How to help child succeed at BASIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

My sixth grader is incredibly anti school and does the absolute minimum; in elementary school he refused to do any of his projects, which was the only homework. At Basis, he spent most of 5th grade playing video games and I haven't seen him do a minute of schoolwork this year. The thing is, he learns enough and does enough work at school that he's passing, with not completely awful grades. For us, that's success. The bare minimum at Basis is adequate, which I don't think is true at most other schools. Kids with higher standards might choose to do more work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more I learn about BASIS the less appealing it sounds. Too cutthroat and high stress for our family I think. We have PhDs and our kid has been rather bored in DCPS (almost all 4s on every report card since K). Sounds like we will need to go private or move after 5th grade if we don't get into Latin 1 or 2.

You have PhDs but make important life decisions based on anonymous posts you read on DCUM…

I'm not the PP you're responding to. Even so, I'm going to ask you to stop being a jerk and a bully on this thread, and, presumably, others related to BASIS.

Why assume that this poster relies entirely on DCUM for info on BASIS? For all you know, they've been to open houses and done a shadow day if that's still an option. They may have talked to a variety of BASIS stakeholders before arriving at the same conclusion.

We turned down BASIS because it didn't seem anything like the happy school you describe.

Go on, slam me, too.

NP. Listen to yourself. You know nothing about the school, and yet you feel the need to post in this thread repeatedly.

We had a month to research BASIS after lottery results came out, like all the families who were offered a spot. We worked hard to research our decision by talking to admins and many parents, even parents whose children had already graduated. We went to open houses and toured the building. The school just didn't seem like a happy, friendly, healthy place for our bright, hard-working 11 year old. We made alternative middle school plans.

Your nastiness and accusations on this thread aren't good advertising for BASIS.

You are so triggered? If you have such a fragile psyche, why are you posting here? You just come across as insecure and defensive.

[Anonymous]

We chose BASIS and are really happy with the choice.

Congrats to incoming 5th graders!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

My sixth grader is incredibly anti school and does the absolute minimum; in elementary school he refused to do any of his projects, which was the only homework. At Basis, he spent most of 5th grade playing video games and I haven't seen him do a minute of schoolwork this year. The thing is, he learns enough and does enough work at school that he's passing, with not completely awful grades. For us, that's success. The bare minimum at Basis is adequate, which I don't think is true at most other schools. Kids with higher standards might choose to do more work.

You rock, PP. Most honest post on this thread. I appreciate how you're not claiming that BASIS offers the sun, the moon and the stars academically, that your kid is a superstar, and that anybody who's had a different experience to yours at BASIS is full of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more I learn about BASIS the less appealing it sounds. Too cutthroat and high stress for our family I think. We have PhDs and our kid has been rather bored in DCPS (almost all 4s on every report card since K). Sounds like we will need to go private or move after 5th grade if we don't get into Latin 1 or 2.

You have PhDs but make important life decisions based on anonymous posts you read on DCUM…

I'm not the PP you're responding to. Even so, I'm going to ask you to stop being a jerk and a bully on this thread, and, presumably, others related to BASIS.

Why assume that this poster relies entirely on DCUM for info on BASIS? For all you know, they've been to open houses and done a shadow day if that's still an option. They may have talked to a variety of BASIS stakeholders before arriving at the same conclusion.

We turned down BASIS because it didn't seem anything like the happy school you describe.

Go on, slam me, too.

NP. Listen to yourself. You know nothing about the school, and yet you feel the need to post in this thread repeatedly.

We had a month to research BASIS after lottery results came out, like all the families who were offered a spot. We worked hard to research our decision by talking to admins and many parents, even parents whose children had already graduated. We went to open houses and toured the building. The school just didn't seem like a happy, friendly, healthy place for our bright, hard-working 11 year old. We made alternative middle school plans.

Your nastiness and accusations on this thread aren't good advertising for BASIS.

You are so triggered? If you have such a fragile psyche, why are you posting here? You just come across as insecure and defensive.

You unearth a benign post from several pages back to go at the PP.

Try a new tact to advocate for BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

My sixth grader is incredibly anti school and does the absolute minimum; in elementary school he refused to do any of his projects, which was the only homework. At Basis, he spent most of 5th grade playing video games and I haven't seen him do a minute of schoolwork this year. The thing is, he learns enough and does enough work at school that he's passing, with not completely awful grades. For us, that's success. The bare minimum at Basis is adequate, which I don't think is true at most other schools. Kids with higher standards might choose to do more work.

We’re a very happy BASIS family with two high-achieving BASIS kids. That said, I appreciate this post, as I have a third kid who’s not academically inclined and who does the bare minimum (sometimes less) in school.

Despite the sibling preference and the ease that would come from having all three at the same school, we opted not to send our youngest to BASIS. We were concerned that the bare minimum wouldn’t be enough, that BASIS would be an unhappy experience, and that consistently underperforming relative to one’s peers would be bad for self-esteem. Our child also did not want to go. If I had felt that coasting along on minimum effort would have led to consistently passing grades, maybe we would have made a different decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

I think in the first year (5th grade) it’s harder to do that because it’s a lot more work than what elementary school kids are used to. However, it may be possible in later years as the child gets used to a new homework completion pattern. Also, if the child uses study hall efficiently, there is less work to do at home. There is also significant variability in homework over the year, with more study time and prep work needed before the end of grading period exams and pre-comps/comps. Hope this helps

Depends entirely on the elementary school, the kid and the family. Our eldest was allowed to work ahead a year in math at his DCPS before BASIS. We're raising our kids bilingual and biliterate in a language not taught in DC public schools, meaning language classes on weekends and homework in the second language. We've been supplementing for reading and writing via on-line courses and tutors for several years. Our kids play musical instruments in youth ensembles. One also plays competitive chess. BASIS was actually less work in 5th than our kids were accustomed to from 4th grade.

Ok. Your point it? You took the time to chime in to say that if you effectively have your kid in school school 7 days a week and pay for tutors and teachers on the side then Basis (or any school) isn't a step up? Would you also like to share that your kid has been in USA Gymnastics since the age of 3, attends Olympic training camps in TX and competed at the Junior Worlds and you want everyone to know that gym class at Wilson isn't very challenging?

I assume you were going for "humble brag". You landed instead on something that rhymes - "d-bag".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more I learn about BASIS the less appealing it sounds. Too cutthroat and high stress for our family I think. We have PhDs and our kid has been rather bored in DCPS (almost all 4s on every report card since K). Sounds like we will need to go private or move after 5th grade if we don't get into Latin 1 or 2.

You have PhDs but make important life decisions based on anonymous posts you read on DCUM…

I'm not the PP you're responding to. Even so, I'm going to ask you to stop being a jerk and a bully on this thread, and, presumably, others related to BASIS.

Why assume that this poster relies entirely on DCUM for info on BASIS? For all you know, they've been to open houses and done a shadow day if that's still an option. They may have talked to a variety of BASIS stakeholders before arriving at the same conclusion.

We turned down BASIS because it didn't seem anything like the happy school you describe.

Go on, slam me, too.

NP. Listen to yourself. You know nothing about the school, and yet you feel the need to post in this thread repeatedly.

We had a month to research BASIS after lottery results came out, like all the families who were offered a spot. We worked hard to research our decision by talking to admins and many parents, even parents whose children had already graduated. We went to open houses and toured the building. The school just didn't seem like a happy, friendly, healthy place for our bright, hard-working 11 year old. We made alternative middle school plans.

Your nastiness and accusations on this thread aren't good advertising for BASIS.

You are so triggered? If you have such a fragile psyche, why are you posting here? You just come across as insecure and defensive.

You unearth a benign post from several pages back to go at the PP.

Try a new tact to advocate for BASIS.

"You are so triggered" is how children deflect blame or consequences for their actions. It places the blame on the person responding to the perceived aggression and deflects any consideration of whether the original actor was out of line. If I smack you in the face and you scream at me I could respond with "you are so triggered." Triggered is another way to say "angry" or "advocating for yourself".

Adults trying to sound hip ought not use terms they don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

My sixth grader is incredibly anti school and does the absolute minimum; in elementary school he refused to do any of his projects, which was the only homework. At Basis, he spent most of 5th grade playing video games and I haven't seen him do a minute of schoolwork this year. The thing is, he learns enough and does enough work at school that he's passing, with not completely awful grades. For us, that's success. The bare minimum at Basis is adequate, which I don't think is true at most other schools. Kids with higher standards might choose to do more work.

We’re a very happy BASIS family with two high-achieving BASIS kids. That said, I appreciate this post, as I have a third kid who’s not academically inclined and who does the bare minimum (sometimes less) in school.

Despite the sibling preference and the ease that would come from having all three at the same school, we opted not to send our youngest to BASIS. We were concerned that the bare minimum wouldn’t be enough, that BASIS would be an unhappy experience, and that consistently underperforming relative to one’s peers would be bad for self-esteem. Our child also did not want to go. If I had felt that coasting along on minimum effort would have led to consistently passing grades, maybe we would have made a different decision.

I think that's something that parents do need to consider. BASIS does work the kids hard. DS is a BASIS grad, started in 5th and is now in college. He is a very high performing but special needs kid, still managed to do quite well on 13 APs and got high grades and a good SAT score which got him into a prestigious college with a generous scholarship. But it was a lot of work, and even now he's still in some ways working through a level of academic burnout in college and feels like he lacked a chunk of the social and non-academic side of school due to all of the work (compounded by the pandemic).

BASIS works its kids hard - some parents who already have tutors and supports will, I'm sure, do quite fine - but there will also be kids who maybe easily got straight A's in their DCPS ES who will find BASIS a bit lot more challenging.

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP who cancelled many activities the first year. My child had barely any homework to be done at home the first couple years. She was just busier at school than she was used to, so she had to get used to it.

On an unrelated note, when thinking about facilities, I think it helps to think outside the building. Obviously the building is way too small and not great. On the other hand, the kids have access to an amazing neighborhood. Starting in 8th grade, they leave campus for lunch, eating at the navy memorial, portrait gallery, roof of the MLK library, etc. They exercise on the Mall. They all know how to reserve study rooms at the incredibly well renovated library less than 2 blocks away. They have access to so much more than just the crowded building, and they use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

I think in the first year (5th grade) it’s harder to do that because it’s a lot more work than what elementary school kids are used to. However, it may be possible in later years as the child gets used to a new homework completion pattern. Also, if the child uses study hall efficiently, there is less work to do at home. There is also significant variability in homework over the year, with more study time and prep work needed before the end of grading period exams and pre-comps/comps. Hope this helps

Depends entirely on the elementary school, the kid and the family. Our eldest was allowed to work ahead a year in math at his DCPS before BASIS. We're raising our kids bilingual and biliterate in a language not taught in DC public schools, meaning language classes on weekends and homework in the second language. We've been supplementing for reading and writing via on-line courses and tutors for several years. Our kids play musical instruments in youth ensembles. One also plays competitive chess. BASIS was actually less work in 5th than our kids were accustomed to from 4th grade.

Ok. Your point it? You took the time to chime in to say that if you effectively have your kid in school school 7 days a week and pay for tutors and teachers on the side then Basis (or any school) isn't a step up? Would you also like to share that your kid has been in USA Gymnastics since the age of 3, attends Olympic training camps in TX and competed at the Junior Worlds and you want everyone to know that gym class at Wilson isn't very challenging?

I assume you were going for "humble brag". You landed instead on something that rhymes - "d-bag".

This thread has become ridiculously unpleasant.

PP above makes a fair point: don't believe the hype. All 5th graders aren't going to find the BASIS workload intimidating, not in a Metro area where high-achieving families are a dime a dozen.

The fact that a new BASIS student attended a DC public ES through 4th grade doesn't necessarily mean that they're not used to hard work and high standards. The point seems to be that BASIS exceptionalism gets.....tiresome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

I think in the first year (5th grade) it’s harder to do that because it’s a lot more work than what elementary school kids are used to. However, it may be possible in later years as the child gets used to a new homework completion pattern. Also, if the child uses study hall efficiently, there is less work to do at home. There is also significant variability in homework over the year, with more study time and prep work needed before the end of grading period exams and pre-comps/comps. Hope this helps

Depends entirely on the elementary school, the kid and the family. Our eldest was allowed to work ahead a year in math at his DCPS before BASIS. We're raising our kids bilingual and biliterate in a language not taught in DC public schools, meaning language classes on weekends and homework in the second language. We've been supplementing for reading and writing via on-line courses and tutors for several years. Our kids play musical instruments in youth ensembles. One also plays competitive chess. BASIS was actually less work in 5th than our kids were accustomed to from 4th grade.

Ok. Your point it? You took the time to chime in to say that if you effectively have your kid in school school 7 days a week and pay for tutors and teachers on the side then Basis (or any school) isn't a step up? Would you also like to share that your kid has been in USA Gymnastics since the age of 3, attends Olympic training camps in TX and competed at the Junior Worlds and you want everyone to know that gym class at Wilson isn't very challenging?

I assume you were going for "humble brag". You landed instead on something that rhymes - "d-bag".

This thread has become ridiculously unpleasant.

PP above makes a fair point: don't believe the hype. All 5th graders aren't going to find the BASIS workload intimidating, not in a Metro area where high-achieving families are a dime a dozen.

The fact that a new BASIS student attended a DC public ES through 4th grade doesn't necessarily mean that they're not used to hard work and high standards. The point seems to be that BASIS exceptionalism gets.....tiresome.

There is no way that was your takeaway from what they posted. You clearly have an issue with Basis that through which you view all other posts. Seriously, someone posted that they do school 7 days a week and pay for tutors and external teachers and as a consequence Basis wasn't hard...and from that you take that Basis isn't that great a school? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For every comment on here finding fault with BASIS, there’s another comment on this thread or a different thread where people are singing its praises or eager to find out if their child will get off the waitlist. BASIS is clearly great for some and terrible for others. It’s important and helpful to know what generally makes it a good fit or not to the extent folks are trying to decide for their own child. But I’m the end everyone has their own priorities and those are not right or wrong. Just different.

But for a moment, I’d like to get back to the original question on here regarding success at BASIS. How can parents help their children? Are the parents quizzing their kids? Do students ever/often form study groups together? When students receive disappointing “pre-comps” scores what specific measures are taken to ensure they improve by the end of year comps? How much do pre-comps count for the course grade? How is the “90s Club” or any other measure of success presented to the students to help them stay motivated and focused? I heard the school has a spirit week. Do students feel like they are “in it together” or do they feel more competitive with one another? Are the most successful students generally successful from the beginning, or is it common for “stragglers” to get the help they need and rise to the top?

As a parent of a kid at BASIS, I’ve heard from other parents that it’s a mix of everything. Kids who are struggling at the school often tend to leave early (5th, 6th grade, maybe 7th.). The ones who stay seem to get the hang of how the place works, and this may help with establishing study groups because they are mostly aligned with their study habits. I think the school administration is generally supportive, and the students are generally supportive of each other, with students being less cut throat than what I hear from my friends whose kids are in the top privates. There are some really good teachers and some that aren’t so good…like any school. I’ve also seen some kids who are friends with my child start off as average, and then eventually climb into the top 10-20% with hard work (based on the results from awards ceremonies.)

I don’t know how to answer your question on how to prep them for BASIS except for encouraging strong executive functioning skills. A lot of this is taught at the school and comes with time, but as a parent you can work with your child over the summer by having set schedules at home and encouraging your child to write down what they plan to do daily and checking off completed tasks. Although I don’t think this is unique to BASIS, it will help your child manage their workload once the school year starts.

You see knowledgeable and helpful so can I follow-up with this: I have seen reports on DCUM of kids who manage to get most homework done during school hours. In your experience is that regularly possible?

My sixth grader is incredibly anti school and does the absolute minimum; in elementary school he refused to do any of his projects, which was the only homework. At Basis, he spent most of 5th grade playing video games and I haven't seen him do a minute of schoolwork this year. The thing is, he learns enough and does enough work at school that he's passing, with not completely awful grades. For us, that's success. The bare minimum at Basis is adequate, which I don't think is true at most other schools. Kids with higher standards might choose to do more work.

lol, great kid. working harder does not mean working smarter! does he seem to enjoy school though? do the tests stress him out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the PP who cancelled many activities the first year. My child had barely any homework to be done at home the first couple years. She was just busier at school than she was used to, so she had to get used to it.

On an unrelated note, when thinking about facilities, I think it helps to think outside the building. Obviously the building is way too small and not great. On the other hand, the kids have access to an amazing neighborhood. Starting in 8th grade, they leave campus for lunch, eating at the navy memorial, portrait gallery, roof of the MLK library, etc. They exercise on the Mall. They all know how to reserve study rooms at the incredibly well renovated library less than 2 blocks away. They have access to so much more than just the crowded building, and they use it.

that’s pretty cool! it’s an incredibly unique location despite its limitations.

[Anonymous]

Basis is a good fit for some, not so good for others.

The real problem in the DMV are the parents who are too insecure about themselves and their choices, and so need to trash anyone who isn’t doing exactly what they are doing. No school will fix that type of toxic insecurity.