Parents are pulling their children out of Basis FAST!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17:59 and 18:11, you forget that there is no predictable "best" here and that there are "opportunity costs" to these machinations. In any of those cases, an average preteen loses out in two transfers, both academically and socially. PP who claimed being fed up with DCPS mediocrity - to the extent there is - you'd want to weigh avoiding those against the pitfalls of moving your preteen around like a commodity. There are many who'll do just fine with that, but also unfortunately a great many for whom this is a difficult time as it is, and who you've now just burned more than if you made reasonable and feasible options work for you. In playing lottery with my child's life, I prefer a measured approach, is what I'm trying to say.

Same thing could happen I'm 6th, I.e. dissatisfaction with school requiring a change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in 5th, not pulling out but quietly applying to privates for 6th. Our Hill ES didn't work for 5th because none of our kid's pals were staying. We're concerned that most of the high SES families will go sooner or later, as at Latin (although we keep this to ourselves). I get the feeling that a good many high SES parents are biding their time while saving for privates. We're fine with what's happening now, but skeptical about the HS situation, so seems best to go before we open the door to a socially turbulent situation for our child. Another family will surely appreciate our spot next year; good luck to them.

Can other BASIS 5th and 6th grade parents confirm this? Are many BASIS families really preparing to pull their children out after a year or two (but keeping it to themselves)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in 5th, not pulling out but quietly applying to privates for 6th. Our Hill ES didn't work for 5th because none of our kid's pals were staying. We're concerned that most of the high SES families will go sooner or later, as at Latin (although we keep this to ourselves). I get the feeling that a good many high SES parents are biding their time while saving for privates. We're fine with what's happening now, but skeptical about the HS situation, so seems best to go before we open the door to a socially turbulent situation for our child. Another family will surely appreciate our spot next year; good luck to them.

Can other BASIS 5th and 6th grade parents confirm this? Are many BASIS families really preparing to pull their children out after a year or two (but keeping it to themselves)?

Not sure how you'd confirm this if folks are keeping it to themselves. As for us, we have a 5th grader and we are happy at BASIS. We are planning to be there for the long haul. The families we know seem to be relatively happy, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.

Do you really not hear how obnoxious that sounds? Do you really believe that parents of students who are struggling are supposed to give up and have low expectations for their children?

I am not a Basis parent, I don't have a dog in this fight. What I find amazing about these sorts of assertions, is the underlying assumption that families with children "less special" than your snowflake, are supposed to back-off, bow out, and/or give up, so that you can direct all the resources to your child. It's all their fault, for not agreeing with your worldview that your snowflake deserves extra-special treatment, at tax-payer expense.

No but many parents believe just putting their child in a rigorous school will suddenly make their child smarter/attentive/eager to learn and it doesn't work like that. If the basics are lacking, they will never get anywhere.

Then it's the responsibility of the school to allocate resources and use research based methods (hint: this doesn't mean retention which has been shown time and time again to not work) to address the lack of basics in the students they are serving.

DC law does not allow schools to refuse to serve kids because they are missing the basics. Basis knew that when they chose to come here. It also does not allow schools to fail to educate the kids sitting in their classrooms.

They aren't refusing anyone. In fact, they have been offering additional tutoring (i.e. STARS and I hear they are adding reading and math labs). They are going above and beyond where it comes to their responsibility. And beyond that, it would be IRRESPONSIBLE for schools to allow students to progress on without having mastered what is needed at each stage. Yes, I'm saying social promotion is irresponsible and THAT is the real failure to educate the kids sitting in DC classrooms that happens elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in 5th, not pulling out but quietly applying to privates for 6th. Our Hill ES didn't work for 5th because none of our kid's pals were staying. We're concerned that most of the high SES families will go sooner or later, as at Latin (although we keep this to ourselves). I get the feeling that a good many high SES parents are biding their time while saving for privates. We're fine with what's happening now, but skeptical about the HS situation, so seems best to go before we open the door to a socially turbulent situation for our child. Another family will surely appreciate our spot next year; good luck to them.

Can other BASIS 5th and 6th grade parents confirm this? Are many BASIS families really preparing to pull their children out after a year or two (but keeping it to themselves)?

No. We are thrilled with BASIS and are planning to keep DC there, and in talking to other parents we know, none are planning on pulling their children either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in 5th, not pulling out but quietly applying to privates for 6th. Our Hill ES didn't work for 5th because none of our kid's pals were staying. We're concerned that most of the high SES families will go sooner or later, as at Latin (although we keep this to ourselves). I get the feeling that a good many high SES parents are biding their time while saving for privates. We're fine with what's happening now, but skeptical about the HS situation, so seems best to go before we open the door to a socially turbulent situation for our child. Another family will surely appreciate our spot next year; good luck to them.

Can other BASIS 5th and 6th grade parents confirm this? Are many BASIS families really preparing to pull their children out after a year or two (but keeping it to themselves)?

Our DC is enjoying BASIS and learning more than ever, even after a year at Latin. Barring any seismic shifts, we plan to stay for another 6 years, even if DC's class shrinks to one or two dozen over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.

Do you really not hear how obnoxious that sounds? Do you really believe that parents of students who are struggling are supposed to give up and have low expectations for their children?

I am not a Basis parent, I don't have a dog in this fight. What I find amazing about these sorts of assertions, is the underlying assumption that families with children "less special" than your snowflake, are supposed to back-off, bow out, and/or give up, so that you can direct all the resources to your child. It's all their fault, for not agreeing with your worldview that your snowflake deserves extra-special treatment, at tax-payer expense.

No but many parents believe just putting their child in a rigorous school will suddenly make their child smarter/attentive/eager to learn and it doesn't work like that. If the basics are lacking, they will never get anywhere.

Then it's the responsibility of the school to allocate resources and use research based methods (hint: this doesn't mean retention which has been shown time and time again to not work) to address the lack of basics in the students they are serving.

DC law does not allow schools to refuse to serve kids because they are missing the basics. Basis knew that when they chose to come here. It also does not allow schools to fail to educate the kids sitting in their classrooms.

The DC charter law does allow charters to set reasonable academic and behavioral standards and to retain or dismiss those students who can't or don't meet them. The charter law simply does not mandate that charter middle schools redress the failings of public elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.

It's a pretty big assumption that the students leaving are slackers. If it's true that parents are pulling their kids from BASIS, then BASIS is not delivering on its promise to educate the underserved students of DC, which is clearly in their marketing materials as their mission.

[Anonymous]

It will be really interesting to see how many of the high SES parents actually stay to 12th grade. The only way to tell is to look at: a) the # and % of FARMS kids taking the DC-CAS year-on-year and, b) the # and % of white kids taking the DC-CAS year-on-year. By late next year, the first round of results broken down by race will have been made public. Will Basis' DC-CAS scores for 5th graders beat Latin's? Probably.

Latin has fewer white and Asian kids, and more FARMS kids, every year as you go up. Nearly half the 5th graders are high-SES (almost all white or Asian) but only around 5% of the 12th graders. It will also be interesting to see how many high SES families stick with Latin in the coming years. If their high school goes from around 15% white and Asian now to one-third within five years, I'll be surprised. The truth of the matter is that most high-SES Hill families won't send their kids to a high school that's majority AA, unless there's a school-within-a-school program/academy that isn't. I say this as an AA parent. We don't live in neighborhoods that are majority low-SES and don't want our kids in classes that are either. Go on, pitch another hissy fit arch liberal white boosters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.

It's a pretty big assumption that the students leaving are slackers. If it's true that parents are pulling their kids from BASIS, then BASIS is not delivering on its promise to educate the underserved students of DC, which is clearly in their marketing materials as their mission.

Whoa. How do you make that wild leap that BASIS isn't educating and is underserving? And particularly, how do you make the wild leap that students (and, as far as I know it's maybe as many as I can count on my fingers) even left for that reason? I know one family left because of an overseas assignment, and I know of at least one other case that had nothing to do with academics (it was about friends at the other school).

Underserving? Maybe your fifth-grader was ready for Calculus but BASIS would only go up to Algebra? Come on, now. "Under" is totally the wrong word here in every way. If anything, what they have been delivering goes well above and beyond what one could expect from most DC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.

Do you really not hear how obnoxious that sounds? Do you really believe that parents of students who are struggling are supposed to give up and have low expectations for their children?

I am not a Basis parent, I don't have a dog in this fight. What I find amazing about these sorts of assertions, is the underlying assumption that families with children "less special" than your snowflake, are supposed to back-off, bow out, and/or give up, so that you can direct all the resources to your child. It's all their fault, for not agreeing with your worldview that your snowflake deserves extra-special treatment, at tax-payer expense.

No but many parents believe just putting their child in a rigorous school will suddenly make their child smarter/attentive/eager to learn and it doesn't work like that. If the basics are lacking, they will never get anywhere.

Then it's the responsibility of the school to allocate resources and use research based methods (hint: this doesn't mean retention which has been shown time and time again to not work) to address the lack of basics in the students they are serving.

DC law does not allow schools to refuse to serve kids because they are missing the basics. Basis knew that when they chose to come here. It also does not allow schools to fail to educate the kids sitting in their classrooms.

I seriously do not appreciate the repeated use of the term "snowflake" on this forum, it has distinctly racist undertones, as though we are talking about some supposedly special and unique little WHITE child.

Your unfamiliarity with the etymology of the term doesn't mean the rest of us are racists. It means you're so busy being agitated that you can't be bothered to be educated. There's no color thing involved, and if you had even half a clue you'd know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in 5th, not pulling out but quietly applying to privates for 6th. Our Hill ES didn't work for 5th because none of our kid's pals were staying. We're concerned that most of the high SES families will go sooner or later, as at Latin (although we keep this to ourselves). I get the feeling that a good many high SES parents are biding their time while saving for privates. We're fine with what's happening now, but skeptical about the HS situation, so seems best to go before we open the door to a socially turbulent situation for our child. Another family will surely appreciate our spot next year; good luck to them.

Can other BASIS 5th and 6th grade parents confirm this? Are many BASIS families really preparing to pull their children out after a year or two (but keeping it to themselves)?

Of course. Are you new? Have you never met a parent in a DC public school? Anyone and everyone will tell whatever story serves them the best until they get the hell out. Also, the sun rises in the East. (Seems obvious to the rest of us, but might be news to you-without-a-clue.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.


It's a pretty big assumption that the students leaving are slackers. If it's true that parents are pulling their kids from BASIS, then BASIS is not delivering on its promise to educate the underserved students of DC, which is clearly in their marketing materials as their mission.


Whoa. How do you make that wild leap that BASIS isn't educating and is underserving? And particularly, how do you make the wild leap that students (and, as far as I know it's maybe as many as I can count on my fingers) even left for that reason? I know one family left because of an overseas assignment, and I know of at least one other case that had nothing to do with academics (it was about friends at the other school).

Underserving? Maybe your fifth-grader was ready for Calculus but BASIS would only go up to Algebra? Come on, now. "Under" is totally the wrong word here in every way. If anything, what they have been delivering goes well above and beyond what one could expect from most DC schools.

Dial back your drama and acquaint yourself with a dictionary. There is a difference between a school that serves an underserved population, and a school that is under serving its population.

I'll speak slowly for you.

The population of students in DC are underserved. The public school system has not met their education needs. BASIS is supposed to provide to high quality education to all students. Students in poverty. Students who are underserved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.


It's a pretty big assumption that the students leaving are slackers. If it's true that parents are pulling their kids from BASIS, then BASIS is not delivering on its promise to educate the underserved students of DC, which is clearly in their marketing materials as their mission.


Whoa. How do you make that wild leap that BASIS isn't educating and is underserving? And particularly, how do you make the wild leap that students (and, as far as I know it's maybe as many as I can count on my fingers) even left for that reason? I know one family left because of an overseas assignment, and I know of at least one other case that had nothing to do with academics (it was about friends at the other school).

Underserving? Maybe your fifth-grader was ready for Calculus but BASIS would only go up to Algebra? Come on, now. "Under" is totally the wrong word here in every way. If anything, what they have been delivering goes well above and beyond what one could expect from most DC schools.

Dial back your drama and acquaint yourself with a dictionary. There is a difference between a school that serves an underserved population, and a school that is under serving its population.

I'll speak slowly for you.

The population of students in DC are underserved. The public school system has not met their education needs. BASIS is supposed to provide to high quality education to all students. Students in poverty. Students who are underserved.

The population of bright, hard-working students in DC is underserved. BASIS is supposed to provide a high quality education to all bright, hard-working students. Some of these students live in poverty. Some come from middle class families. Some are high SES. All are underserved by DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't think it was necessarily for incoming students to be "advanced", but there is definitely an expectation of rigor, an expectation that the curriculum will be accelerated and will push hard on subjects like math and science, that there will not be social promotion, and accordingly that kids and parents will need to be committed, motivated and hard-working. It's not a school for slackers. If it was anyone's notion that they could just coast through BASIS as with a DCPS school, that was their own mistake.


It's a pretty big assumption that the students leaving are slackers. If it's true that parents are pulling their kids from BASIS, then BASIS is not delivering on its promise to educate the underserved students of DC, which is clearly in their marketing materials as their mission.


Whoa. How do you make that wild leap that BASIS isn't educating and is underserving? And particularly, how do you make the wild leap that students (and, as far as I know it's maybe as many as I can count on my fingers) even left for that reason? I know one family left because of an overseas assignment, and I know of at least one other case that had nothing to do with academics (it was about friends at the other school).

Underserving? Maybe your fifth-grader was ready for Calculus but BASIS would only go up to Algebra? Come on, now. "Under" is totally the wrong word here in every way. If anything, what they have been delivering goes well above and beyond what one could expect from most DC schools.

Dial back your drama and acquaint yourself with a dictionary. There is a difference between a school that serves an underserved population, and a school that is under serving its population.

I'll speak slowly for you.

The population of students in DC are underserved. The public school system has not met their education needs. BASIS is supposed to provide to high quality education to all students. Students in poverty. Students who are underserved.

The doors of BASIS are open to all regardless of SES. They offer an opportunity to any student who is willing to work hard and go the extra mile, regardless of SES. If anyone is underserving students it's many of the DCPS schools and other charters, as they let kids slip through the cracks without mastering the material via social promotion, they don't go the extra mile to work with them via programs like STARS summer tutoring sessions, and they don't offer as much robust course content. Schools are doing students a disservice by not challenging them and giving them a pass without ever having mastered the material or building the foundation for more advanced learning. That watered-down DCPS approach is precisely how poverty is perpetuated from generation to generation. BASIS on the other hand offers a chance for students to lift themselves OUT of poverty.