed at Walls but presently wants to stay at BASIS for high school.

[Anonymous]

Mediocre pay, lack of training and job security and so-so working conditions in the building are the main push factors for teachers, not school leadership. BASIS teachers can much leave more easily than families who can't afford private high school and don't want to move IB for JR or from DC. Some BASIS families would leave if their 8th graders were admitted to Walls.

DC charters can't afford to put many resources into teacher training like DCPS and the suburban school districts can, not the best arrangement for young teachers right out of grad school. DC charter teachers can't join a union, leaving some to worry that their jobs aren't secure. BASIS isn't responsible for any of that.