Basis DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the problem with the average DCPS student, which DC does not appear able to fix, is that they are not on a trajectory to a stable job, i.e., they are not learning enough to get to community college and they are not being otherwise brought along with other skills programs. we're drifting toward another generation without prospects.

in a world where that is most of what is happening in DCPS, extra AP and all that isn't most of what DCPS needs to do.

Almost all of our kids are going to college (or some exciting alternative) even if they aren't doing their best. BASIS people are trying to make the difference between them going to UDC or UMD and them going to Stanford or Michigan.

In a world with priorities, why expand the nice-to-have while the must-do isn't done?

I don't like not being served, but I get where DC should put its priorities.

It's kind of sad that you are so dismissive about properly educating the top kids. It's not about college admissions. As a country, we should be eager to provide advanced education to the future doctors, scientists, and engineers of the next generation. They already have some huge problems to solve.

FWIW, Basis receives less money per student than any DCPS public, so it's cheaper to send kids to Basis.

Also, before switching to Basis, my kid attended FCPS. Focusing on the "must do" meant that out of every 2 hour per day language arts block, my above grade level reader's group only saw the teacher 15 minutes 2 times per month. The rest of the time, they were ignored. When you view educating bright kids as a "nice-to-have" and the below grade level kids as a "must-do", you're basically stealing the money allocated to the bright kids, not educating them, and then spending it on someone else. Some of us believe that all kids deserve an education suitable to their ability level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A big part of this never-ending fight is the repeated assertions and implications that BASIS is good for all “bright kids seeking academic challenge,” when actually it’s suitable for only a subset of them. And of course that means that the bright kids are being split up to everyone’s detriment. I don’t blame the families who choose Basis, and I don’t blame the families who avoid it. But it’s pernicious to imply that being smart and hardworking is enough to thrive at Basis. That’s how you lure smart and hardworking kids into a situation that winds up being toxic for them.

+1 Parent of bright kid (99th percentile on ELA standardized test scores) who is leaving after a few years of trying to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A big part of this never-ending fight is the repeated assertions and implications that BASIS is good for all “bright kids seeking academic challenge,” when actually it’s suitable for only a subset of them. And of course that means that the bright kids are being split up to everyone’s detriment. I don’t blame the families who choose Basis, and I don’t blame the families who avoid it. But it’s pernicious to imply that being smart and hardworking is enough to thrive at Basis. That’s how you lure smart and hardworking kids into a situation that winds up being toxic for them.

No one suggested that it's good for ALL bright kids seeking challenge. If parents bother to tour the school or do their research, they can get a good idea about how the school operates and make an informed decision about whether the fit might be good for their kid. Any school can be a bad fit for any kid. Most people, if the school isn't working for them, leave with no/little animosity. If they leave, it doesn't mean that Basis failed them or that they washed out. They still received a solid education in the time they spent in Basis, even if the school ultimately was not the right fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A big part of this never-ending fight is the repeated assertions and implications that BASIS is good for all “bright kids seeking academic challenge,” when actually it’s suitable for only a subset of them. And of course that means that the bright kids are being split up to everyone’s detriment. I don’t blame the families who choose Basis, and I don’t blame the families who avoid it. But it’s pernicious to imply that being smart and hardworking is enough to thrive at Basis. That’s how you lure smart and hardworking kids into a situation that winds up being toxic for them.

This is such a dumb take. No one argues it is good for all [insert subset here]. There is a type of kid/student for which BASIS tends to be a good fit. That doesn't mean every kid in that subset will like it or thrive there. This DC race to the bottom mentality that everything must be good for everyone and everyone must get a trophy is one of the reasons our public education system stinks.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sending my child to Basis. I do not like Basis or its model. But my child was bored out of her mind in 3rd and 4th grade at her elementary school. Starting to hate school even. A lot of her similarly-situated classmates are going to Basis and I well sort of get it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much anyone can go to college. For some families, particularly at DCI, which has lots of first gen families, going to college at all is a big deal. But clearly some families are aiming much higher. BASIS develops the kind of work ethic and executive functioning skills that students aiming high in college admissions can rely on to be competitive.

Or it burns kids out and makes them feel like failures and prevents them from having ongoing successful academic careers.

One close friend of the family had to send her daughter to legit therapy because the girl sobbed every night because she said she was a failure because she couldn't keep up with her all AP class schedule as a 15yo. Of course she couldn't, those are classes that are meant for college students. HS students being able to do any of them is a privilege and a real accomplishment—it should never be forced on anyone. Took months of therapy and private school tuition to get her feeling like she could go to college. Eff BASIS—seriously.

How did the parents let it get that bad? The switch to APs is not subtle. It sounds like they were not paying attention to the child's needs. They should have pulled her out when it was clear she couldn't handle it. Bad parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much anyone can go to college. For some families, particularly at DCI, which has lots of first gen families, going to college at all is a big deal. But clearly some families are aiming much higher. BASIS develops the kind of work ethic and executive functioning skills that students aiming high in college admissions can rely on to be competitive.

Or it burns kids out and makes them feel like failures and prevents them from having ongoing successful academic careers.

One close friend of the family had to send her daughter to legit therapy because the girl sobbed every night because she said she was a failure because she couldn't keep up with her all AP class schedule as a 15yo. Of course she couldn't, those are classes that are meant for college students. HS students being able to do any of them is a privilege and a real accomplishment—it should never be forced on anyone. Took months of therapy and private school tuition to get her feeling like she could go to college. Eff BASIS—seriously.

How did the parents let it get that bad? The switch to APs is not subtle. It sounds like they were not paying attention to the child's needs. They should have pulled her out when it was clear she couldn't handle it. Bad parenting.

+1. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand how people can read thread after thread of this and then still make the same complaints. Before you send your kid, read this thread and every other. If you don't think the very clear system will work for your kid or your family, DO NOT SEND YOUR KID. If you do, you are the one failing, not the school. It is called school choice. There is no default option to go there. Just poor parenting choices if it is a bad fit. I love these threads as they are very clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A big part of this never-ending fight is the repeated assertions and implications that BASIS is good for all “bright kids seeking academic challenge,” when actually it’s suitable for only a subset of them. And of course that means that the bright kids are being split up to everyone’s detriment. I don’t blame the families who choose Basis, and I don’t blame the families who avoid it. But it’s pernicious to imply that being smart and hardworking is enough to thrive at Basis. That’s how you lure smart and hardworking kids into a situation that winds up being toxic for them.

+1 Parent of bright kid (99th percentile on ELA standardized test scores) who is leaving after a few years of trying to make it work.

The important difference about BASIS is that it's best suited for kids who 95th+ percentile in Math and science, not ELA. Good ELA kids are probably better off going elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I'll add this to the mix. My bright, motivated rising 11th grader with ADHD and anxiety is thriving at Basis. Basis does not use block scheduling, so the shorter classes and more transition times have made it easier for my kid to stay focused. In the early grades, they teach the kids how to keep track of assignments and tests, and that has been invaluable. The rigidity and clear expectations help my kid's anxiety, since they know what to expect and don't feel like they're being thrown a lot of curveballs. Frequent testing has helped the anxiety, since they're used to it and feel like they have some control over the situation.

Of course, everyone's mileage may vary with this. I just wanted to put it out there for anyone weighing whether basis could be a good fit. The best part, though, is that if it's not a good fit, it should be obvious to the parents and kids by the end of 5th or 6th, and the kid can leave with at least some of the organizational skills taught in 5th/6th + a solid education for 5th/6th.

[Anonymous]

There is sometimes a weird manta on this board: school choice, people have choice, people who choose something have no rights to complain about it (even when it fails to live up to its promises), people can move, blah blah. School choice is not some panacea that fully makes up for uneven and mixed quality schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A big part of this never-ending fight is the repeated assertions and implications that BASIS is good for all “bright kids seeking academic challenge,” when actually it’s suitable for only a subset of them. And of course that means that the bright kids are being split up to everyone’s detriment. I don’t blame the families who choose Basis, and I don’t blame the families who avoid it. But it’s pernicious to imply that being smart and hardworking is enough to thrive at Basis. That’s how you lure smart and hardworking kids into a situation that winds up being toxic for them.

+1 Parent of bright kid (99th percentile on ELA standardized test scores) who is leaving after a few years of trying to make it work.

The important difference about BASIS is that it's best suited for kids who 95th+ percentile in Math and science, not ELA. Good ELA kids are probably better off going elsewhere.

PP here with the ADHD/anxiety 11th grader at Basis. I agree completely with this. My kid is a strong writer and good enough at ELA, but 99th percentile in Math. Their passion is STEM, and they have never struggled with the math and science pacing or content. I'm sure my kid's experience would be different if they were much stronger in ELA and much less strong in math. The math, chemistry, and physics classes are not going to be a good fit for kids who aren't interested in STEM and probably 95th+ percentile. The language arts classes would likely be underwhelming to a kid who is gifted in ELA and seeking a rich, gifted level curriculum (although I question whether any other publics are providing this).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is sometimes a weird manta on this board: school choice, people have choice, people who choose something have no rights to complain about it (even when it fails to live up to its promises), people can move, blah blah. School choice is not some panacea that fully makes up for uneven and mixed quality schools.

What promises is it failing to live up to? Basis is pretty upfront about what they do and don't offer. They're also pretty upfront about the way classes work and their expectations.

[Anonymous]

Based on what I know from Latin families, I can see how one of the Latins could be a better fit for gifted ELA students but if those students are also pretty capable in math and science, they will be bored at Latin for those subjects. Similarly, for high school, it seems Walls might be better for gifted ELA students but BASIS students apparently have to repeat a math class at Walls and overall Walls doesn’t have stellar math scores. This is where parents and their students need to make individual choices that have no right or wrong answer.

[Anonymous]

Another pp with rising 11th grader here. I completely agree with the other parent. My child, on the other hand, is better at ELA than Math. The kid holds their own in math and science, but it takes work. As the pp noted, however, they were taught early on how to do that work. They need to keep up consistently, and they need to study when the very known crunch periods occur. My child is better at ELA. Basis does okay with it, but not great. The ELA work requires very little, but my child supplements with more intensive AP electives that require writing. Spanish was also an issue for us, as my child arrived fluent. But we knew the limitations of Basis, and we used the very slow language learning as a sort of free period as there is so much intense studying in the rest of the curriculum. The kid hasn't progressed through Spanish literature, but with the continual reminder of Spanish, there is little doubt of a 5 on the Spanish AP now that they will finally allow it.

The program isn't perfect. But I couldn't imagine my child thriving more elsewhere. It is a great fit for us despite not being perfect. But I paid a ton of attention to what my child might need and then I have followed it very carefully along the way, as there are definitely easier options. We spent a lot of time deciding what to do for high school, as we are also inbound for JR. But in the end, we dove fully into the high school, and we haven't had a moment of regret.

Note I do not really care where my child goes to college. I want it to be a good fit that encourages the kid to remain motivated to learn and grow but I see no reason to force a bad fit for college for a better name. Fit is the most important. Until grad school, which is a different story.