Basis Mclean or Flint Hill?

[Anonymous]

My two children went to BASIS for one year and I'm so grateful that we got out of that toxic environment last year. I feel bad for the great teachers who leave to get away from the toxicity. I am still in touch with one of them who left, but she ia now in another school and relieved to be out of there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vern Williams is leaving? He was the best teacher Basis had.

I can't understand why some people seem to think this. As a Basis parent, I say good riddance. His lack of social skills and arrogance made my child miserable. Much better exercises with Ms. Baljee and Mr. Calhoun.
There are plenty of very good teachers at the school and the ones that are coming will be ok. It's going to be ok Karen, relax.

Whether you liked him or not you can not deny that he was a big draw for the school. Losing him will have implications. Parents are looking for much more than okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Other schools have jammed waiting lists and parents desperate to get in.

BIM is still recruiting for the fall, LOL.

https://info.basisindependent.com/basis-independent-mclean-information-session-virtual-hs-at-bim-06.05.2021?_ga=2.178771620.101836382.1621258824-142125170.1594228006&utm_campaign=MCL&utm_content=167188548&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-3327773080

LOL. There’s a quote on there from one of the best teachers who is leaving.

Vern Williams is leaving? Who else?

Where is he going?

Nysmith. Big slap for BIM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Other schools have jammed waiting lists and parents desperate to get in.

BIM is still recruiting for the fall, LOL.

https://info.basisindependent.com/basis-independent-mclean-information-session-virtual-hs-at-bim-06.05.2021?_ga=2.178771620.101836382.1621258824-142125170.1594228006&utm_campaign=MCL&utm_content=167188548&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-3327773080

LOL. There’s a quote on there from one of the best teachers who is leaving.

Vern Williams is leaving? Who else?

Where is he going?

Nysmith. Big slap for BIM.

Can confirm. Huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither is worth the money. Basis LS parents think their kids are prodigies (they aren’t) and the kids even as young as K are very competitive with each other. Flint Hill is a country club atmosphere. These are not good choices, keep looking or go with FCPS.

Even many FCPS parents in McLean insists on a country club atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vern Williams is leaving? He was the best teacher Basis had.

I can't understand why some people seem to think this. As a Basis parent, I say good riddance. His lack of social skills and arrogance made my child miserable. Much better exercises with Ms. Baljee and Mr. Calhoun.
There are plenty of very good teachers at the school and the ones that are coming will be ok. It's going to be ok Karen, relax.

Whether you liked him or not you can not deny that he was a big draw for the school. Losing him will have implications. Parents are looking for much more than okay.

Ms. Baljee and Mr. Calhoun are excellent teachers - as are Mr. Loomis and Dr. Grove in the high school space. But there were a lot of families who sent their kids to BIM for many years specifically to have their kids taught by Vern, either in the classroom or in competitions.

It is a huge loss - if nothing else for attracting new families. His reputation is enormous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Well, that is literally a first to announce a number. They will get back to where they were in 2019-2020 roughly (more like mid-300s this year), still far from their original plan and break-even point to stop the red ink, but it looks like management is willing to run up more deficits in hopes of one day getting there.

If they could get through one year without major chaos, it would be a big step up. Remains to be seen.

They could get a boost from VMPI. LCPS is implementing a few years ahead of schedule, including eliminate acceleration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vern Williams is leaving? He was the best teacher Basis had.

He is leaving for a competing school, but it has not been officially announced yet. It should be soon.

Hard to imagine Vern wanting to change schools again at his age, so one can only conclude that he had some intractable issues with the management. What a loss for BIM.

The note he sent out was interesting. Reading between the lines I would have to guess he was done with the admin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vern Williams is leaving? He was the best teacher Basis had.

He is leaving for a competing school, but it has not been officially announced yet. It should be soon.

Hard to imagine Vern wanting to change schools again at his age, so one can only conclude that he had some intractable issues with the management. What a loss for BIM.

The note he sent out was interesting. Reading between the lines I would have to guess he was done with the admin.

A teacher over 70 with a distinguished career is only teaching because he still loves it. He won't move to a new school after five years somewhere looking for a better career opportunity. He would be leaving a bad situation.

[Anonymous]

Mr Williams is very distinguished and not to take anything from his accomplishments, but many students do not like him at all in comparison to other teachers at the school. He is far from engaging according to what I’ve heard from my daughter and many of her classmates, as well as other parents. Again, not to take away from his accomplishments and I wish him the best wherever he goes, but he is not the best teacher at the school has by far. Perhaps the most ‘known’ for working with a previous administration, but not at all the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mr Williams is very distinguished and not to take anything from his accomplishments, but many students do not like him at all in comparison to other teachers at the school. He is far from engaging according to what I’ve heard from my daughter and many of her classmates, as well as other parents. Again, not to take away from his accomplishments and I wish him the best wherever he goes, but he is not the best teacher at the school has by far. Perhaps the most ‘known’ for working with a previous administration, but not at all the best.

Whatever the pros and cons of Williams, a school that loses a senior anchor in a major field is struggling. He had no reason to leave at his age except getting fed up with the management antics at BIM.

No doubt he can be replaced with someone younger and cheaper to cut the red ink down a bit more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mr Williams is very distinguished and not to take anything from his accomplishments, but many students do not like him at all in comparison to other teachers at the school. He is far from engaging according to what I’ve heard from my daughter and many of her classmates, as well as other parents. Again, not to take away from his accomplishments and I wish him the best wherever he goes, but he is not the best teacher at the school has by far. Perhaps the most ‘known’ for working with a previous administration, but not at all the best.

What a very sad pattern for the deniers. Those hundreds of kids that left, they just weren’t smart enough. The administrators, let’s not talk about them, this next HoS is here to stay (don’t worry that he’s #7 in 5 years). The teachers that go, even one that probably directly attracted a good number of students, not the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mr Williams is very distinguished and not to take anything from his accomplishments, but many students do not like him at all in comparison to other teachers at the school. He is far from engaging according to what I’ve heard from my daughter and many of her classmates, as well as other parents. Again, not to take away from his accomplishments and I wish him the best wherever he goes, but he is not the best teacher at the school has by far. Perhaps the most ‘known’ for working with a previous administration, but not at all the best.

What a very sad pattern for the deniers. Those hundreds of kids that left, they just weren’t smart enough. The administrators, let’s not talk about them, this next HoS is here to stay (don’t worry that he’s #7 in 5 years). The teachers that go, even one that probably directly attracted a good number of students, not the best.

I am a big fan of BIM in general (I think the outstanding faculty and curriculum trumps the admin issues), but there is no denying that this is an enormous blow for the school. Especially to lose him to a key rival school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mr Williams is very distinguished and not to take anything from his accomplishments, but many students do not like him at all in comparison to other teachers at the school. He is far from engaging according to what I’ve heard from my daughter and many of her classmates, as well as other parents. Again, not to take away from his accomplishments and I wish him the best wherever he goes, but he is not the best teacher at the school has by far. Perhaps the most ‘known’ for working with a previous administration, but not at all the best.

What a very sad pattern for the deniers. Those hundreds of kids that left, they just weren’t smart enough. The administrators, let’s not talk about them, this next HoS is here to stay (don’t worry that he’s #7 in 5 years). The teachers that go, even one that probably directly attracted a good number of students, not the best.

Deniers? That's hilarious... someone has s different perspective than you so they must be deniers. Kids have left (fact), The administration has had turnover (fact). Teachers have left (fact). Many others will leave and new ones will come. Fact and fact because people move, decide to change jobs, have disagreements, get sick, find better opportunities elsewhere. It happens.
Based on my experience as I see my kids and their friends, the kids that stayed are happy, learning, having great experiences, and hardly aware of the changes. If you came to this school just because of this one math teacher or were planning to come just because of him, the school is not the place for you, go to Nysmith. If you base your decisions on comments posted in an anonymous forum, go somewhere else ( good luck finding a school without negative comments here).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mr Williams is very distinguished and not to take anything from his accomplishments, but many students do not like him at all in comparison to other teachers at the school. He is far from engaging according to what I’ve heard from my daughter and many of her classmates, as well as other parents. Again, not to take away from his accomplishments and I wish him the best wherever he goes, but he is not the best teacher at the school has by far. Perhaps the most ‘known’ for working with a previous administration, but not at all the best.

What a very sad pattern for the deniers. Those hundreds of kids that left, they just weren’t smart enough. The administrators, let’s not talk about them, this next HoS is here to stay (don’t worry that he’s #7 in 5 years). The teachers that go, even one that probably directly attracted a good number of students, not the best.

Deniers? That's hilarious... someone has s different perspective than you so they must be deniers. Kids have left (fact), The administration has had turnover (fact). Teachers have left (fact). Many others will leave and new ones will come. Fact and fact because people move, decide to change jobs, have disagreements, get sick, find better opportunities elsewhere. It happens.
Based on my experience as I see my kids and their friends, the kids that stayed are happy, learning, having great experiences, and hardly aware of the changes. If you came to this school just because of this one math teacher or were planning to come just because of him, the school is not the place for you, go to Nysmith. If you base your decisions on comments posted in an anonymous forum, go somewhere else ( good luck finding a school without negative comments here).

A huge proportion of kids who started five years ago have left.

The administration and ownership have turned over multiple times in those five years.

Many good teachers and administrators have left or been laid off due to budget shortfalls.

If your answer to all of the above is to jam your hands over your ears and chant ignorance is bliss over and over, that's not exactly grappling with the facts.

BIM is fine for some kids, but anyone contemplating a commitment there needs to look at the full picture.

But hey, the next HOS is bound to turn things around, right? That's the school motto now.