How to help child succeed at BASIS

[Anonymous]

I have heard that, in addition to office hours, BASIS offers a Saturday school program for extra help. I really hope that Saturday school does not become necessary, but I am curious if this is a common way to help a student succeed at BASIS if there is trouble adjusting or keeping up with the work? Is there a fee for the Saturday program? Does a student need to qualify for it based on having a sufficiently low performance, or can any student go if weekday office hours don’t work with the student’s after school schedule?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in DC since the 90s, sent my kids to charters and DCPS for the last 9 years. Turned down a BASIS spot. Admins seemed too young, inexperienced yet full of themselves, drank far too much of the Arizona Kool-aid. It’s sad to me that BASIS is the best we can do for our best and brightest EotP. Nothing like the wonderful, joyful, contrarian education I got at Hunter. To each her own.

What does that mean?

It means she drank far too much of the Hunter Kool-aid.

Hunter is wonderful, joyful, and contrarian, and everything else pales in comparison. For God's sake, people, Lin Manuel Miranda went to Hunter College!!!

Oh...except for this, of course...

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/ny-hunter-college-professor-sex-abuse-20200828-yd5hjeqfajcvbalot46m7putbi-story.html

Mr. Randolph did a lot of good for a lot of people and was really beloved at the school. It's shocking and upsetting that he also did that. That said, two or three victims over 25 years that there is no evidence the school knew about -- and that he was forced to resign once the first victim came forward -- really has nothing to do with Hunter as a school, Basis as a school or any comparison between the school. I do think Hunter is a much better school than what I hear about Basis... not least of all because extra curricular activities and the arts curriculum at Hunter were (fairly obviously given many of its most notable alumni) some of its main strengths. Obviously the college admissions are also incredible. But Hunter does prove that facilities don't make a school because the Hunter building may actually be even worse than Basis'. Also, Basis is clearly a very good fit for some kids and considerably better than most of what the district has to offer. One of my kids seems like a perfect fit for Basis and I won't hesitate to lottery there. Ultimately, comparing a long-established gifted & talented magnet in NYC with a relatively new pure lottery school in DC is a fool's errand in any case.

Hunter College High School was founded in 1869, and its accepted students constitute the top 1/4 of 1% of NYC students based on test scores.

BASIS DC is a decade old and 100% lottery.

Agree that any comparison is a fool's errand.

Not a fool's errand. Many of my children's elementary school peers, now at BASIS, remind me of my Hunter classmates at the same ages.

BASIS is more than 30 years old: it's a franchise, vs. a stand-alone school like Latin. Not honest to speak of BASIS as 100% lottery. The is a self-selecting group of families sold on having academic stragglers aggressively weeded out in middle school.

Plenty of BASIS students have parents with multiple graduate degrees from elite institutions, much more so than at Hunter, at least in my day.

Basis DC is 10 years old.

No senior admin in DC is new to the franchise and neither are many of the teachers. BASIS DC is just one branch of Basis.ed. There are two dozen.

More or less. The Head of School has almost always worked in Arizona. The curriculum is set in Arizona. Comps for 6th, 7th and 8th graders are graded in Arizona. BS that BASIS DC is a stand-alone charter that's 10 years old when Arizona calls the shots. This is why changing the head every year or two matters little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard that, in addition to office hours, BASIS offers a Saturday school program for extra help. I really hope that Saturday school does not become necessary, but I am curious if this is a common way to help a student succeed at BASIS if there is trouble adjusting or keeping up with the work? Is there a fee for the Saturday program? Does a student need to qualify for it based on having a sufficiently low performance, or can any student go if weekday office hours don’t work with the student’s after school schedule?

I have no direct experience with the Saturday school program but believe it was offered this year in light of Covid and fully paid for with Covid supplemental money. I think the head of school said recently that it was unclear if it would be offered next year and if so how it would be paid for. Perhaps others on this chain can comment better.

[Anonymous]

It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

+1 to this. I have been really impressed with the school - remote learning was solid and the return to in person learning this year has gone really well for my 7th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

+1 to this. I have been really impressed with the school - remote learning was solid and the return to in person learning this year has gone really well for my 7th grader.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

How long have you been at BASIS? Sounds like 1-2 school years. 8 years in for our eldest, I can't agree with most of this.

The current HOS is an asinine as administrator though you may not have noticed this if you haven't brought pressing concerns to him. He's about the WORST we've dealt with, and we've dealt directly with half a dozen.
The one female HOS was the best by a longshot. BASIS' strong suit is far and away the peer group and maybe half of the faculty, not the administration or AZ inputs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

How long have you been at BASIS? Sounds like 1-2 school years. 8 years in for our eldest, I can't agree with most of this.

The current HOS is an asinine as administrator though you may not have noticed this if you haven't brought pressing concerns to him. He's about the WORST we've dealt with, and we've dealt directly with half a dozen.
The one female HOS was the best by a longshot. BASIS' strong suit is far and away the peer group and maybe half of the faculty, not the administration or AZ inputs.

As my anecdote is 3 years old, it must have been longer than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

+1 to this. I have been really impressed with the school - remote learning was solid and the return to in person learning this year has gone really well for my 7th grader.

+100

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in DC since the 90s, sent my kids to charters and DCPS for the last 9 years. Turned down a BASIS spot. Admins seemed too young, inexperienced yet full of themselves, drank far too much of the Arizona Kool-aid. It’s sad to me that BASIS is the best we can do for our best and brightest EotP. Nothing like the wonderful, joyful, contrarian education I got at Hunter. To each her own.

What does that mean?

It means she drank far too much of the Hunter Kool-aid.

Hunter is wonderful, joyful, and contrarian, and everything else pales in comparison. For God's sake, people, Lin Manuel Miranda went to Hunter College!!!

Oh...except for this, of course...

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/ny-hunter-college-professor-sex-abuse-20200828-yd5hjeqfajcvbalot46m7putbi-story.html

Mr. Randolph did a lot of good for a lot of people and was really beloved at the school. It's shocking and upsetting that he also did that. That said, two or three victims over 25 years that there is no evidence the school knew about -- and that he was forced to resign once the first victim came forward -- really has nothing to do with Hunter as a school, Basis as a school or any comparison between the school. I do think Hunter is a much better school than what I hear about Basis... not least of all because extra curricular activities and the arts curriculum at Hunter were (fairly obviously given many of its most notable alumni) some of its main strengths. Obviously the college admissions are also incredible. But Hunter does prove that facilities don't make a school because the Hunter building may actually be even worse than Basis'. Also, Basis is clearly a very good fit for some kids and considerably better than most of what the district has to offer. One of my kids seems like a perfect fit for Basis and I won't hesitate to lottery there. Ultimately, comparing a long-established gifted & talented magnet in NYC with a relatively new pure lottery school in DC is a fool's errand in any case.

Hunter College High School was founded in 1869, and its accepted students constitute the top 1/4 of 1% of NYC students based on test scores.

BASIS DC is a decade old and 100% lottery.

Agree that any comparison is a fool's errand.

Not a fool's errand. Many of my children's elementary school peers, now at BASIS, remind me of my Hunter classmates at the same ages.

BASIS is more than 30 years old: it's a franchise, vs. a stand-alone school like Latin. Not honest to speak of BASIS as 100% lottery. The is a self-selecting group of families sold on having academic stragglers aggressively weeded out in middle school.

Plenty of BASIS students have parents with multiple graduate degrees from elite institutions, much more so than at Hunter, at least in my day.

Basis DC is 10 years old.

No senior admin in DC is new to the franchise and neither are many of the teachers. BASIS DC is just one branch of Basis.ed. There are two dozen.

More or less. The Head of School has almost always worked in Arizona. The curriculum is set in Arizona. Comps for 6th, 7th and 8th graders are graded in Arizona. BS that BASIS DC is a stand-alone charter that's 10 years old when Arizona calls the shots. This is why changing the head every year or two matters little.

This is full of inaccurate statements. Stop spreading falsehoods. What is wrong with you?

The current HOS is a former Basis DC teacher. The local staff and teachers aren’t from Arizona. There are Basis schools in a number of states, and some are private. Comps are graded in DC. Curriculum is decided by the whole network. Basis DC was started 10 years ago (just look at the website) and is governed by its charter, PCSB, and applicable DC charter and federal law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

How long have you been at BASIS? Sounds like 1-2 school years. 8 years in for our eldest, I can't agree with most of this.

The current HOS is an asinine as administrator though you may not have noticed this if you haven't brought pressing concerns to him. He's about the WORST we've dealt with, and we've dealt directly with half a dozen.
The one female HOS was the best by a longshot. BASIS' strong suit is far and away the peer group and maybe half of the faculty, not the administration or AZ inputs.

During his tenure, Basis DC was named a blue ribbon school and USN&R ranked it the number one public middle school in DC.

He must be doing something right….

I guess you can’t please everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

How long have you been at BASIS? Sounds like 1-2 school years. 8 years in for our eldest, I can't agree with most of this.

The current HOS is an asinine as administrator though you may not have noticed this if you haven't brought pressing concerns to him. He's about the WORST we've dealt with, and we've dealt directly with half a dozen.
The one female HOS was the best by a longshot. BASIS' strong suit is far and away the peer group and maybe half of the faculty, not the administration or AZ inputs.

During his tenure, Basis DC was named a blue ribbon school and USN&R ranked it the number one public middle school in DC.

He must be doing something right….

I guess you can’t please everyone.

What's going on here is that BASIS MS parents want to share the joy by waxing enthusiastic based on their experiences. Meanwhile, a few of us who've been on the scene much longer, and aren't raising math proteges, know too much. We've seen a darker side to the program, like consistent harassment of hard-working students admins would like to see gone. We've also contended with a parade of mediocre or bad AZ-trained admins and senior teachers.
Nobody's right or wrong, just different sides of the same coin, different perspectives.

How much does it take for USN&R to rank a DC public MS # 1. No rumbles on the playground that the police have to break up this year? Most students passed PARCC! More than 1/4 of the teachers didn't quit? Goodness, you've won!!

[Anonymous]

Agree, fair assessment, accurate statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

How long have you been at BASIS? Sounds like 1-2 school years. 8 years in for our eldest, I can't agree with most of this.

The current HOS is an asinine as administrator though you may not have noticed this if you haven't brought pressing concerns to him. He's about the WORST we've dealt with, and we've dealt directly with half a dozen.
The one female HOS was the best by a longshot. BASIS' strong suit is far and away the peer group and maybe half of the faculty, not the administration or AZ inputs.

During his tenure, Basis DC was named a blue ribbon school and USN&R ranked it the number one public middle school in DC.

He must be doing something right….

I guess you can’t please everyone.

What's going on here is that BASIS MS parents want to share the joy by waxing enthusiastic based on their experiences. Meanwhile, a few of us who've been on the scene much longer, and aren't raising math proteges, know too much. We've seen a darker side to the program, like consistent harassment of hard-working students admins would like to see gone. We've also contended with a parade of mediocre or bad AZ-trained admins and senior teachers.
Nobody's right or wrong, just different sides of the same coin, different perspectives.

How much does it take for USN&R to rank a DC public MS # 1. No rumbles on the playground that the police have to break up this year? Most students passed PARCC! More than 1/4 of the teachers didn't quit? Goodness, you've won!!

I have been really impressed with the new(ish) HOS. He seems on-the-ball and no nonsense - I imagine he doesn't cater to parents' whims - I appreciate that. No two ways about it - BASIS is a tough school! My kid is pretty darn good at math; even so, she consistently puts in the work and has to muster a solid (most days) effort for her good grades. If math/science/ability to focus and get the work done does not come (relatively) easily to your kid, they are going to have a hard time at BASIS. That is just the way it is/the type of school it is. Even so, if your kid is willing to put in hard work, they will learn a lot - but just perhaps not get the As they might like. I think that is okay too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has the structure and educational/administrative resources of an incredibly well run large organization and the feel of a very small school. This was demonstrated a few years back when a principal left mid-year right before the pandemic. The turnover was seemless, with the corporate head of curriculum moving from Arizona for the rest of the year to take over and simultaneously look for a replacement. Then when covid hit, the school didn’t even blink. I’ve compared a lot of experiences, but Basis had the administrative skill to send all the kids home with a week of packets of actually helpful on topic work, switch spring break to the next week to regroup and then seemlessly went remote, not letting either academics or extracurriculars slide. You can knock the place for a lot of things, but the administration is pretty rock solid.

How long have you been at BASIS? Sounds like 1-2 school years. 8 years in for our eldest, I can't agree with most of this.

The current HOS is an asinine as administrator though you may not have noticed this if you haven't brought pressing concerns to him. He's about the WORST we've dealt with, and we've dealt directly with half a dozen.
The one female HOS was the best by a longshot. BASIS' strong suit is far and away the peer group and maybe half of the faculty, not the administration or AZ inputs.

During his tenure, Basis DC was named a blue ribbon school and USN&R ranked it the number one public middle school in DC.

He must be doing something right….

I guess you can’t please everyone.

What's going on here is that BASIS MS parents want to share the joy by waxing enthusiastic based on their experiences. Meanwhile, a few of us who've been on the scene much longer, and aren't raising math proteges, know too much. We've seen a darker side to the program, like consistent harassment of hard-working students admins would like to see gone. We've also contended with a parade of mediocre or bad AZ-trained admins and senior teachers.
Nobody's right or wrong, just different sides of the same coin, different perspectives.

How much does it take for USN&R to rank a DC public MS # 1. No rumbles on the playground that the police have to break up this year? Most students passed PARCC! More than 1/4 of the teachers didn't quit? Goodness, you've won!!

BASIS high school is ranked pretty high nationally, too, FWIW.