BASIS DC will seek to expand to include K to 4th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

You don't have to buy it? You're not there. Just enjoy the choices you've made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on where this school is located. If it's downtown, I'm not interested in taking a kindergartner on the metro to school everyday if I can walk to an ES on the Hill.

May not be convenient for you but a lot of parents work downtown and would be very interested in dropping kids off at a downtown location. I can walk to work from BASIS's main building.

Really? Then why are so many downtown buildings empty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on where this school is located. If it's downtown, I'm not interested in taking a kindergartner on the metro to school everyday if I can walk to an ES on the Hill.

Just a guess - BASIS will take advantage of the real estate deals on empty office buildings in downtown and add the k-4 (or possibly k-5) grades in the new building. I think a lot of the success of BASIS is the proximity to metro access and they will try to keep it centrally located near the existing building. Thus, I would expect to see another downtown location - in which I ask, where's the outdoor space? Expect rooftop playground proposals.

BASIS owns the current building they are in, and from what I've heard, they are keeping it for at least grades 6 - 12. I wish they would sell it and get one where they could put an indoor gym in for older kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on where this school is located. If it's downtown, I'm not interested in taking a kindergartner on the metro to school everyday if I can walk to an ES on the Hill.

May not be convenient for you but a lot of parents work downtown and would be very interested in dropping kids off at a downtown location. I can walk to work from BASIS's main building.

Really? Then why are so many downtown buildings empty?

Do you not understand the phrase "a lot"?

Vacancy rate in downtown DC for Q4 2022 was 17.33%. That means that 82.67% of buildings are occupied. And that percentage has and will continue to increase.

Sure, there is a lot more vacancy than there used to be (and rents/real estate prices have gone down somewhat) but a lot of people (including a lot of Basis parents) work downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

Seriously, no one cares what you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

This guy is back again. He comes back time after time to tell BASIS families that he knows how they feel and the don't. It's odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot depends on where this school is located. If it's downtown, I'm not interested in taking a kindergartner on the metro to school everyday if I can walk to an ES on the Hill.

May not be convenient for you but a lot of parents work downtown and would be very interested in dropping kids off at a downtown location. I can walk to work from BASIS's main building.

Really? Then why are so many downtown buildings empty?

Do you not understand the phrase "a lot"?

Vacancy rate in downtown DC for Q4 2022 was 17.33%. That means that 82.67% of buildings are occupied. And that percentage has and will continue to increase.

Sure, there is a lot more vacancy than there used to be (and rents/real estate prices have gone down somewhat) but a lot of people (including a lot of Basis parents) work downtown.

According to this article, it is a little higher. More importantly, it states DC has one of the highest rates in the country. While this might be on paper, in reality, the downtown area appears dead. The workers have not returned. At the moment it is tourists and school trips that make the downtown seem alive.

Parents find BASIS attractive for many reasons. Location is one of them as it allows students from all 8 wards to attend without too much of a commute.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to add the link:

https://myelisting.com/commercial-real-estate-news/1463/washington-dc-office-space-q4-2022-report/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

Seriously, no one cares what you think.

Speak for yourself. We care. We've enrolled to hedge our bets because we've got a crappy ib middle school. I could easily see us moving for 6th.

Yah, great doesn't seem to be the operative word. The parent community doesn't seem welcoming (is there a parent community?) and the principal and building don't impress.

[Anonymous]

Different poster. What I see is a seats allocation system EoTP that isn't v. good and isn't improving. Thousands of DC families who aren't a good match for certain dc public middle and high schools still settle for them. DC charters still struggle to afford to stable teaching forces, good facilities and serious ecs. Adding a K-4 BASIS program seems unlikely to help in the big picture. With the city tax base steadily shrinking post Covid, we can't expect improvement. Getting defensive about the half-baked results on yet another BASIS thread might squelch a few pesky posters. OK, what have you achieved?

[Anonymous]

Basis works best for a certain type of student, and most students aren’t that type. But for the few that are, it’s nice to find that there are more people like you.

I hope the new building has more space for arts and sports programs, and that it is located close enough to the current building so that older students can take advantage of those spaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

Seriously, no one cares what you think.

Speak for yourself. We care. We've enrolled to hedge our bets because we've got a crappy ib middle school. I could easily see us moving for 6th.

Yah, great doesn't seem to be the operative word. The parent community doesn't seem welcoming (is there a parent community?) and the principal and building don't impress.

You should start looking to move now, because 5th grade is going to be rough for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

Seriously, no one cares what you think.

Speak for yourself. We care. We've enrolled to hedge our bets because we've got a crappy ib middle school. I could easily see us moving for 6th.

Yah, great doesn't seem to be the operative word. The parent community doesn't seem welcoming (is there a parent community?) and the principal and building don't impress.

You should start looking to move now, because 5th grade is going to be rough for you.

BASIS 5th grade is jokingly called "BASIS-lite" by a few. It is much different than 6-8 (when the whole school year seems to be one big comprehensive exam preparation). If you're only going to go to BASIS for a year, 5th is the year to do it. They learn a lot of study/organizational skills.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the poster above based on our family’s experience. Few 5th graders get stressed out at BASIS, no matter what they’re like. The focus is on building executive function capacity as much as anything else. The pre AP test prep regime doesn’t kick in until 6th grade. If you only stick around for a year, aloof admins, weak facilities and little in the way of a parent/school community probably won’t bother you. You can focus on the good stuff, particularly more serious academics than 5th grade in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin and Basis are so wildly different that I'm not understanding how parents could think both schools could be a great fit for their kid.

Come on, most parents who enroll don't think these schools are a "great fit" for their kids. BASIS has crappy facilities and high teacher turnover and Latin's facilities aren't great. Neither school has the dough to offer first-rate extra curriculars/enrichment, especially for 5th graders. Neither school tracks for humanities subjects in middle school, other than Latin for kids who start Latin after 5th grade.

Kids go to Latin and BASIS not so much because either is a "great fit," but because middle-class Hill families East of Rock Creek lack viable middle school options. Plenty of BASIS families would have sent their children to the original Latin if they could have. It works the other way, too, but not to the same extent.

Depends on the kid.

Latin's academics are subpar. BASIS families looking for a "normal" school with subpar academics might have been hoping for Latin and just not have gotten in through the lottery. Most of them have moved on to other schools long ago.

The BASIS families still around by 9th grade that we know do think that the school is a "great fit."

Not buying it. The BASIS families we've known for many years who are still around from 9th grade+ talk about staying on in the program as preferable to moving to the burbs of paying for privates. BASIS doesn't have strong enough ECs, leadership or teaching (too much turnover) to be a "great fit" for much of anybody. Parents who can pay for serious HS ECs do. BASIS does the job, not more.

Seriously, no one cares what you think.

Speak for yourself. We care. We've enrolled to hedge our bets because we've got a crappy ib middle school. I could easily see us moving for 6th.

Yah, great doesn't seem to be the operative word. The parent community doesn't seem welcoming (is there a parent community?) and the principal and building don't impress.

Let's see. You only enrolled to "hedge our bets" because your in-bounds school is "crappy." You want to leave. And then you say you aren't impressed with the principal (ie, head of school) and building and the parent community "doesn't seem welcoming."

Sounds like you are bitter and didn't do your research about Basis. Start looking for another school. This isn't going to work out for you.