Preparation for Basis Exam

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

Why do you care what posters think about BASIS? Why are parents obligated to improve public schools at all?

BS post.

Why do you care about BASIS since you have no connection to the school?

BS post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Watch 5th graders bouncing off the walls in the narrow BASIS hallways around 3:30 each school day and tell me that none of them would benefit from a little recess.

Shame on them. They don't deserve MIT or Yale later on.

This is the BASIS haters' argument in a nutshell: BASIS doesn't have recess so the students don't deserve to go to MIT or Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Watch 5th graders bouncing off the walls in the narrow BASIS hallways around 3:30 each school day and tell me that none of them would benefit from a little recess.

Shame on them. They don't deserve MIT or Yale later on.

So, it’s the kids’ fault that they don’t get recess in middle school and therefore be punished 7 years later by getting rejected by MIT and Yale?? Fail to understand the logic here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

To be fair, public school teachers simply don't bother teaching the above average kids at all. They instead shove them in a corner on devices and ignore them all day, or they use them as a teacher's helper. At least BASIS bothers to teach kids who are above average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

?? Every public school in DC gets funding based on how many students they have. By choosing not to backfill, Basis is giving up money.

The poster was complaining that basis (and other charters?) were underfunded.

[Anonymous]

If BASIS is underfunded then the kids don't deserve to get into MIT and Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

Private school, Walls, Wilson/JR, move, etc. Many people may not have the money to spring for better middle schools, but can scrape enough together to afford private high school.

9th grade cohort is actually 80, per data shared just now during the BASIS town hall…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Watch 5th graders bouncing off the walls in the narrow BASIS hallways around 3:30 each school day and tell me that none of them would benefit from a little recess.

Shame on them. They don't deserve MIT or Yale later on.

So, it’s the kids’ fault that they don’t get recess in middle school and therefore be punished 7 years later by getting rejected by MIT and Yale?? Fail to understand the logic here

There is no logic to haters. My grandma always said: they're jealous. Plain and simple, jealousy is a curse. 9 times out of 10 she was correct bless her heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

To be fair, public school teachers simply don't bother teaching the above average kids at all. They instead shove them in a corner on devices and ignore them all day, or they use them as a teacher's helper. At least BASIS bothers to teach kids who are above average.

This!!!!! BASIS or no BASIS. Why are these kids ignored? They need to grow too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

Private school, Walls, Wilson/JR, move, etc. Many people may not have the money to spring for better middle schools, but can scrape enough together to afford private high school.

9th grade cohort is actually 80, per data shared just now during the BASIS town hall…

How big is the 8th grade cohort?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

Private school, Walls, Wilson/JR, move, etc. Many people may not have the money to spring for better middle schools, but can scrape enough together to afford private high school.

9th grade cohort is actually 80, per data shared just now during the BASIS town hall…

How big is the 8th grade cohort?

88

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

Private school, Walls, Wilson/JR, move, etc. Many people may not have the money to spring for better middle schools, but can scrape enough together to afford private high school.

9th grade cohort is actually 80, per data shared just now during the BASIS town hall…

80 enrolled, not all turned up. Not all who turned up have stayed into the 3rd week of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that BASIS DC doesn't backfill after 5th grade is not of the franchise's making. The BASIS Arizona campuses have always backfilled at every grade. Politicians there don't mind if entering students are giving tough placement exams. Most students who enter BASIS after 6th grade in Arizona must repeat a great, sometimes two, to join the program. In DC, such an admissions system would be considered discriminatory, opening the door to litigation, so none exists.

This. The problem is not that BASIS isn't willing to take in kids, it is that DC (in the name of "equity" or some nonsense) has decided that having kids meet a firm standard is...discrimination? Instead of lowering expectations and standards to DC's level, BASIS says "Nah, we're good."

Every BASIS family wishes that the school was bigger and had more space. If I had a free $60k/yr sitting around I'd send my kid to Sidwell. That isn't an option. What drives so many of us mad about DCUM is the posters who act like (i) there is a perfect school (ii) the limitations at BASIS (or any school) can be easily solved or (iii) seem really oddly invested in BASIS's deficiencies. That third one is just weird. These people spend more time and energy on a school they dislike than they do working to improve whatever school they eventually attend. Just seems weird and personal to spend so much time, energy and anger on something you pretend to not care about.

A big part of public school is meeting *all* students where they are. It is hard teaching a classroom where some kids are above grade level, some kids are below grade level, and some kids might have attended 5 schools last year. That difficulty is part of why public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers. It's fine if basis doesn't want to do that and if basis students are thriving in classes where that doesn't need to be done. But then basis doesn't get to be treated the same as other public schools for funding.

?? Every public school in DC gets funding based on how many students they have. By choosing not to backfill, Basis is giving up money.

The poster was complaining that basis (and other charters?) were underfunded.

They don't backfill because the city council and the DCPCSB never signed off on the franchise doing so in the District, as they'd always done in Arizona. The BASIS charter doesn't permit them to backfill after 6th grade. They asked to backfill per Arizona procedures and were told no by the DC ed powers that be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a troll. We gave BASIS a shot for 2 ears. The academics were fine, but the building really sucked and we left when we could do so o n good form.

It's just not a healthy set up for the kids not to have recess/breaks outside, or much natural light in the building. I say this as somebody who went to middle school and high school in NYC where all we had for outdoor space was a basketball court on the roof of our school. That was enough. No outdoor space isn't enough, even with the National Mall nearby.

Recess???!!! Do you think this is Pre-k? Bless your heart.

Watch 5th graders bouncing off the walls in the narrow BASIS hallways around 3:30 each school day and tell me that none of them would benefit from a little recess.

Shame on them. They don't deserve MIT or Yale later on.

So, it’s the kids’ fault that they don’t get recess in middle school and therefore be punished 7 years later by getting rejected by MIT and Yale?? Fail to understand the logic here

Come on, the PP was obviously being sarcastic. BASIS does beg to be teased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't disagree with the above.

9th grade cohort is 60 or 65. Admins tell you they're expecting at least 80 each spring, but the numbers don't materialize. Most families still quietly leave for other programs. They're aren't enough choices in the BASIS high school to retain the majority. They're not teaching nearly as many languages or electives as the better hs programs in the area and don't have the facilities, focus or resources for serious ECs. DC charters just don't get the per capita funding or buildings they should.

Where did the "missing" 15+ kids go?

Private school, Walls, Wilson/JR, move, etc. Many people may not have the money to spring for better middle schools, but can scrape enough together to afford private high school.

9th grade cohort is actually 80, per data shared just now during the BASIS town hall…

80 enrolled, not all turned up. Not all who turned up have stayed into the 3rd week of school.

Which is weird, since school is only in week 2...

Get a life.