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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an entrenched tradition on DCUM of BASIS parents jumping on threads claiming not only that the kids who leave "washed out," but asserting that if you left, well, you're a "hater" whose kid couldn't hack the curriculum. This year seems to be something of a turning point. As noted, Walls, JR and Latin got students into Ivy League schools, and other colleges admitting in the single digits, but not BASIS. The two excuses offered on this thread for lackluster college admissions is that, a) this year's senior class was unusually small and that, b) BASIS students gravitate toward merit aid at 2nd tier schools rather than shooting for top tier programs their families couldn't afford.

As the parent of a student who started in this year's graduating cohort and tried the HS, I'm not buying that the small class size was crux of the problem, or family finances either. I'm also not buying that a BASIS expansion to include K-4th grade will solve the problem eventually. What I'm seeing is that BASIS' top-down, one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning at the MS level has caught up with them at the HS level, along with management's tendency to burn out good teachers, weak facilities and subpar HS ECs. We might have stayed though HS, along with other families of strong students we got to know at BASIS, if the curriculum had offered us flexibility, if critical thinking skills and joy of learning had been emphasized, if humanities instruction had been stronger, if the teaching force had been more stable, and if our teen could have pursued serious HS ECs with classmates. There doesn't seem to be any sort of fix for what ails the BASIS HS in the works, no reckoning, no agenda for change.

So in sum, you are denigrating those "strong students" you got to know who stayed at BASIS for HS b/c they didn't get in to an ivy, etc., this year? Nice. My theory on college admissions this year is that the old measures - excellent test scores and difficult course content/numerous APs - are no longer reliable methods to get in to college post-pandemic when colleges have thrown out/no longer look at many of these "hard" metrics (test scores, etc) and are now admitting students on soft stuff (since they can't use the hard measures any longer to distinguish). And then it turns in to a lottery as generally all students have the "soft" stuff (as many have complained on other threads not having to do with BASIS - college admissions were a lottery this year). With a much smaller class size, BASIS has many fewer lottery tickets (students). But you keep on with your schadenfreude.

My theory on college admissions is that "excellent test scores and difficult course content/numerous APs" are still reliable methods to get into blue chip colleges as long as an applicant also brings extraordinary ECs to be the table, particularly in the form of somewhat unusual intellectual interests and accomplishments. That's where BASIS falls down in my book. The lack of flexibility in the curriculum and respect for individual learning styles and backgrounds isn't producing the college admissions goods like it could. When your middle school kid's a top artist, musician or linguist for their age yet BASIS orders them into beginning enrichment classes, you begin to doubt the approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an entrenched tradition on DCUM of BASIS parents jumping on threads claiming not only that the kids who leave "washed out," but asserting that if you left, well, you're a "hater" whose kid couldn't hack the curriculum. This year seems to be something of a turning point. As noted, Walls, JR and Latin got students into Ivy League schools, and other colleges admitting in the single digits, but not BASIS. The two excuses offered on this thread for lackluster college admissions is that, a) this year's senior class was unusually small and that, b) BASIS students gravitate toward merit aid at 2nd tier schools rather than shooting for top tier programs their families couldn't afford.

As the parent of a student who started in this year's graduating cohort and tried the HS, I'm not buying that the small class size was crux of the problem, or family finances either. I'm also not buying that a BASIS expansion to include K-4th grade will solve the problem eventually. What I'm seeing is that BASIS' top-down, one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning at the MS level has caught up with them at the HS level, along with management's tendency to burn out good teachers, weak facilities and subpar HS ECs. We might have stayed though HS, along with other families of strong students we got to know at BASIS, if the curriculum had offered us flexibility, if critical thinking skills and joy of learning had been emphasized, if humanities instruction had been stronger, if the teaching force had been more stable, and if our teen could have pursued serious HS ECs with classmates. There doesn't seem to be any sort of fix for what ails the BASIS HS in the works, no reckoning, no agenda for change.

This is what gets me about expanding down. The only reason to do it is someone in Arizona said to do it. DC is full of schools doing kindergarten well. There’s a dearth of schools doing MS/HS well. Every other LEA in the business is expanding what works: DCPS is splitting JR by adding MacArthur, and expanding Banneker; Latin is adding Latin Cooper. BASIS is not having trouble filling its 5th grade class. How does expanding down help DC or BASIS DC?

1) Every Basis school in the world other than Basis DC has K-4. The model works best when kids start earlier.

2) More choice is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an entrenched tradition on DCUM of BASIS parents jumping on threads claiming not only that the kids who leave "washed out," but asserting that if you left, well, you're a "hater" whose kid couldn't hack the curriculum. This year seems to be something of a turning point. As noted, Walls, JR and Latin got students into Ivy League schools, and other colleges admitting in the single digits, but not BASIS. The two excuses offered on this thread for lackluster college admissions is that, a) this year's senior class was unusually small and that, b) BASIS students gravitate toward merit aid at 2nd tier schools rather than shooting for top tier programs their families couldn't afford.

As the parent of a student who started in this year's graduating cohort and tried the HS, I'm not buying that the small class size was crux of the problem, or family finances either. I'm also not buying that a BASIS expansion to include K-4th grade will solve the problem eventually. What I'm seeing is that BASIS' top-down, one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning at the MS level has caught up with them at the HS level, along with management's tendency to burn out good teachers, weak facilities and subpar HS ECs. We might have stayed though HS, along with other families of strong students we got to know at BASIS, if the curriculum had offered us flexibility, if critical thinking skills and joy of learning had been emphasized, if humanities instruction had been stronger, if the teaching force had been more stable, and if our teen could have pursued serious HS ECs with classmates. There doesn't seem to be any sort of fix for what ails the BASIS HS in the works, no reckoning, no agenda for change.

The Basis senior class size is smaller than Walls, JR, and Latin. This year, kids were accepted to colleges that, according to USN&WR, are ranked more highly than a number of Ivies. Plus, last year and the year before that and so on, Basis kids were accepted to multiple Ivies. I always laugh when people mention mention that JR had a bunch of admissions to Ivies because the senior class is literally more than 10 times bigger than Basis. If you look at, say, what percentage of the senior class is attending a Top 25 or Top 50 or Top 100 college, Basis will match or beat the schools you mentioned.

Since your kid started in this year's Basis graduating cohort and left for greener pastures, let us know what high school he or she attends that you believe is superior and also what Ivy he or she is going to in the fall.

Come on, Walls, JR and Latin aren't just serving the highly academic in HS, like BASIS purports to. Case in point: kids don't need to pass 7th grade algebra or to pass a full menu of comprehensive exams in 6th, 7th and 8th grades to avoid repeating a year at their feeder middle schools. BASIS is supposed to cater to the cream of the crop academically, but winds up stifling too much of their top talent with ridiculously controlling management. If I thought my kid would have a better chance of cracking an Ivy from BASIS than from SJC (already named, thanks), I'd have stayed to save the dough on tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an entrenched tradition on DCUM of BASIS parents jumping on threads claiming not only that the kids who leave "washed out," but asserting that if you left, well, you're a "hater" whose kid couldn't hack the curriculum. This year seems to be something of a turning point. As noted, Walls, JR and Latin got students into Ivy League schools, and other colleges admitting in the single digits, but not BASIS. The two excuses offered on this thread for lackluster college admissions is that, a) this year's senior class was unusually small and that, b) BASIS students gravitate toward merit aid at 2nd tier schools rather than shooting for top tier programs their families couldn't afford.

As the parent of a student who started in this year's graduating cohort and tried the HS, I'm not buying that the small class size was crux of the problem, or family finances either. I'm also not buying that a BASIS expansion to include K-4th grade will solve the problem eventually. What I'm seeing is that BASIS' top-down, one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning at the MS level has caught up with them at the HS level, along with management's tendency to burn out good teachers, weak facilities and subpar HS ECs. We might have stayed though HS, along with other families of strong students we got to know at BASIS, if the curriculum had offered us flexibility, if critical thinking skills and joy of learning had been emphasized, if humanities instruction had been stronger, if the teaching force had been more stable, and if our teen could have pursued serious HS ECs with classmates. There doesn't seem to be any sort of fix for what ails the BASIS HS in the works, no reckoning, no agenda for change.

So in sum, you are denigrating those "strong students" you got to know who stayed at BASIS for HS b/c they didn't get in to an ivy, etc., this year? Nice. My theory on college admissions this year is that the old measures - excellent test scores and difficult course content/numerous APs - are no longer reliable methods to get in to college post-pandemic when colleges have thrown out/no longer look at many of these "hard" metrics (test scores, etc) and are now admitting students on soft stuff (since they can't use the hard measures any longer to distinguish). And then it turns in to a lottery as generally all students have the "soft" stuff (as many have complained on other threads not having to do with BASIS - college admissions were a lottery this year). With a much smaller class size, BASIS has many fewer lottery tickets (students). But you keep on with your schadenfreude.

My theory on college admissions is that "excellent test scores and difficult course content/numerous APs" are still reliable methods to get into blue chip colleges as long as an applicant also brings extraordinary ECs to be the table, particularly in the form of somewhat unusual intellectual interests and accomplishments. That's where BASIS falls down in my book. The lack of flexibility in the curriculum and respect for individual learning styles and backgrounds isn't producing the college admissions goods like it could. When your middle school kid's a top artist, musician or linguist for their age yet BASIS orders them into beginning enrichment classes, you begin to doubt the approach.

What public schools in DC offer middle school tracking for kids who are a "top artist, musician or linguist for their age," whatever that means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an entrenched tradition on DCUM of BASIS parents jumping on threads claiming not only that the kids who leave "washed out," but asserting that if you left, well, you're a "hater" whose kid couldn't hack the curriculum. This year seems to be something of a turning point. As noted, Walls, JR and Latin got students into Ivy League schools, and other colleges admitting in the single digits, but not BASIS. The two excuses offered on this thread for lackluster college admissions is that, a) this year's senior class was unusually small and that, b) BASIS students gravitate toward merit aid at 2nd tier schools rather than shooting for top tier programs their families couldn't afford.

As the parent of a student who started in this year's graduating cohort and tried the HS, I'm not buying that the small class size was crux of the problem, or family finances either. I'm also not buying that a BASIS expansion to include K-4th grade will solve the problem eventually. What I'm seeing is that BASIS' top-down, one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning at the MS level has caught up with them at the HS level, along with management's tendency to burn out good teachers, weak facilities and subpar HS ECs. We might have stayed though HS, along with other families of strong students we got to know at BASIS, if the curriculum had offered us flexibility, if critical thinking skills and joy of learning had been emphasized, if humanities instruction had been stronger, if the teaching force had been more stable, and if our teen could have pursued serious HS ECs with classmates. There doesn't seem to be any sort of fix for what ails the BASIS HS in the works, no reckoning, no agenda for change.

So in sum, you are denigrating those "strong students" you got to know who stayed at BASIS for HS b/c they didn't get in to an ivy, etc., this year? Nice. My theory on college admissions this year is that the old measures - excellent test scores and difficult course content/numerous APs - are no longer reliable methods to get in to college post-pandemic when colleges have thrown out/no longer look at many of these "hard" metrics (test scores, etc) and are now admitting students on soft stuff (since they can't use the hard measures any longer to distinguish). And then it turns in to a lottery as generally all students have the "soft" stuff (as many have complained on other threads not having to do with BASIS - college admissions were a lottery this year). With a much smaller class size, BASIS has many fewer lottery tickets (students). But you keep on with your schadenfreude.

My theory on college admissions is that "excellent test scores and difficult course content/numerous APs" are still reliable methods to get into blue chip colleges as long as an applicant also brings extraordinary ECs to be the table, particularly in the form of somewhat unusual intellectual interests and accomplishments. That's where BASIS falls down in my book. The lack of flexibility in the curriculum and respect for individual learning styles and backgrounds isn't producing the college admissions goods like it could. When your middle school kid's a top artist, musician or linguist for their age yet BASIS orders them into beginning enrichment classes, you begin to doubt the approach.

What public schools in DC offer middle school tracking for kids who are a "top artist, musician or linguist for their age," whatever that means.

None, that's why parents who can leave the system, leave. There are points of light though. DCI's advanced language instruction isn't bad. BASIS was supposed to be different, better. It isn't, other than for STEM subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an entrenched tradition on DCUM of BASIS parents jumping on threads claiming not only that the kids who leave "washed out," but asserting that if you left, well, you're a "hater" whose kid couldn't hack the curriculum. This year seems to be something of a turning point. As noted, Walls, JR and Latin got students into Ivy League schools, and other colleges admitting in the single digits, but not BASIS. The two excuses offered on this thread for lackluster college admissions is that, a) this year's senior class was unusually small and that, b) BASIS students gravitate toward merit aid at 2nd tier schools rather than shooting for top tier programs their families couldn't afford.

As the parent of a student who started in this year's graduating cohort and tried the HS, I'm not buying that the small class size was crux of the problem, or family finances either. I'm also not buying that a BASIS expansion to include K-4th grade will solve the problem eventually. What I'm seeing is that BASIS' top-down, one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning at the MS level has caught up with them at the HS level, along with management's tendency to burn out good teachers, weak facilities and subpar HS ECs. We might have stayed though HS, along with other families of strong students we got to know at BASIS, if the curriculum had offered us flexibility, if critical thinking skills and joy of learning had been emphasized, if humanities instruction had been stronger, if the teaching force had been more stable, and if our teen could have pursued serious HS ECs with classmates. There doesn't seem to be any sort of fix for what ails the BASIS HS in the works, no reckoning, no agenda for change.

The Basis senior class size is smaller than Walls, JR, and Latin. This year, kids were accepted to colleges that, according to USN&WR, are ranked more highly than a number of Ivies. Plus, last year and the year before that and so on, Basis kids were accepted to multiple Ivies. I always laugh when people mention mention that JR had a bunch of admissions to Ivies because the senior class is literally more than 10 times bigger than Basis. If you look at, say, what percentage of the senior class is attending a Top 25 or Top 50 or Top 100 college, Basis will match or beat the schools you mentioned.

Since your kid started in this year's Basis graduating cohort and left for greener pastures, let us know what high school he or she attends that you believe is superior and also what Ivy he or she is going to in the fall.

Come on, Walls, JR and Latin aren't just serving the highly academic in HS, like BASIS purports to. Case in point: kids don't need to pass 7th grade algebra or to pass a full menu of comprehensive exams in 6th, 7th and 8th grades to avoid repeating a year at their feeder middle schools. BASIS is supposed to cater to the cream of the crop academically, but winds up stifling too much of their top talent with ridiculously controlling management. If I thought my kid would have a better chance of cracking an Ivy from BASIS than from SJC (already named, thanks), I'd have stayed to save the dough on tuition.

How many seniors at SJC? About 225? From the SJC Instagram, I counted 6 kids going to Ivies (some on athletic scholarships), three of which were Cornell (ranked #17 nationally). Overall, college admissions do not seem too impressive.

Don’t really see how leaving Basis for SJC really enhances your college prospects unless you play lacrosse or the like.

[Anonymous]

We got the critical flexibility and support we needed to pursue post AP language, performance music and STEM competition success (involving some travel on school days) from SJC. At BASIS, when we would ask admins for a little flexibility in middle school and 9th grade the answer was invariably, no. Too many barriers for our kid to stand out in college admissions down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got the critical flexibility and support we needed to pursue post AP language, performance music and STEM competition success (involving some travel on school days) from SJC. At BASIS, when we would ask admins for a little flexibility in middle school and 9th grade the answer was invariably, no. Too many barriers for our kid to stand out in college admissions down the road.

whoop de doo for you? Basis is still undeniably one of the most academically successful public schools in DC. It’s nice you had other options, but that has zero to do with Basis’s continued contribution to DC (as evinced by consistent demand on the waitlist).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got the critical flexibility and support we needed to pursue post AP language, performance music and STEM competition success (involving some travel on school days) from SJC. At BASIS, when we would ask admins for a little flexibility in middle school and 9th grade the answer was invariably, no. Too many barriers for our kid to stand out in college admissions down the road.

Sounds like private school was the right choice for you. It’s harder for a public school to violate policies like you were asking. TBH, except for post AP language, for the others I would have just done it and waited for someone to tell me no. As long as your kid keeps up in class and you don’t push absences past 10 days or whatever, there’s a lot you can get away with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got the critical flexibility and support we needed to pursue post AP language, performance music and STEM competition success (involving some travel on school days) from SJC. At BASIS, when we would ask admins for a little flexibility in middle school and 9th grade the answer was invariably, no. Too many barriers for our kid to stand out in college admissions down the road.

Sounds like private school was the right choice for you. It’s harder for a public school to violate policies like you were asking. TBH, except for post AP language, for the others I would have just done it and waited for someone to tell me no. As long as your kid keeps up in class and you don’t push absences past 10 days or whatever, there’s a lot you can get away with.

I mean - BASIS Science Olympiad team just went to Kansas City this past weekend for some event so . . . . ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got the critical flexibility and support we needed to pursue post AP language, performance music and STEM competition success (involving some travel on school days) from SJC. At BASIS, when we would ask admins for a little flexibility in middle school and 9th grade the answer was invariably, no. Too many barriers for our kid to stand out in college admissions down the road.

Sounds like private school was the right choice for you. It’s harder for a public school to violate policies like you were asking. TBH, except for post AP language, for the others I would have just done it and waited for someone to tell me no. As long as your kid keeps up in class and you don’t push absences past 10 days or whatever, there’s a lot you can get away with.

Um, not in Fairfax, MoCo or Arlington, not in well-run suburban systems aiming high in college admissions. The open-minded former BASIS HoS would have worked with you. This guy wears his insecurities on his sleeve by controlling whatever he can. Glad you could afford to leave to stay on track for an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got the critical flexibility and support we needed to pursue post AP language, performance music and STEM competition success (involving some travel on school days) from SJC. At BASIS, when we would ask admins for a little flexibility in middle school and 9th grade the answer was invariably, no. Too many barriers for our kid to stand out in college admissions down the road.

Sounds like private school was the right choice for you. It’s harder for a public school to violate policies like you were asking. TBH, except for post AP language, for the others I would have just done it and waited for someone to tell me no. As long as your kid keeps up in class and you don’t push absences past 10 days or whatever, there’s a lot you can get away with.

I mean - BASIS Science Olympiad team just went to Kansas City this past weekend for some event so . . . . ?

School sponsored Olympiad event, planned long in advance for a group. PP isn't wrong that individual competitors tend to be out of luck at BASIS under this HoS and that seniors don't tend to knock it of the park on ECs because they've been too busy taking all their AP exams by spring of junior year. I'm hoping that some lessons will be learned from underwhelming admissions results this year (NYU, Smith, Middlebury, who could ask for anything more?). Probably not.

[Anonymous]

At this point, a rethink on how best to position students in admissions for the most highly competitive colleges would behoove BASIS DC.

[Anonymous]

BASIS DC starts the college application/selection process early, which I think is good, but they don't have top notch counselors.