Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.

[Anonymous]

I keep checking this thread, as a parent who might consider Basis for my 4th grader, and hoping I’ll get some further insights, but it seems like it has turned into a conversation between two people talking past each other over and over again. 😆

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

Well, sure—someone might question that financial decision. And that someone should absolutely be the person actually responsible for making it, in light of their full financial picture—retirement, college savings, and other long-term goals. If making this kind of switch would materially undermine any of those, then yes, it would be foolish to pull a kid out of BASIS for private school. But that’s not the fact pattern we’re dealing with.

And as for the idea that parents who stay at BASIS through high school save $400K compared to private—sure, that’s interesting. But then again, plenty of families have been paying $40–50K a year since kindergarten at places like Maret. They’re out hundreds of thousands more. I suppose someone might question that financial decision, too. Something tells me those families wouldn’t care what “someone” thinks—and they’d be right not to. Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

Yes - for the great majority, Basis fills a much needed middle school gap and/or serves as an option through HS. That’s perfectly fine given the overall DC ed landscape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

No need to whitewash - it’s a perfectly fine system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

Yes there's definitely a lot of attrition. However, this year's senior class has exactly 70 students, which is significantly more than "45 to 55, not more".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

So what? Lots of schools have high attribution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

Yes there's definitely a lot of attrition. However, this year's senior class has exactly 70 students, which is significantly more than "45 to 55, not more".

Basis will always have some attrition, bc it's a hard curriculum and some kids will be miserable. Even if they fix all the other problems, this is true (it's true at all the BASIS schools, even though ones on beautiful campuses.)

That said, it does seem to be getting better. 70 is a big class, and the 6th grade only lost a handful of kids over the summer.

The Head actually wants to take fewer 5th graders going forward, bc more students are staying these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

Yes there's definitely a lot of attrition. However, this year's senior class has exactly 70 students, which is significantly more than "45 to 55, not more".

Basis will always have some attrition, bc it's a hard curriculum and some kids will be miserable. Even if they fix all the other problems, this is true (it's true at all the BASIS schools, even though ones on beautiful campuses.)

That said, it does seem to be getting better. 70 is a big class, and the 6th grade only lost a handful of kids over the summer.

The Head actually wants to take fewer 5th graders going forward, bc more students are staying these days.

It's an above average curriculum relative to the fast track at many privates, MD & VA suburban magnets and test-in IB Diploma programs (with higher standards for writing and languages). In our experience, weak high school electives also made it a dreary curriculum. Most of the other problems can't be fixed. BASIS DC doesn't have the dough or the facilities to fix them and the franchise is set on keeping senior year as a goof around soft landing.

This year's senior class isn't quite 70.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

Yes there's definitely a lot of attrition. However, this year's senior class has exactly 70 students, which is significantly more than "45 to 55, not more".

Basis will always have some attrition, bc it's a hard curriculum and some kids will be miserable. Even if they fix all the other problems, this is true (it's true at all the BASIS schools, even though ones on beautiful campuses.)

That said, it does seem to be getting better. 70 is a big class, and the 6th grade only lost a handful of kids over the summer.

The Head actually wants to take fewer 5th graders going forward, bc more students are staying these days.

It's an above average curriculum relative to the fast track at many privates, MD & VA suburban magnets and test-in IB Diploma programs (with higher standards for writing and languages). In our experience, weak high school electives also made it a dreary curriculum. Most of the other problems can't be fixed. BASIS DC doesn't have the dough or the facilities to fix them and the franchise is set on keeping senior year as a goof around soft landing.

This year's senior class isn't quite 70.

This puts Basis light years ahead of nearly all “free” & open-admissions alternatives in DC. It’s not for everyone, but there is no public policy problem with its existence or unique ways of doing business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

So what? Lots of schools have high attribution.

Compared to DCI or Latin which also goes to 12th, nope not at all.

Basis percentages is really, really high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

So what? Lots of schools have high attribution.

Compared to DCI or Latin which also goes to 12th, nope not at all.

Basis percentages is really, really high.

Look at bilingual schools. They lose so many students along the way. Maybe more than BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with BASIS is that it's not "really simple" as somebody claimed on the last page, not at all. Many 5th graders seem like a good fit for BASIS, so they are sent by their well-meaning parents. From what I've observed, few of these kids "wash out;" no mistake was made in sending them.

What happens is that the teaching proves to be so uneven, the leadership so prone to gaslighting families who encounter difficulties, the facility so lousy, the curriculum so rigid and narrowly focused on test taking, that most BASIS families get turned off the experience over time and leave.

Sure, you can always pull out, but it might be better to face the reality that BASIS is risky business compared to most DMV schools offering consistent rigor from the get-go. BASIS just not a very welcoming program offering a rich or happy educational experience to young people. There are a lot of sharp elbows at BASIS and not much of a community feel. When we left for a private, we were glad to feel included but dismayed to discover that our BASIS MS grad wasn't as well prepared as we'd hoped, other than for chemistry and biology.

Heading to BASIS is to roll the dice in a somewhat risky game of chance. Best to see it that way to hedge your bets, to avoid getting hurt. If you can afford a stronger program/school pyramid that's a better bet for both MS & HS or are willing to move for one, do it.

We are dealing with people that stayed the course in DC until late elementary whereas a good deal of truly risk averse types would have never even consider it or decamped to the burbs or private early on. They’ve already rolled the dice so to speak.

If Basis bought a few free years before going private, any minor adjustment/catch-up seems immaterial, or at least a bet that paid off.

And I sort of trust private school admissions committees to assess whether a kid (coming from Basis or wherever) will be a good fit for their school.

This is precisely how we are using Basis - a way station before private — admittedly a bit easier for us because a sibling is already in that pipeline and we are quite confident that our Basis student will be more than fine upon the eventual transition — and we’ll be about $80K less out of pocket.

Assuming 2 kids at a Big 3 you are still paying around $400,000 more than the parents whose kids stay the course at Basis.

Given that Basis HS is definitely better than MS (better teachers, better classes, fewer students), someone might question that financial decision.

If the HS was so great,Basis would not lose 1/2 the kids after 8th. The retention rate is not very good.

To clarify, I think the HS class is a little more than 1/2 the size of the 5th grade class. A large majority of 8th graders return to 9th. I think maybe about 10-15 out of 80 or 90 have been leaving. That's a mix of moving to private and application schools, and moving out of DC.

You're trying to whitewash the attrition. What happens is that more than half of the intake class of 135-140 is gone by the first day of 9th grade. Moreover, by the start of 12th grade, the classes is down to 45-55 students, not more. We were surprised by how many students left after every high school grade, half a dozen each time. There's high and unrelenting attrition at BASIS DC, however you slice it. Claiming otherwise won't change that.

Why is this worse than the relentless social promotion we see at DCPS? I'd rather a school have high standards than literally no standards at all.