Do parents choose Latin/BASIS over Deal/J-R?

[Anonymous]

Come on, all that was claimed is that BASIS HS ECs don’t tend to be too hot. True enough. Obviously. Other than the world class knitting club maybe.

[Anonymous]

Another plus for us at Basis was that while the major sports are not as competitive as those offered at other schools, the teams are small enough that if your kid wants to play, they have a much better chance of actually making the team. After all, colleges don't care that the basketball team went 1-12 (I'm making that up), but they like the fact that your kid played varsity sports.

Anonymous wrote:Walls sports typically involves having to travel all over the city to practice not unlike Basis
The focus for those sporty kids is their club teams again not unlike Basis

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What kind of parent whose kid does not even attend Basis DC has the time or energy to dissect their academics, business model, shortcomings, etc.

Should they not focus on the illiteracy rate in DC and at schools like JR and how to combat that? Oh, that won't help their "high performing" kid.

Anonymous wrote:The whole Basis argument comes down to three things:

1. Is the in-bounds option even remotely worth consideration;
2. Logistics: if I go charter, what schools are logistically feasible; and
3. Good Enough: based on the above, is my charter or in-bounds option good enough.

If the middle school/HS for Eastern magically transformed to that identically of Deal and JR, then Basis would lose most of its current student body.

If Latin decided to open another campus with all the sports and ECs that exist at its current campus, on Capitol Hill or near Basis, Basis would likely lose most of its current student body.

If Basis had been given the new Macarthur High School building and moved its campus there, Basis would have lost nearly all of its current student body because the logistics of getting there would be horrendous for anyone on Capitol Hill.

I know 3 Capitol Hill families at Basis, and they are fine with Basis...but all would be gone if any of the above existed.

Honestly if kids are illiterate in high school there’s nothing short of brain surgery that will make them literate. At that point it’s entirely endogenous.

I have (had) two kids at Basis. It's sometimes joyless, and sometimes great. The results have been good for us, and we had the Walls option for both kids...only considered for better sports and EC options, but ultimately our kids decided to stay.

I also had to look up the meaning of endogenous.

[Anonymous]

Sounds optimistic that any competitive college would care that your kid played any varsity sport at BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Not true …colleges definitely care if you participate in extracurriculars such as sports…. playing on a non-competitive team won’t get you recruited or be a huge boost, but it will help somewhat assuming that the academics are fine

People like to think otherwise when they are paying enormous club fees for their non-competitive kids



quote=Anonymous]Sounds optimistic that any competitive college would care that your kid played any varsity sport at BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds optimistic that any competitive college would care that your kid played any varsity sport at BASIS.

It's an EC, and it's sports. It's just another thing that they *may* care about, like a volunteer job or Model UN. Everything helps...

[Anonymous]

We live IB for Deal/JR and intend to send our child there. Our neighbors have kids at Basis and proudly tell us their kids have hours of homework each night and thus can’t do other things like show up to the neighborhood social gatherings, play sports, etc. I am not sure if that is true of all kids attending BASIS, but tons of homework is their goal. It is not our goal. It depends on what you and your kid want out of their educational experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live IB for Deal/JR and intend to send our child there. Our neighbors have kids at Basis and proudly tell us their kids have hours of homework each night and thus can’t do other things like show up to the neighborhood social gatherings, play sports, etc. I am not sure if that is true of all kids attending BASIS, but tons of homework is their goal. It is not our goal. It depends on what you and your kid want out of their educational experience.

Certainly, if your priorities for choosing a school are socializing and sports, BASIS is not the right fit.

I have a few thoughts --

one of the reasons we really like it there is that every single family seems to value working hard. It's creates a sweet vibe, where the kids are working hard together, and maybe the lack to sports-focused and socializing -focused kids is why there is very little bullying. It really is a nice little haven for nerds.

The other thing is that you can tell the work and studying is actually making them smarter. You can see it happening. They are learning. It's a crazy idea, but studying actually does make you learn.

The final thing is that different kids will take different amounts of time to do the same work, and maybe that's why it's so important to know your kid before signing up. If they have a really good memory and are very organized and don't procrastinate, it will take less time and they will have to for other things,

[Anonymous]

Oh come on, BASIS isn't all that special. The nice haven for little nerds doesn't necessarily value their brainier achievements. Case in point: there's no music instruction at all.

My kid's 8th grade beginning Spanish class at BASIS included half a dozen peers who'd come up through elementary school Spanish immersion programs. These families weren't willing to start learning another language at BASIS, so beginning Spanish it was for them. Madness.

My younger kid used to finish most of his middle school HW before he got home. He certainly can't do that at the parochial school we switched him to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh come on, BASIS isn't all that special. The nice haven for little nerds doesn't necessarily value their brainier achievements. Case in point: there's no music instruction at all.

My kid's 8th grade beginning Spanish class at BASIS included half a dozen peers who'd come up through elementary school Spanish immersion programs. These families weren't willing to start learning another language at BASIS, so beginning Spanish it was for them. Madness.

My younger kid used to finish most of his middle school HW before he got home. He certainly can't do that at the parochial school we switched him to.

My kid had music instruction at Basis.

[Anonymous]

No, they didn't. Which instrumental music instruction did they receive? Where's the band? The orchestra? No instrumental music instruction means no music instruction, other than on paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh come on, BASIS isn't all that special. The nice haven for little nerds doesn't necessarily value their brainier achievements. Case in point: there's no music instruction at all.

My kid's 8th grade beginning Spanish class at BASIS included half a dozen peers who'd come up through elementary school Spanish immersion programs. These families weren't willing to start learning another language at BASIS, so beginning Spanish it was for them. Madness.

My younger kid used to finish most of his middle school HW before he got home. He certainly can't do that at the parochial school we switched him to.

No question that Spanish instruction is far at better at Deal and J-R, if you care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh come on, BASIS isn't all that special. The nice haven for little nerds doesn't necessarily value their brainier achievements. Case in point: there's no music instruction at all.

My kid's 8th grade beginning Spanish class at BASIS included half a dozen peers who'd come up through elementary school Spanish immersion programs. These families weren't willing to start learning another language at BASIS, so beginning Spanish it was for them. Madness.

My younger kid used to finish most of his middle school HW before he got home. He certainly can't do that at the parochial school we switched him to.

No question that Spanish instruction is far at better at Deal and J-R, if you care.

By far the best Spanish language instruction and taught at the highest level taught is DCI both in terms of highest performing kids who are fluent and rigor of curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they didn't. Which instrumental music instruction did they receive? Where's the band? The orchestra? No instrumental music instruction means no music instruction, other than on paper.

It's fine. My kids take lessons outside of school and have for years. I myself loved playing in school orchestras but I accepted it on balance.

Music instructions is something that can be easily supplemented outside of school. Math and science instruction is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they didn't. Which instrumental music instruction did they receive? Where's the band? The orchestra? No instrumental music instruction means no music instruction, other than on paper.

You seem clueless.

When did your kid drop out of Basis?

[Anonymous]

BS. Wrong. Music can’t be “easily” supplemented outside school. Supplemented, yes, easily, or cheaply, no way. If this were true the better suburban school districts in the DMV wouldn’t bother offering daily band, orchestra, chorus for middle and high school, even the upper elementary grades in MoCo.