BASIS attrition after middle school- why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can be done when there is a weak leader at a charter school? In DCPS the principals are being watched by their instructional superintendent, and assessed on various markers (teacher retention is a big one).

What's the process for formally assessing a HOS at a place like BASIS?

You're seriously asking? How long have you been in DC? There's no standard process, public or private, for assessing a HOS at a DC charter.

The DC charter board only seems to provide oversight when criminality is involved or most of the kids can't pass proficiency exams year after year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If only it were just a few anonymous posters. Since this is your 8th year at BASIS, you know full well that a sizeable group of parents has been organizing and pushing back in a big way in the last couple years, particularly in regard to the hiring of unqualified and inexperienced MS teachers. They attend board meetings and make noise. Your kids don't have any unmet needs? Give us a break. What kind of colleges are you shooting for? What have your kids done for extra-curriculars? Not buying that it's all been kittens and roses for your family. We a stupid amount for music and sports outside the school and hire a private college counselor. All the BASIS counselor seems to do is tell my capable eldest to take more AP exams by spring of jr. year and that he has no shot at being admitted to colleges he's interested in attending.

How does one get involved with this sizable group? Was there a posting on the parents list-serve that I missed?

[Anonymous]

Not on parent list serve, not sanctioned by admins. What grade is your eldest BASIS child in? Most of the active parents are parents of 8th-11th graders. Ask around.

[Anonymous]

We have failed our children and they will never recover.

[Anonymous]

We have 1 PreK kid and 1 upper grades kid and we are super happy with the school. Whether you get snarled up in traffic really depends on where you live. We live in Brightwood/Takoma and come down Blair/cross over New Hampshire and we have zero traffic. School starts on the earlier side (doors open at 8, 8:10 is “on time.”) so there isn’t any traffic at that time of day up there. Same with after school. We have consistently loved our kids teachers, feel they are being challenged and well-supported, and there is differentiation. Our older kid is in an advanced reading group, for example. It is a rich environment with tons of opportunities to connect with families and build relationships, and our kids always want to go to school. I highly recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If only it were just a few anonymous posters. Since this is your 8th year at BASIS, you know full well that a sizeable group of parents has been organizing and pushing back in a big way in the last couple years, particularly in regard to the hiring of unqualified and inexperienced MS teachers. They attend board meetings and make noise. Your kids don't have any unmet needs? Give us a break. What kind of colleges are you shooting for? What have your kids done for extra-curriculars? Not buying that it's all been kittens and roses for your family. We a stupid amount for music and sports outside the school and hire a private college counselor. All the BASIS counselor seems to do is tell my capable eldest to take more AP exams by spring of jr. year and that he has no shot at being admitted to colleges he's interested in attending.

Hasn't this guy been there for only like 3 or 4 years? Half of which was during the cluster that was COVID? There are some weak teachers at BASIS but take a moment and read DCUM and talk to friends outside of DC. Teachers are fleeing the professional and hiring is hard all around. Do you think there are no weak teachers in other schools? Seems like someone would have to be a kind of a self-centered jerk to think teacher retention and hiring was all about their kid and their school? Are you angry that the college counselors didn't tell you what you wanted to hear Do you think they are wrong? Are you mad that they may be right and you blame BASIS?

Not the PP you are responding to. The teacher retention problems that all schools are facing are compounded by the HOS’s lack of leadership skills. He is making a difficult situation worse.

Word salad. What does that mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can be done when there is a weak leader at a charter school? In DCPS the principals are being watched by their instructional superintendent, and assessed on various markers (teacher retention is a big one).

What's the process for formally assessing a HOS at a place like BASIS?

This is a such a weak and well worn line of thinking. If you think DCPS principals are subject to oversight (beyond who sucks up to Central best and hardest) then you don't know a darn thing about DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have failed our children and they will never recover.

Whatever. BASIS hasn't lived up to the hype a decade back. IMHO, there were far better heads who didn't last long. This strange guy has outlasted them all by a long shot; it is what it is. His miserable leadership is hardly the end of the world, but it's still a disservice to the families for AZ to keep him on year after year. We're thrilled to be close to the finish line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have failed our children and they will never recover.

Whatever. BASIS hasn't lived up to the hype a decade back. IMHO, there were far better heads who didn't last long. This strange guy has outlasted them all by a long shot; it is what it is. His miserable leadership is hardly the end of the world, but it's still a disservice to the families for AZ to keep him on year after year. We're thrilled to be close to the finish line.

It's been fine for us. Walls would have been perfectly adequate for high school (kids got in but we stayed at basis), but I'm thankful that we had good middle school option. Of course, we don't have any academic issues and rarely deal with anyone from the school besides the usual interaction with coaches and school events (e.g., back to school night, etc).

[Anonymous]

The assumption that a parent only deals with the HoS when a kid has “issues” (read avoidable problems) isn’t a sound one. My kid was just admitted to a college admitting in the single digits EA. I can’t stand the guy. He’s a goofball who doesn’t support excellence in the HS by any stretch of the imaginarion. Teachers do, families do, maybe BASIS Arizona does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The assumption that a parent only deals with the HoS when a kid has “issues” (read avoidable problems) isn’t a sound one. My kid was just admitted to a college admitting in the single digits EA. I can’t stand the guy. He’s a goofball who doesn’t support excellence in the HS by any stretch of the imaginarion. Teachers do, families do, maybe BASIS Arizona does.

What now? HOS is so bad...that the school he runs and teachers who work for him helped get your kid into an elite college? You credit "BASIS Arizona" for your success but somehow the HOS is terrible? Isn't this the same BASIS Arizona that hired and retained him?

You sound like a crazy person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The assumption that a parent only deals with the HoS when a kid has “issues” (read avoidable problems) isn’t a sound one. My kid was just admitted to a college admitting in the single digits EA. I can’t stand the guy. He’s a goofball who doesn’t support excellence in the HS by any stretch of the imaginarion. Teachers do, families do, maybe BASIS Arizona does.

What now? HOS is so bad...that the school he runs and teachers who work for him helped get your kid into an elite college? You credit "BASIS Arizona" for your success but somehow the HOS is terrible? Isn't this the same BASIS Arizona that hired and retained him?

You sound like a crazy person.

+1. This parent really sounds unhinged. We get that he doesn’t like the HOS but his constant anonymous diatribes against the guy in this forum are just inane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The assumption that a parent only deals with the HoS when a kid has “issues” (read avoidable problems) isn’t a sound one. My kid was just admitted to a college admitting in the single digits EA. I can’t stand the guy. He’s a goofball who doesn’t support excellence in the HS by any stretch of the imaginarion. Teachers do, families do, maybe BASIS Arizona does.

What now? HOS is so bad...that the school he runs and teachers who work for him helped get your kid into an elite college? You credit "BASIS Arizona" for your success but somehow the HOS is terrible? Isn't this the same BASIS Arizona that hired and retained him?

You sound like a crazy person.

+1. This parent really sounds unhinged. We get that he doesn’t like the HOS but his constant anonymous diatribes against the guy in this forum are just inane.

+ 2. And how was the HOS involved in your kid getting accepted to college? You kid was getting counseled by him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The assumption that a parent only deals with the HoS when a kid has “issues” (read avoidable problems) isn’t a sound one. My kid was just admitted to a college admitting in the single digits EA. I can’t stand the guy. He’s a goofball who doesn’t support excellence in the HS by any stretch of the imaginarion. Teachers do, families do, maybe BASIS Arizona does.

What now? HOS is so bad...that the school he runs and teachers who work for him helped get your kid into an elite college? You credit "BASIS Arizona" for your success but somehow the HOS is terrible? Isn't this the same BASIS Arizona that hired and retained him?

You sound like a crazy person.

+1. This parent really sounds unhinged. We get that he doesn’t like the HOS but his constant anonymous diatribes against the guy in this forum are just inane.

+ 2. And how was the HOS involved in your kid getting accepted to college? You kid was getting counseled by him?

+3. MS parent here. He does piss me off every once in a while, because we're an intense school, and they make intense demands on our kids and in turns we feel entitled to make intense demands right back. But right now, he's him.

[Anonymous]

The HOS just did an incredible job representing BASIS families at an ANC meeting. So far, for things that matter to our family, we have seen terrific leadership.