New BASIS discussion

[Anonymous]

Interesting thread re: Will there be an inevitable 'dumbing-down' of Basis, needing to cater to the underperforming, leaving the brighter kids to spin their wheels...or will the brighter kids thrive while their less-well-prepared classmates fail the comp exams and leave? Or will there be a third way?

Looking at the 9 academics the PP describes, maybe that is the safety valve: the less prepared or lower performing students could drop a few classes but still carry on?

[Anonymous]

Why are people so desperate for this school to fail? Genuine curiosity.

[Anonymous]

1:12 -- You assumed maybe that I want Basis to fail; when actually I believe they are determined to find the third way. Challenging the bright kids and tutoring the unprepared ones. I was impressed by these folks enough to send my youngest. Other reasons: they are really organized. Beyond anything I've seen (I've had kids at GDS, WIS, and Latin). They are committed (the founders are spending half there time in DC this year). They have resources and use them very efficiently (the building is a trim machine and very secure). My kid doesn't give a fig for sports (not great but it's the reality). Location: couldn't be better. I know, time will tell but I can't believe our luck to have this school plunked down in DC just when we needed it.

[Anonymous]

I meant to say "their" not "there"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1:12 -- You assumed maybe that I want Basis to fail; when actually I believe they are determined to find the third way. Challenging the bright kids and tutoring the unprepared ones. I was impressed by these folks enough to send my youngest. Other reasons: they are really organized. Beyond anything I've seen (I've had kids at GDS, WIS, and Latin). They are committed (the founders are spending half there time in DC this year). They have resources and use them very efficiently (the building is a trim machine and very secure). My kid doesn't give a fig for sports (not great but it's the reality). Location: couldn't be better. I know, time will tell but I can't believe our luck to have this school plunked down in DC just when we needed it.

1:12 here- my post wasn't directed at any one poster in particular. However, I skimmed through this massive thread and saw so many people posting terribly negative things about the school. I don't even have a dog in this fight as none of my children are the right age for BASIS, butI'm trying to understand why there are people here who would be so happy to see this school fail. It just opened 4 days ago. It's a completely new school with new teachers and models-why the vitrol? It's also open to anyone in DC so it's not like there are a bunch of parents who are bitter because their child wasn't good enough. If you have a child there I'm assuming you're hoping for the best, and if you don't-who cares? You would think people who live in this city would welcome a school that is at least attempting to bring order and rigor to some of the kids who need it most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1:12 here- my post wasn't directed at any one poster in particular. However, I skimmed through this massive thread and saw so many people posting terribly negative things about the school. I don't even have a dog in this fight as none of my children are the right age for BASIS, butI'm trying to understand why there are people here who would be so happy to see this school fail. It just opened 4 days ago. It's a completely new school with new teachers and models-why the vitrol? It's also open to anyone in DC so it's not like there are a bunch of parents who are bitter because their child wasn't good enough. If you have a child there I'm assuming you're hoping for the best, and if you don't-who cares? You would think people who live in this city would welcome a school that is at least attempting to bring order and rigor to some of the kids who need it most.

As a person who wondered about BASIS and applied but kept her kid at Latin for 7th grade (his 3rd year there and we love it!), I can only assume folks just aren't ready to believe that a FREE school can work all these miracles. I think almost any school can if the school is committed to advancing each student beyond his/her starting point. When kids are overlooked, ignored, and treated the same, you have your basic run of the mill DC public/charter school. If BASIS does a great job of determining each student's cognitive abilities and then meets each student where they are and helps them learn, then they are going to be successful, and even the parents of the most academically struggling kids will knock down the doors to get their children into BASIS. I hope that school administrators are reading and listening to this forum -- if you take any child and you teach them something they didn't know the day before, you are successful. And if most of the teachers at your school are like you, then the whole school is successful, especially if the goal is to address the needs of every student and instill a love of learning.

I think there are some parents on this list who want to feel that their choice (since that's what it is right now - BASIS still has slots open in upper grades) to remain at their current school was a good one, and surely BASIS won't do well. Who wants to be second guessing themselves if BASIS indeed turns out to be great for many, and then it's even impossible to get in through lottery later (DEAL, WILSON)? I've asked myself this (not because my son could be taking Algebra 1 at BASIS, he is taling Algebra 1 at Latin, but because he would have the earlier exposure to multiple sciences), but my straight-A son has been looking forward to interscholastic sports for a few years, enjoys wall ball and 4 square before school, and having plenty of outdoor time during the day. We just weren't sure that he'd get this in at BASIS, so we stayed with Latin. And, he's pretty excited about Latin's permanent building next year at the old Rudolph school in NW.

People talk about it all the time, but a well-rounded kid is a great kid to have. I don't want a kid running around stressing out trying to retain a bunch of facts in his head to do well on the DC-CAS or an AP test, but one that's ingenious and resourceful and kind and happy. I want a kid who can make a back-scratcher out of chopsticks, one who loves the outdoors and will try anything once, a child who can come up with creative questions that I just don't have answers for, and one who loves to challenge himself on his own terms and that's the kid I have. Parents tend to get lost chasing that "thing" that will get their kids to point D from point C, from point B. That "thing" can be elusive and deceptive. Maybe BASIS is it for some folks and that's just great. And it won't be for everyone.

So far, 4 parents of 7th graders I've talked to said said their kids love BASIS - and they're all from different cultures and have different abilities. One is coming from spe-Ed public, another from private, and two from charters. So far, they've like the non-bullying atmosphere, the challenging curriculum, that classes have a syllabus (I thought all schools - even those without textbooks do), and mostly the location. Most folks that I know that applied and are attending (40+ kids) are doing so because the location was convenient. There's one 7th grade parent that is thinking twice about her decision, however. She saw one class syllabus and said the teacher said it's a college curriculum and she was alarmed. She didn't want her son to be working on college material in 7th grade, and thinks that he'll be pushed too far too soon though he may be cognitively able to do the work. It's just the 2nd week and she's not sure if they'll return for 8th grade.

I wish the school well because we know a lot of families there, and hope that their kids get a great education, and learn to love learning. The ultimate problem with a successful BASIS (like Deal, Wilson, Banneker - my alma mater, SWW, etc.) is that we'll need many more of them so that all the kids that wish to attend can.

[Anonymous]

well said 12:18

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen anybody claiming that BASIS will work "miracles", despite all of the claims by the BASIS detractors. It's just a school, not a miracle factory. They do try to hold their curriculum and faculty to a high standard, and they strive for rigor and excellence, but at the end of the day, it's just a school, and I really don't see what anybody's talking about with regard to supposed "over the top boosters" who are supposedly making claims about miracles. Maybe somebody could point that out in these threads, because I'm missing it. Success at BASIS also involves hard work by the students and parents for it all to succeed, and they have been nothing but up-front with it.

[Anonymous]

[quotI haven't seen anybody claiming that BASIS will work "miracles", despite all of the claims by the BASIS detractors. It's just a school, not a miracle factory. They do try to hold their curriculum and faculty to a high standard, and they strive for rigor and excellence, but at the end of the day, it's just a school, and I really don't see what anybody's talking about with regard to supposed "over the top boosters" who are supposedly making claims about miracles. Maybe somebody could point that out in these threads, because I'm missing it. Success at BASIS also involves hard work by the students and parents for it all to succeed, and they have been nothing but up-front with it.

Yes, you are right. In the end, it is just a school.

No one can know if it will be successful. No one knows what constitutes being successful and they can't promise miracles.

There is no proof.

Even when you try to pretend that you can measure success with a laughably measure of "hard work by the students and parents".

You think BASIS is successful. Great. Bring the evidence.

[Anonymous]

Cripes, settle down, 21:11. They've only been open for a week.

We won't even begin to have this discussion for at least a year.