BASIS launching private school in McLean
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Anonymous
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Is BASIS worth $25K a year? It launches early PreK through 10th grade. Are kids in DC getting a $25K education for free?
I'm just a DC parent looking ahead to middle school, no plans to move to McLean but this seems relevant to DC to me. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/basis-a-top-charter-network-launching-private-school-in-virginia/2015/06/23/4a5b1aa6-1917-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |
Anonymous
| Wow, and we are getting it free. |
Anonymous
The schools in Fairfax, particularly in a wealthy area like McLean, are awesome! Families in Fairfax do not clamor for private schools, so I don't know how successful basis will be or how long it will last. While there are a few private schools in the Fairfax area, most kids go to the public schools- from K-HS. |
Anonymous
| Middle school at BASIS independent in McLean would certainly prepare you for high school at TJ! I hear the building is massive-like 5x the size of the one in Penn Quarter. |
Anonymous
| What the Blocks don't seem to understand is that at the more expensive privates in the area, the fields, facilities and class size ar far superior to heir independent schools, and if money is the reason DC-metro area parents would choose Basis over a school like Maret or Sidwell, those same parents would be able to receive financial aid to make up the difference, whereas at Basis, there is no aid. Also, TJ has a lot more to offer than Basis as far as facilities and opportunities. That said, I really hope they are successful, and they are incredibly lucky to get Sean Aiken as their HOS-he is incredible. |
Anonymous
| The comments re the article on the Independent Schools board are interesting |
Anonymous
Fairfax's public middle schools have been doing an awesome job of preparing their kids for TJ for yeeeaaars. |
Anonymous
| Yes but not everyone in FCPS are 1 or more grade levels ahead in math and taking full separate courses in Bio. Chem and Physics each year starting in 6th grade. |
Anonymous
So what? They still get into TJ. |
Anonymous
Getting into tj and being prepared for it are two different things. Besides, if you look at all the Korean "goose families" there, it is pretty clear that Seoul, not Fairfax is who is preparing/getting kids into TJ, not Fairfax... |
Anonymous
One would have to be prepared in order to get into it. I just dont think Basis will be this great game changer. It's really not needed in the area. |
Anonymous
I'll bite. What's a goose family |
Anonymous
Families whose moms and kids move from Korea to other countries to enroll their kids in challenging schools (HS and college) while dad stays in Korea. Here is the first article I found explaining it, but there is a lot of info out there, and there are a lot of Korean goose families at TJ: https://globalprosperity.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/the-korean-goose-family-phenomena-educational-migrants/ |
Anonymous
Just read the interesting article on goose families. There's nothing to suggest Korean families are flooding TJ. The article is clear that those families are sending their children to boarding schools abroad in several countries-the US being just one. There's no mention of the highly esteemed TJ being a target of those families. |
Anonymous
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There is apparently a page on the Korean Embassy website about TJ and its admissions policies, written in Korean. Asian students have outnumbered Caucasian students at TJ for many years now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/as-thomas-jefferson-adds-help-for-poor-english-skills-some-va-parents-fume/2011/03/10/ABK7qVx_story.html |