Does anyone know the status of the Proposed BASIS Expansion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

No, because at-risk families aren't going to drag their kindergarten kids to wherever basis locates its elementary school. They are not going to switch a kid at k when they enrolled somewhere else for pk. Basis knows this and is happy to design an elementary school that, like its middle and high school, is desirable primarily to wealthier families. I will believe otherwise if they try to locate their new campus at the Eagle academy building in Congress heights.

Basis doesn’t care what you think or believe.

There will be plenty of interest when the new elementary school opens.

Options are always good.

There are 135 charter schools in DC. If you don’t like Basis, go to one or stay at your in-bounds school.

+1 also chiming in to say for every one of the ward 6 parents confident that their voice will get BASIS elementary shut down before it gets off the ground, there are five parents supporting this new school. Don't believe everything you read on DCUM (my post of course included).

I think you’re genuinely mistaken. Parents at Brent, Maury, LT, SWS & Payne, at the very least, are now worse off than they were before.

I don't really follow this - is the argument because there is one new elementary school, that all of the other schools in our neighborhood are going to fail? What are there going to be, maybe 3-4 classrooms per grade? It will pull from many different schools, including parents who would have otherwise gone to other charters or private (or moved). The direct impact per school won't be huge, and to be honest with the way school enrollments have been trending (esp in some of the ones you just listed above) - having a few less kids per grade isn't the worst thing. It would help keep class sizes more manageable. The interesting thing would be to see if there will be the same issue of kids returning to DCPS after a few years (as happens in the middle school). It is that issue (transfering back to DCPS over the summer or mid-year so therefore not accounted for when projecting staffing needs at public schools) who end up skewing enrollment and impacting the public schools.

Parents at these schools want to stay at these schools for ES, but want the MS spots. I didn't mean that BASIS ES would destroy any of these schools -- I agree, it will marginally affect them for the worse at worst; I meant that parents at these schools wouldn't be pro-BASIS ES expansion, since few of them would want to use it. The "genuinely mistaken" was in reference to the poster saying that for every 1 parent on the Hill opposed to BASIS ES, 5 were in favor. I don't think that's right. I think parents at good DCPS ESes would much rather leave their kids in their local school with their friends and then still have a shot at BASIS MS, which will now disappear/be drastically reduced.

I'm wondering if it could lead more people at IB ESes to leave their IB ES earlier for a better MS feed if most spots for BASIS MS now go to BASIS ES students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

No, because at-risk families aren't going to drag their kindergarten kids to wherever basis locates its elementary school. They are not going to switch a kid at k when they enrolled somewhere else for pk. Basis knows this and is happy to design an elementary school that, like its middle and high school, is desirable primarily to wealthier families. I will believe otherwise if they try to locate their new campus at the Eagle academy building in Congress heights.

Basis doesn’t care what you think or believe.

There will be plenty of interest when the new elementary school opens.

Options are always good.

There are 135 charter schools in DC. If you don’t like Basis, go to one or stay at your in-bounds school.

+1 also chiming in to say for every one of the ward 6 parents confident that their voice will get BASIS elementary shut down before it gets off the ground, there are five parents supporting this new school. Don't believe everything you read on DCUM (my post of course included).

I think you’re genuinely mistaken. Parents at Brent, Maury, LT, SWS & Payne, at the very least, are now worse off than they were before.

I don't really follow this - is the argument because there is one new elementary school, that all of the other schools in our neighborhood are going to fail? What are there going to be, maybe 3-4 classrooms per grade? It will pull from many different schools, including parents who would have otherwise gone to other charters or private (or moved). The direct impact per school won't be huge, and to be honest with the way school enrollments have been trending (esp in some of the ones you just listed above) - having a few less kids per grade isn't the worst thing. It would help keep class sizes more manageable. The interesting thing would be to see if there will be the same issue of kids returning to DCPS after a few years (as happens in the middle school). It is that issue (transfering back to DCPS over the summer or mid-year so therefore not accounted for when projecting staffing needs at public schools) who end up skewing enrollment and impacting the public schools.

Parents at these schools want to stay at these schools for ES, but want the MS spots. I didn't mean that BASIS ES would destroy any of these schools -- I agree, it will marginally affect them for the worse at worst; I meant that parents at these schools wouldn't be pro-BASIS ES expansion, since few of them would want to use it. The "genuinely mistaken" was in reference to the poster saying that for every 1 parent on the Hill opposed to BASIS ES, 5 were in favor. I don't think that's right. I think parents at good DCPS ESes would much rather leave their kids in their local school with their friends and then still have a shot at BASIS MS, which will now disappear/be drastically reduced.

I'm wondering if it could lead more people at IB ESes to leave their IB ES earlier for a better MS feed if most spots for BASIS MS now go to BASIS ES students.

This. Definitely.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP with the 1:5 comment. I meant there are many more voices than just the Hill parents. The PP who asked more questions/ probed further nailed it - the BASIS elementary will only marginally affect Hill parents. I'm just kind of over Hill parents thinking they have the greatest concentration of Gods gift to man in their children. Families all over the city want and should have a shot at BASIS elementary.

[Anonymous]

I predict that Basis elementary students most heavily come from Shaw, Bloomingdale, and NoMa (the area just north of Capitol Hill).

[Anonymous]

I predict that they will come from Capitol Hill proper, where most of them come from now. Why? Because most CH parents will remain desperate for a decent middle school for years to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I predict that they will come from Capitol Hill proper, where most of them come from now. Why? Because most CH parents will remain desperate for a decent middle school for years to come.

Why would you think parents in Shaw, Bloomingdale, Southwest, EOTR, etc. are not equally desperate?

[Anonymous]

Even more desperate but, collectively, there aren't as many UMC families in those neighborhoods as on the Hill. And the ones there are less likely to be as dug in as the CH crowd, mostly longtime homeowners. Many of these people arrives as Hill staffers in their early 20s. Now they're in their 40s and 50s and aren't in the mood to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even more desperate but, collectively, there aren't as many UMC families in those neighborhoods as on the Hill. And the ones there are less likely to be as dug in as the CH crowd, mostly longtime homeowners. Many of these people arrives as Hill staffers in their early 20s. Now they're in their 40s and 50s and aren't in the mood to leave.

Maybe you should get out more. Bloomingdale and Shaw are lousy with UMC homeowners with mid-elementary-age children.

[Anonymous]

UMC homeowners with mid-ES age children who will mostly hit the road for Upper NW, VA and MD before too long, or will head to DCI from an immersion ES feeder. The Cap Hill crowd is more committed to staying overall and not as inclined to go for ES immersion programs in Upper NE.

[Anonymous]

Disagree. You overestimate the popularity of the Basis middle school. Most CH families with 4th graders who enter the 5th grade lottery list both Latins ahead of Basis. The Basis waitlist also moves 60+ spots every summer; this means that there are 60+ families who listed Basis on their lottery bingo card and then after matching declined the space. You also underestimate the extent to which some core CH families moved into their current home in part due to the IB elementary school. They are not likely to give that up in early elementary to commute to Basis simply to lock in the middle school. Lastly, people will disagree here, SH/EH have some buy-in now where not everyone is likely to know precisely how they feel about that option until they take a harder look at it in the late elementary years. Shaw is its own different question mark with rights to Francis Stevens and Euclid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMC homeowners with mid-ES age children who will mostly hit the road for Upper NW, VA and MD before too long, or will head to DCI from an immersion ES feeder. The Cap Hill crowd is more committed to staying overall and not as inclined to go for ES immersion programs in Upper NE.

I think this is right. Capitol Hill families are more committed to their particular neighborhood. Upper NE has a lot of families who bought a house where they could afford and aren’t specifically wedded to the neighborhood. The stats on 13-18 year olds in DC also bear this out. Lots on the Hill now vs 10 years ago; upper NE is more where the Hill was 10 years ago, but COVID took a bite out of every neighborhood’s previously steady growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. You overestimate the popularity of the Basis middle school. Most CH families with 4th graders who enter the 5th grade lottery list both Latins ahead of Basis. The Basis waitlist also moves 60+ spots every summer; this means that there are 60+ families who listed Basis on their lottery bingo card and then after matching declined the space. You also underestimate the extent to which some core CH families moved into their current home in part due to the IB elementary school. They are not likely to give that up in early elementary to commute to Basis simply to lock in the middle school. Lastly, people will disagree here, SH/EH have some buy-in now where not everyone is likely to know precisely how they feel about that option until they take a harder look at it in the late elementary years. Shaw is its own different question mark with rights to Francis Stevens and Euclid.

SH/EH do both have some buy in now. Enough that it angers me to no end that they didn’t combine them to do a Deal for Ward 6. It would have worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. You overestimate the popularity of the Basis middle school. Most CH families with 4th graders who enter the 5th grade lottery list both Latins ahead of Basis. The Basis waitlist also moves 60+ spots every summer; this means that there are 60+ families who listed Basis on their lottery bingo card and then after matching declined the space. You also underestimate the extent to which some core CH families moved into their current home in part due to the IB elementary school. They are not likely to give that up in early elementary to commute to Basis simply to lock in the middle school. Lastly, people will disagree here, SH/EH have some buy-in now where not everyone is likely to know precisely how they feel about that option until they take a harder look at it in the late elementary years. Shaw is its own different question mark with rights to Francis Stevens and Euclid.

SH/EH do both have some buy in now. Enough that it angers me to no end that they didn’t combine them to do a Deal for Ward 6. It would have worked.

Yes -- this is the way!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. You overestimate the popularity of the Basis middle school. Most CH families with 4th graders who enter the 5th grade lottery list both Latins ahead of Basis. The Basis waitlist also moves 60+ spots every summer; this means that there are 60+ families who listed Basis on their lottery bingo card and then after matching declined the space. You also underestimate the extent to which some core CH families moved into their current home in part due to the IB elementary school. They are not likely to give that up in early elementary to commute to Basis simply to lock in the middle school. Lastly, people will disagree here, SH/EH have some buy-in now where not everyone is likely to know precisely how they feel about that option until they take a harder look at it in the late elementary years. Shaw is its own different question mark with rights to Francis Stevens and Euclid.

SH/EH do both have some buy in now. Enough that it angers me to no end that they didn’t combine them to do a Deal for Ward 6. It would have worked.

Yes -- this is the way!

This never was a good option and never will be. DC will never make a separate magnet Middle School that will somehow magically only take higher achieving students, which I think is a good thing . And if the suggestion is to create one giant Middle School that has a higher number of kids at all levels, there is nowhere within the broader Capitol Hill area to house a school of that size, and as a parent with a child at a Capitol Hill Middle School, I would not want my child to go to a middle school with a thousand children anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. You overestimate the popularity of the Basis middle school. Most CH families with 4th graders who enter the 5th grade lottery list both Latins ahead of Basis. The Basis waitlist also moves 60+ spots every summer; this means that there are 60+ families who listed Basis on their lottery bingo card and then after matching declined the space. You also underestimate the extent to which some core CH families moved into their current home in part due to the IB elementary school. They are not likely to give that up in early elementary to commute to Basis simply to lock in the middle school. Lastly, people will disagree here, SH/EH have some buy-in now where not everyone is likely to know precisely how they feel about that option until they take a harder look at it in the late elementary years. Shaw is its own different question mark with rights to Francis Stevens and Euclid.

So what, it's much harder to get into both Latins than BASIS, at least by the first week of school. Most of the CH crowd playing the lottery ends up at BASIS anyway, or with no charter option.