BASIS McLean -- What's the early feedback on this newly opened school?

[Anonymous]

BASIS DC is great if your kid is able to handle a lot of work and likes being exposed to a lot of content. I think its great for boosting kids knowledge base. We left after three years as we were looking for something a little more well-rounded in terms of a HS experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard from a friend, a bunch of very strong science/math kids went to Basis, so, there is a couple of 5th grader went to Algebra 1 & Geometry class, 6th grader went to Algebra 2 class, 7th grader went to Pre-calculus class. These kids won all kinds of national top prizes, (AMC 8, 10, qualified for AIME). Regular AAP classes couldn't meet their need, even though they already skipped multiple graders in public school for subject acceleration. These kids could success anyway if school is flexible and give them opportunity to learn quicker and deeper, Basis is lucky to have these strong kids for its first year.

So these kids transitioned from public to Basis McLean? Or from another private?

[Anonymous]

I am not a BASIS parent, but am interested in reading all of the replies.

I had been hoping to get some views of the campus, as this is something I've been curious about (both in DC and McLean). At least now I see some nice drawings of the campus on the web site for BASIS McLean.

It does not seem to have any PE requirement. I read this on the web site -- "In Grades 7-12, Physical Education is offered as an elective."

That would be a deterrent for us. We like how our son's private school requires each student to be on a sports team (no-cut policy) each season to fulfill their PE requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a BASIS parent, but am interested in reading all of the replies.

I had been hoping to get some views of the campus, as this is something I've been curious about (both in DC and McLean). At least now I see some nice drawings of the campus on the web site for BASIS McLean.

It does not seem to have any PE requirement. I read this on the web site -- "In Grades 7-12, Physical Education is offered as an elective."

That would be a deterrent for us. We like how our son's private school requires each student to be on a sports team (no-cut policy) each season to fulfill their PE requirement.

Lots of campus pics on Facebook and Twitter.

No PE required past 6th. There was a dust up over PE at the DC school this fall - was written up in the Wash Post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:common core is the opposite of drill and kill

BASIS is drill and kill for common core. Hours and hours of worksheets every night. My kids don't go to BASIS, but there are kids in our neighborhood in DC who go there, and everyone (especially kids) feel sorry for them. Sad.

And of course, Basis has nothing in common with a school like Potomac that fosters independent thought and critical discussions as class.

I don't know whether BASIS is "drill and kill" or not, but I completely agree with this poster that BASIS DC seems to be the source of a lot of misery for a lot of kids and families. I live on Capitol Hill and have long coached a couple of rec teams there, along with having my own kids in a private. I cringe every time that a parent says that their child is headed to BASIS. What happens next is the kid drops out of sports and other community activities, along with the parents, so they can dedicate themselves fully to keeping up with homework. After that, one of two things happen. The "successful" kids stay in for a few years and seem unhappy any time you see them, and the parents complain about the never ending work and stress. And the rest of the kids (seem like most of the kids, but I don't know for sure) drop out of BASIS. Some of those kids are dropping out in October or November, and then stuck with whatever happens to be the neighborhood public school, having lost a shot at any other charter or out of bounds public (and of course, now even more disadvantaged in getting into a private. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way---far fewer complaints like this about Washington Latin and no complaints like this about Two Rivers. But BASIS is a special case. I certainly wouldn't use my own money to put my child through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:common core is the opposite of drill and kill

BASIS is drill and kill for common core. Hours and hours of worksheets every night. My kids don't go to BASIS, but there are kids in our neighborhood in DC who go there, and everyone (especially kids) feel sorry for them. Sad.

And of course, Basis has nothing in common with a school like Potomac that fosters independent thought and critical discussions as class.

I don't know whether BASIS is "drill and kill" or not, but I completely agree with this poster that BASIS DC seems to be the source of a lot of misery for a lot of kids and families. I live on Capitol Hill and have long coached a couple of rec teams there, along with having my own kids in a private. I cringe every time that a parent says that their child is headed to BASIS. What happens next is the kid drops out of sports and other community activities, along with the parents, so they can dedicate themselves fully to keeping up with homework. After that, one of two things happen. The "successful" kids stay in for a few years and seem unhappy any time you see them, and the parents complain about the never ending work and stress. And the rest of the kids (seem like most of the kids, but I don't know for sure) drop out of BASIS. Some of those kids are dropping out in October or November, and then stuck with whatever happens to be the neighborhood public school, having lost a shot at any other charter or out of bounds public (and of course, now even more disadvantaged in getting into a private. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way---far fewer complaints like this about Washington Latin and no complaints like this about Two Rivers. But BASIS is a special case. I certainly wouldn't use my own money to put my child through it.

One last thing that is really odd--the head of school at BASIS DC is barely 30, and got his master's degree from for-profit University of Phoenix.

[Anonymous]

BasisDC's HOS is definitely young - all Basis teachers and admins are.

Re his education, he also holds a masters in history from AZ State. LinkedIn is a great source of accurate info.

[Anonymous]

How does BASIS DC do with disadvantaged kids? Will BASIS McLean have scholarships for those who can't afford it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does BASIS DC do with disadvantaged kids? Will BASIS McLean have scholarships for those who can't afford it?

No. "At this time we do not offer any financial aid. We do offer tuition payment plans in one, two, or ten installations."

This is a for profit school. If you are considering sending your child please make sure you understand the different between a for profit school and the majority of the private schools discussed in this forum which are non-profits. For profit is a deal breaker for me and I don't mean to imply that the non-profit model is perfect!

I would also have serious concerns about the lack of experience of the HOS. According to his LinkedIn profile he has 6 years of work experience all at Basis schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does BASIS DC do with disadvantaged kids? Will BASIS McLean have scholarships for those who can't afford it?

The high school students at Basis DC (which is still small) are doing well and getting a lot of interest from colleges. This is even more true for the students of color and the ones who are economically disadvantaged (not all minority kids there are low income). Will be interesting to see the first graduating classes' college acceptances although the first senior class is tiny (17 students).

PP is right that Basis McLean does not and will not offer financial aid. I actually think for profit schools can't for some esoteric tax code reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard from a friend, a bunch of very strong science/math kids went to Basis, so, there is a couple of 5th grader went to Algebra 1 & Geometry class, 6th grader went to Algebra 2 class, 7th grader went to Pre-calculus class. These kids won all kinds of national top prizes, (AMC 8, 10, qualified for AIME). Regular AAP classes couldn't meet their need, even though they already skipped multiple graders in public school for subject acceleration. These kids could success anyway if school is flexible and give them opportunity to learn quicker and deeper, Basis is lucky to have these strong kids for its first year.

This doesn't seem right. FCPS does not let kids skip grades. Parents might push kids through math progression faster through a program like CTY, parents drive to the MS or HS for the next math class, etc. but kids in FCPS AAP don't get to "skip multiple grades." They come back to their Center school and sit in VA studies with the rest of the 4th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is a for profit school. If you are considering sending your child please make sure you understand the different between a for profit school and the majority of the private schools discussed in this forum which are non-profits. For profit is a deal breaker for me and I don't mean to imply that the non-profit model is perfect!

For-profit BASIS charges you a bunch of money to teach your kid.
Non-profit private schools charge you a bunch of money to teach your kid.

So what exactly IS the difference between the two?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:common core is the opposite of drill and kill

BASIS is drill and kill for common core. Hours and hours of worksheets every night. My kids don't go to BASIS, but there are kids in our neighborhood in DC who go there, and everyone (especially kids) feel sorry for them. Sad.

And of course, Basis has nothing in common with a school like Potomac that fosters independent thought and critical discussions as class.

Let's not forget the final exam which comes from Arizona being 50% of the final grade and the precomp exam in January being 50% of the 2nd trimester. So regardless of how students do throughout the year, two exams count for almost 58% of the whole year. There is absolutely no feedback on these exams to students making an otherwise A student end the year with a C or even a D and vice versa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is a for profit school. If you are considering sending your child please make sure you understand the different between a for profit school and the majority of the private schools discussed in this forum which are non-profits. For profit is a deal breaker for me and I don't mean to imply that the non-profit model is perfect!

For-profit BASIS charges you a bunch of money to teach your kid.
Non-profit private schools charge you a bunch of money to teach your kid.

So what exactly IS the difference between the two?

For profit privates do not inflate the grades to the extend that BASIS DC does for certain students.
For profit privates do not deflate students' grades to force those particular students out.

[Anonymous]

I really don't understand why people chooses BASIS. For that amount of $ you could go to Sidwell or the Cathedral schools and get a solid thought- based education. Push on kids through math faster is not educationally sound.