Thoughts on DCI, Latin or BASIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:23, are these parents of current YY 5th graders or current 4th graders. Thanks.

5th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's amazing about this thread is we are talking about a school that is not even two academic years old, and people are acting as if it's a long-standing institution with deplorable policies rather than a place that's dealing with a temporary location, adding a new grade every year, and still, it seems to me inevitably, working out some of the kinks -- and has, in spite of this, managed to get IB accreditation at least a year before expected. I understand the impatience of parents whose kids are currently enrolled at DCI, because it's not easy being one of the pioneers when your kid's education is at stake, and I'm sure there are plenty of issues. (Although it's my impression that many of the actual DCI parents on this thread seem to like the school.) But for people whose kids are still at feeder schools and don't yet have direct experience of DCI to be articulating harsh and sweeping judgments that appear to be based mainly on information gleaned from an anonymous thread on the Internet seems a little short-sighted.

Signed, a parent at a DCI feeder who is curious to see how the school develops.

+ 1 We are feeder parents in grade 1, excited and optimistic about DCI

same here. 2nd grade feeder parent who is excited and optimistic as well. And also thankful that we aren't in the early years so they have time to work out the kinks but very confident they will find an equilibrium.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's amazing about this thread is we are talking about a school that is not even two academic years old, and people are acting as if it's a long-standing institution with deplorable policies rather than a place that's dealing with a temporary location, adding a new grade every year, and still, it seems to me inevitably, working out some of the kinks -- and has, in spite of this, managed to get IB accreditation at least a year before expected. I understand the impatience of parents whose kids are currently enrolled at DCI, because it's not easy being one of the pioneers when your kid's education is at stake, and I'm sure there are plenty of issues. (Although it's my impression that many of the actual DCI parents on this thread seem to like the school.) But for people whose kids are still at feeder schools and don't yet have direct experience of DCI to be articulating harsh and sweeping judgments that appear to be based mainly on information gleaned from an anonymous thread on the Internet seems a little short-sighted.

Signed, a parent at a DCI feeder who is curious to see how the school develops.

+ 1 We are feeder parents in grade 1, excited and optimistic about DCI

Nothing to lose in regards to your child's education. You are five years away from having to make a decision. I think this post is for parents who have children in the fourth and fifth grades and decisions are required now, not later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's amazing about this thread is we are talking about a school that is not even two academic years old, and people are acting as if it's a long-standing institution with deplorable policies rather than a place that's dealing with a temporary location, adding a new grade every year, and still, it seems to me inevitably, working out some of the kinks -- and has, in spite of this, managed to get IB accreditation at least a year before expected. I understand the impatience of parents whose kids are currently enrolled at DCI, because it's not easy being one of the pioneers when your kid's education is at stake, and I'm sure there are plenty of issues. (Although it's my impression that many of the actual DCI parents on this thread seem to like the school.) But for people whose kids are still at feeder schools and don't yet have direct experience of DCI to be articulating harsh and sweeping judgments that appear to be based mainly on information gleaned from an anonymous thread on the Internet seems a little short-sighted.

Signed, a parent at a DCI feeder who is curious to see how the school develops.

+ 1 We are feeder parents in grade 1, excited and optimistic about DCI

same here. 2nd grade feeder parent who is excited and optimistic as well. And also thankful that we aren't in the early years so they have time to work out the kinks but very confident they will find an equilibrium.

+1 feeder parent with a child set to attend 2016/2017. We are excited because of direct DCI parent and kids information along with direct interaction with DCI during the school day.

[Anonymous]

Are any textbooks used at DCI or is everything done on the Chromebooks?

[Anonymous]

no textbooks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grader commutes to Basis solo every day. Has a cell phone in case of emergency. Most of the kids commute to school by bus or train.

When I was a kid I rode my bike to school but my mom made me carry change for a pay phone for emergencies.

That strategy doesn't work so well anymore.

If there's an emergency, your kid can use the phone in the school's front office. Stop making excuses for middle schoolers having cell phones. The middle class in this country is raising a bunch of entitled, coddled wimps!

Of course they can and they do - but during the 5-mile trip from home to school I'd like them to be able to call or text me.

If they were coddled I'd be driving them each way.

flip phone. done.

[Anonymous]

21:10 poster #2 - there were 10 spots for 9th grade at Latin this year, so 85-90% of the 8th graders are staying (cohort size is about 90 per grade).

[Anonymous]

Benefits of 1:1 devices: http://michiganradio.org/post/laptops-classrooms-help-students-learn#stream/0

[Anonymous]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11digi.html?_r=0

http://hechingerreport.org/lower-test-scores-for-students-who-use-computers-frequently-in-school-31-country-study-finds/

Two links which suggest a more complicated picture. I think most parents support some use of tech but have concerns that DCI relies on tech too much and parents have questions about how tech is used in class and what evidence/research the school has used when designing their curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11digi.html?_r=0

http://hechingerreport.org/lower-test-scores-for-students-who-use-computers-frequently-in-school-31-country-study-finds/

Two links which suggest a more complicated picture. I think most parents support some use of tech but have concerns that DCI relies on tech too much and parents have questions about how tech is used in class and what evidence/research the school has used when designing their curriculum.

Well, they got almost 400K from Breakthrough Schools for their technology program so I guess THEY thought they had a solid evidence and research base....

[Anonymous]

And that is great. I think that tech can be a wonderful too. I would love to hear more about the research supporting the program used at DCI. Of course, if you look on Breakthrough website you will see that one mission includes not only sharing evidence of what learning tech works in classes but also sharing and collecting of evidence of what works. Next Generation is also largely funded by tech companie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:21:10 DCI sounds like a great fit for your family and your 70 yo parents. In my house we don't read our look at our phones at meals. I want my DC to understand that you can put down your phone for 30 minutes to focus on other things, such as eating. Again, when the kids already have access to computers during class, why do they need a phone during lunch? It sees a lot of parents don't share your support for the phone policy and would like some explanation as to the benefits of having phones.

sorry this was a joke - true about my parents - that they cannot stop flicking through their phones and the computer is on their dining room table, but totally unacceptable behavior in my kids.

- a BASIS parent, not a DCI parent

BASIS kids are technically not allowed cell phone access during school, and they would never dare during lunch unless they are in HS and have rights to leave the campus, and lunch is their only time to socialize and be socialized anyway. Silent lunches suck.

Agree that the kids use their cell phones to cheat in the bathrooms even during the make or break finals.
Interestingly there are no such problems during AP exams or BASIS would lose its right to administer them!

[Anonymous]

Some PPs make is sound like there isn't instruction and the kids don't do traditional assignments. Teaching happens like normal, kids still do independent and group work, and the kids still need to use pencils to do written work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grader commutes to Basis solo every day. Has a cell phone in case of emergency. Most of the kids commute to school by bus or train.

When I was a kid I rode my bike to school but my mom made me carry change for a pay phone for emergencies.

That strategy doesn't work so well anymore.

If there's an emergency, your kid can use the phone in the school's front office. Stop making excuses for middle schoolers having cell phones. The middle class in this country is raising a bunch of entitled, coddled wimps!

Of course they can and they do - but during the 5-mile trip from home to school I'd like them to be able to call or text me.

If they were coddled I'd be driving them each way.

flip phone parent here as well for same reasons. NOT coddling just a safety issue - my BASIS 6th grader is 11 years old and commutes

flip phone. done.