BASIS attrition after middle school- why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you enter hoping for more than pre-AP test prep and yAP test prep you will also be dissappointed. BASIS is a test prep program in the guise of a school. If that bothers you don’t enroll, or enroll and don’t stay for high school.

Not in our experience.

And the school’s high rankings refute your point as well.

BTW, check your spelling.

The school’s rankings are based entirely on the fact that they are a test prep program. What do you think the rankings are measuring?

-NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. When our kids were at BASIS, we got to know fellow test-in public magnet grads from big cities around the country who weren't bowled over by the education their children were receiving and weren't impressed with the school's leadership either. A few loved the place but most would they'd say that they tolerated BASIS because they couldn't afford both private MS and HS and didn't want to move from DC. These parents were mostly Federal civil servants, academics, non-profit workers or journalists. Their prevalence at BASIS helps explain substantial attrition after MS. We used our years in DCPS and BASIS to save [b]for a HS where the curriculum stresses critical thinking, creativity, inquiry, independent research, hands-on learning, [\b] the arts, advanced language work and other academic offerings not available at BASIS.

From what I’ve heard from BASIS admin, the HS experience is very different from MS, and there is a lot more of the bolded above in HS. Is that true?

Emphatically not true. The HS experience revolves around AP test prep through and through, with the goal of all AP tests taken by spring of junior year. If AP isn't testing it, BASIS isn't teaching it, or at least isn't emphasizing it. In the HS, there is little hands-on learning, there are few class discussions or creative projects or research projects, there is no language instruction past the AP level (and little emphasis on speaking languages since AP doesn't stress speaking) and no languages not tested by AP taught (Russian, Arabic), and no instrumental music instruction or even AP music theory. But Math is taught past the AP level and dual enrollment at GW Univ is an option, if a student arranges that for themselves senior year. Dual enrollment is a big hassle from BASIS. Most years zero seniors bother with dual enrollment, which isn't unusual at Walls and J-R (with their campuses much nearer to GW).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you enter hoping for more than pre-AP test prep and yAP test prep you will also be dissappointed. BASIS is a test prep program in the guise of a school. If that bothers you don’t enroll, or enroll and don’t stay for high school.

Not in our experience.

And the school’s high rankings refute your point as well.

BTW, check your spelling.

The school’s rankings are based entirely on the fact that they are a test prep program. What do you think the rankings are measuring?

-NP

Troll.

You don't understand rankings or BASIS.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia

[Anonymous]

NP. I’ve had a look at the methodology USNWR goes with and it doesn’t seem relevant to my family. In a nutshell, schools where poor kids score high on state standardized tests rank high. That metric is the linchpin of rankings success. Also, USNWR isn’t tracking teacher or family satisfaction or EC quality. They aren’t penalizing schools for low student or teacher retention over time. What this means is that the phenomena of BASIS losing at least half of the entering 5th grade cohort before HS graduation and a double digit annual teacher exodus have no inpact on the program’s ranking. Goofy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I’ve had a look at the methodology USNWR goes with and it doesn’t seem relevant to my family. In a nutshell, schools where poor kids score high on state standardized tests rank high. That metric is the linchpin of rankings success. Also, USNWR isn’t tracking teacher or family satisfaction or EC quality. They aren’t penalizing schools for low student or teacher retention over time. What this means is that the phenomena of BASIS losing at least half of the entering 5th grade cohort before HS graduation and a double digit annual teacher exodus have no inpact on the program’s ranking. Goofy.

The school publishes metrics for teachers that leave voluntarily. Bolded is made up.

[Anonymous]

Curious to see if more or less teachers will leave with the new head of school. As a parent, I think the new one is a very bad idea due to my interactions with her.

[Anonymous]

I'm not seeing a teacher retention metric in the USNWR methodology. Is it there?

We're mired in relativism in DC. None of the top several DC USNWR ranked three middle schools are what could be described as comprehensive, inclusive public middle schools. #1, BASIS, is in an awful building that scares away families who aren't desperate for a school and turns away at least two-thirds of those who try to enroll. #2 school only enrolls low income URMs. #3 school is a Spanish immersion program with neighborhood preference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you enter hoping for more than pre-AP test prep and yAP test prep you will also be dissappointed. BASIS is a test prep program in the guise of a school. If that bothers you don’t enroll, or enroll and don’t stay for high school.

Not in our experience.

And the school’s high rankings refute your point as well.

BTW, check your spelling.

The school’s rankings are based entirely on the fact that they are a test prep program. What do you think the rankings are measuring?

-NP

Troll.

You don't understand rankings or BASIS.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia

You are so dumb. Google what US News is measuring. Hint: it’s how many kids take and pass APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious to see if more or less teachers will leave with the new head of school. As a parent, I think the new one is a very bad idea due to my interactions with her.

Curious to hear more about this. I don’t know her at all.

[Anonymous]

Which new HoS? What are you people smoking?

[Anonymous]

The current HoS at BASIS just announced that he is leaving at the end of this school year to lead a different BASIS school and the current Director of Student Affairs will be replacing him as HoS next school year. This is how you know who actually attends BASIS or is genuinely interested in the school and who is just trolling…

[Anonymous]

This parent who left not long ago is pleased to hear that he's leaving himself. Call me a troll glad to hear good news during a winter when we've been short of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This parent who left not long ago is pleased to hear that he's leaving himself. Call me a troll glad to hear good news during a winter when we've been short of it.

Former Basis parent here as well - I'm petty and not sad for him to go. Who is taking over? I cant remember who was student affairs director when we were there. Ms Inc? I loved her - we may not have left had I known she was coming!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This parent who left not long ago is pleased to hear that he's leaving himself. Call me a troll glad to hear good news during a winter when we've been short of it.

Former Basis parent here as well - I'm petty and not sad for him to go. Who is taking over? I cant remember who was student affairs director when we were there. Ms Inc? I loved her - we may not have left had I known she was coming!

I think we try not to use people’s full names on here, for Google reasons,but her initials are CC.

Our family is in the “anyone’s better than the current guy” camp (our Basis student most of all), so will be curious to see whether and how much things change next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The current HoS at BASIS just announced that he is leaving at the end of this school year to lead a different BASIS school and the current Director of Student Affairs will be replacing him as HoS next school year. This is how you know who actually attends BASIS or is genuinely interested in the school and who is just trolling…

If you want to have private discussions about BASIS, please do it on internal school list servs used by parents of students currently enrolled, not here. Not your role to determine who's "genuinely interested" in the school on DCUM. Hint: BASIS has a variety of stakeholders and is supported by taxpayers' dollars. The departure of the current HoS sounds good to me. I dealt with him briefly as a volunteer senior project sponsor and wasn't impressed. He came off as a real know-it-all who doesn't seem to have kept up with the times in college admissions, at least not in admissions to my IvyPlus alma mater and grad school.