Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is taking around 25% of 6th grade applicants for French, 30% for Chinese and 0% for Spanish.

Meanwhile, BASIS takes around half of applicants for 5th grade. If you strike out at BASIS, or don't like BASIS and don't try, your odds of cracking DCI during the next lottery cycle simply aren't good.

Yes odds are lower but better than nothing.

If you get in Basis, take it and then do lottery for 6th. You don’t win if you don’t play.

OMG, don't do this unless your kid really wants to go to BASIS and knows what they are getting themselves into. And I say this as the parent of a happy BASIS student. When it's a bad fit, it's miserable. Save the spot for someone who will stay.

In our experience, BASIS isn't miserable for 5th graders. Very few of the kids mind 5th grade. Where it becomes miserable for some is 6th grade, and for even more in 7th. And even some of the "good fit" kids who really want to go (good at math, diligent, consistently prepared to work hard) wind up disliking or hating the program. No family has any sort of obligation to "save the spot" for somebody who will stay. Who knows who will stay. I really thought that my v. industrious and focused eldest would. No.

Seriously, no one owes Basis anything. Do what is best for your child. Use 5th as a springboard at Basis if you want to try it out and then move on to better options if needed.

Ok. I guess that will keep happening.

But I have known a handful of kids who I'm 100 percent sure should have been happy, excellent BASIS students (bc we are there, I have one, and know the kids who also actually appreciate being taught something real, held to high standards, and for whom it's not an overwhelming amount of work) who were shut out of the lottery, and I see kids who are struggling and will not last, and it's painful. When a very high aptitude kids get a bad lottery score and live EOTP, the options are grim.

Yeah I have a bright EOTP kid who was shut out of BASIS and know other kids in the same position. And then there are the kids who did get in and probably aren’t good fits but their parents see no other good options. I don’t begrudge them sending their kid to BASIS and seeing how it goes. We would have done the same. Even though we thought our kid could handle it, we weren’t sold on it as a great fit overall bc of the ECs and other issues discussed above. I don’t have any problem with a parent taking the seat and reevaluating after a year. Those are the cards we have all been dealt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is taking around 25% of 6th grade applicants for French, 30% for Chinese and 0% for Spanish.

Meanwhile, BASIS takes around half of applicants for 5th grade. If you strike out at BASIS, or don't like BASIS and don't try, your odds of cracking DCI during the next lottery cycle simply aren't good.

Yes odds are lower but better than nothing.

If you get in Basis, take it and then do lottery for 6th. You don’t win if you don’t play.

OMG, don't do this unless your kid really wants to go to BASIS and knows what they are getting themselves into. And I say this as the parent of a happy BASIS student. When it's a bad fit, it's miserable. Save the spot for someone who will stay.

In our experience, BASIS isn't miserable for 5th graders. Very few of the kids mind 5th grade. Where it becomes miserable for some is 6th grade, and for even more in 7th. And even some of the "good fit" kids who really want to go (good at math, diligent, consistently prepared to work hard) wind up disliking or hating the program. No family has any sort of obligation to "save the spot" for somebody who will stay. Who knows who will stay. I really thought that my v. industrious and focused eldest would. No.

Seriously, no one owes Basis anything. Do what is best for your child. Use 5th as a springboard at Basis if you want to try it out and then move on to better options if needed.

Ok. I guess that will keep happening.

But I have known a handful of kids who I'm 100 percent sure should have been happy, excellent BASIS students (bc we are there, I have one, and know the kids who also actually appreciate being taught something real, held to high standards, and for whom it's not an overwhelming amount of work) who were shut out of the lottery, and I see kids who are struggling and will not last, and it's painful. When a very high aptitude kids get a bad lottery score and live EOTP, the options are grim.

Yeah I have a bright EOTP kid who was shut out of BASIS and know other kids in the same position. And then there are the kids who did get in and probably aren’t good fits but their parents see no other good options. I don’t begrudge them sending their kid to BASIS and seeing how it goes. We would have done the same. Even though we thought our kid could handle it, we weren’t sold on it as a great fit overall bc of the ECs and other issues discussed above. I don’t have any problem with a parent taking the seat and reevaluating after a year. Those are the cards we have all been dealt.

Disagree.

If your kid is not a good fit for BASIS, don’t enroll him or her.

The model only really works for academically motivated kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know families who bailed from BASIS after 5th grade for DMV privates, the burbs, Stuart Hobson in-boundary or schools outside the Metro area. Not an unusual choice to leave after 5th.

That isn't what DC school data show.

Only a relatively small number leave after 5th. More leave after 6th, 7th, and 8th (most leaving after 8th go to Walls or private). From SY 19-20 to SY 23-24, no one went from BASIS DC to Stuart Hobson right after 5th grade.

Almost no one leaves in high school.

The fact is that a lot of kids should never enroll, and those are the ones that wash out. Other kids simply leave for greener pastures (for example, Big 3, the burbs, Walls, or they leave the area).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is taking around 25% of 6th grade applicants for French, 30% for Chinese and 0% for Spanish.

Meanwhile, BASIS takes around half of applicants for 5th grade. If you strike out at BASIS, or don't like BASIS and don't try, your odds of cracking DCI during the next lottery cycle simply aren't good.

Yes odds are lower but better than nothing.

If you get in Basis, take it and then do lottery for 6th. You don’t win if you don’t play.

OMG, don't do this unless your kid really wants to go to BASIS and knows what they are getting themselves into. And I say this as the parent of a happy BASIS student. When it's a bad fit, it's miserable. Save the spot for someone who will stay.

In our experience, BASIS isn't miserable for 5th graders. Very few of the kids mind 5th grade. Where it becomes miserable for some is 6th grade, and for even more in 7th. And even some of the "good fit" kids who really want to go (good at math, diligent, consistently prepared to work hard) wind up disliking or hating the program. No family has any sort of obligation to "save the spot" for somebody who will stay. Who knows who will stay. I really thought that my v. industrious and focused eldest would. No.

Seriously, no one owes Basis anything. Do what is best for your child. Use 5th as a springboard at Basis if you want to try it out and then move on to better options if needed.

Ok. I guess that will keep happening.

But I have known a handful of kids who I'm 100 percent sure should have been happy, excellent BASIS students (bc we are there, I have one, and know the kids who also actually appreciate being taught something real, held to high standards, and for whom it's not an overwhelming amount of work) who were shut out of the lottery, and I see kids who are struggling and will not last, and it's painful. When a very high aptitude kids get a bad lottery score and live EOTP, the options are grim.

This is unfortunate but it's not the fault of families. They don't have food choices. "Try DCI" isn't even. A choice for most families because if you aren't in a DCI feeder by 2nd grade, it is ridiculous to move to one (I'm sorry it is, the idea of moving to an immersion school in 3rd or later if you have not already been in immersion is silly and the fact that this is seem as a reasonable suggestion just to gain access to the DCI feed tells you everything you need to know about DC public schools). Going to DCI with no language background at all makes even less sense.

So if you don't think BASIS will be a good fit but your kid needs academic challenge and you know they would benefit from a strong peer group (without disruptive kids who have zero interest in academics) you're SOL. In which case, trying BASIS just in case it might work isn't the worst option. It may be the least bad if several bad options, who ch include: giving up, moving, or paying for a private school you may or may not be able to afford.

Yes your chances are much higher getting into DCI if you are from a feeder. I also agree that it would be a disaster to try to get into a feeder in the upper grades with no language background.

But you are incorrect that getting into DCI with no language background doesn’t make sense. They do have spots for non-feeder kids in certain language tracks. Yes, your high performing kid will start beginner language and not be in that highest track. But it won’t mean it will not be challenging to learn another language with DCI high standards. Some kids really pick up languages easily and can move up levels in a few years. It is fluid. You can get to proficiency taking a language from 6-12th.

It also doesn’t mean they will not be in a higher track for other subjects. DCI tests kids in languages, math, ELA, and science and uses those standardized scores to best place a kid.

Lastly, although IB curriculum is humanities focused and requires lots of writing, the school is also good in STEM. Highest track math is AP Cal in 10th, good science teachers, fantastic robotics team and amazing robotics lab. If you don’t want to do the IB diploma, there is also the computer science and engineering track in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know families who bailed from BASIS after 5th grade for DMV privates, the burbs, Stuart Hobson in-boundary or schools outside the Metro area. Not an unusual choice to leave after 5th.

That isn't what DC school data show.

Only a relatively small number leave after 5th. More leave after 6th, 7th, and 8th (most leaving after 8th go to Walls or private). From SY 19-20 to SY 23-24, no one went from BASIS DC to Stuart Hobson right after 5th grade.

Almost no one leaves in high school.

The fact is that a lot of kids should never enroll, and those are the ones that wash out. Other kids simply leave for greener pastures (for example, Big 3, the burbs, Walls, or they leave the area).

This is 100% untrue. Something is weird with the data if that's what it shows, because I personally know someone who did that the year before last. And there's a current 8th grader who bailed back to their old ES halfway through 5th grade and then went to SH, but I'm not sure how that shows up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is taking around 25% of 6th grade applicants for French, 30% for Chinese and 0% for Spanish.

Meanwhile, BASIS takes around half of applicants for 5th grade. If you strike out at BASIS, or don't like BASIS and don't try, your odds of cracking DCI during the next lottery cycle simply aren't good.

Yes odds are lower but better than nothing.

If you get in Basis, take it and then do lottery for 6th. You don’t win if you don’t play.

OMG, don't do this unless your kid really wants to go to BASIS and knows what they are getting themselves into. And I say this as the parent of a happy BASIS student. When it's a bad fit, it's miserable. Save the spot for someone who will stay.

In our experience, BASIS isn't miserable for 5th graders. Very few of the kids mind 5th grade. Where it becomes miserable for some is 6th grade, and for even more in 7th. And even some of the "good fit" kids who really want to go (good at math, diligent, consistently prepared to work hard) wind up disliking or hating the program. No family has any sort of obligation to "save the spot" for somebody who will stay. Who knows who will stay. I really thought that my v. industrious and focused eldest would. No.

Seriously, no one owes Basis anything. Do what is best for your child. Use 5th as a springboard at Basis if you want to try it out and then move on to better options if needed.

Ok. I guess that will keep happening.

But I have known a handful of kids who I'm 100 percent sure should have been happy, excellent BASIS students (bc we are there, I have one, and know the kids who also actually appreciate being taught something real, held to high standards, and for whom it's not an overwhelming amount of work) who were shut out of the lottery, and I see kids who are struggling and will not last, and it's painful. When a very high aptitude kids get a bad lottery score and live EOTP, the options are grim.

Yeah I have a bright EOTP kid who was shut out of BASIS and know other kids in the same position. And then there are the kids who did get in and probably aren’t good fits but their parents see no other good options. I don’t begrudge them sending their kid to BASIS and seeing how it goes. We would have done the same. Even though we thought our kid could handle it, we weren’t sold on it as a great fit overall bc of the ECs and other issues discussed above. I don’t have any problem with a parent taking the seat and reevaluating after a year. Those are the cards we have all been dealt.

Disagree.

If your kid is not a good fit for BASIS, don’t enroll him or her.

The model only really works for academically motivated kids.

Not exactly. I know a number of “academically motivated” kids for whom BASIS ended up not being a good fit. They didn’t like it for various reasons. For some, it exacerbated perfectionist tendencies. For others, they needed broader options for electives, clubs, ECs. All kids who I understand to have done well before and during BASIS and went there assuming they’d stay. People assume if your kid is a good student it will work there and that’s just not the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know families who bailed from BASIS after 5th grade for DMV privates, the burbs, Stuart Hobson in-boundary or schools outside the Metro area. Not an unusual choice to leave after 5th.

That isn't what DC school data show.

Only a relatively small number leave after 5th. More leave after 6th, 7th, and 8th (most leaving after 8th go to Walls or private). From SY 19-20 to SY 23-24, no one went from BASIS DC to Stuart Hobson right after 5th grade.

Almost no one leaves in high school.

The fact is that a lot of kids should never enroll, and those are the ones that wash out. Other kids simply leave for greener pastures (for example, Big 3, the burbs, Walls, or they leave the area).

This is 100% untrue. Something is weird with the data if that's what it shows, because I personally know someone who did that the year before last. And there's a current 8th grader who bailed back to their old ES halfway through 5th grade and then went to SH, but I'm not sure how that shows up.

Interesting. Well, it didn't happen last year -- the 5th grade class only lost a handful of students. I know this because my child is in that class.

I get the sense that every class gets a little better at attracting the right kids. Maybe thanks to this forum, who knows.

The pace of studying/HW picks up a LOT in 6th. So we'll see what happens this year, there are plenty of kids struggling who were fine last year.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP that recently, fewer students have been leaving BASIS right after 5th grade. (My child's class size at BASIS went from 134 students in 5th grade to 130 in 6th grade. They're in 7th grade now. I'm not sure what their final class size ended up being in 7th, but I don't think there has been a large drop in class size from 6th to 7th.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP that recently, fewer students have been leaving BASIS right after 5th grade. (My child's class size at BASIS went from 134 students in 5th grade to 130 in 6th grade. They're in 7th grade now. I'm not sure what their final class size ended up being in 7th, but I don't think there has been a large drop in class size from 6th to 7th.)

Here's what student cohort attrition has looked like over time, from 5th grade to SY24-25 grade.

SY19-20 5th grade class: 141 > 128 > 100 > 87 > 60 > 58
SY20-21 5th grade class: 135 > 115 > 91 > 79 > 57
SY21-22 5th grade class: 129 > 119 > 110 > 94
SY22-23 5th grade class: 133 > 119 > 102
SY23-24 5th grade class: 134 > 129

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is taking around 25% of 6th grade applicants for French, 30% for Chinese and 0% for Spanish.

Meanwhile, BASIS takes around half of applicants for 5th grade. If you strike out at BASIS, or don't like BASIS and don't try, your odds of cracking DCI during the next lottery cycle simply aren't good.

Yes odds are lower but better than nothing.

If you get in Basis, take it and then do lottery for 6th. You don’t win if you don’t play.

OMG, don't do this unless your kid really wants to go to BASIS and knows what they are getting themselves into. And I say this as the parent of a happy BASIS student. When it's a bad fit, it's miserable. Save the spot for someone who will stay.

In our experience, BASIS isn't miserable for 5th graders. Very few of the kids mind 5th grade. Where it becomes miserable for some is 6th grade, and for even more in 7th. And even some of the "good fit" kids who really want to go (good at math, diligent, consistently prepared to work hard) wind up disliking or hating the program. No family has any sort of obligation to "save the spot" for somebody who will stay. Who knows who will stay. I really thought that my v. industrious and focused eldest would. No.

Seriously, no one owes Basis anything. Do what is best for your child. Use 5th as a springboard at Basis if you want to try it out and then move on to better options if needed.

Ok. I guess that will keep happening.

But I have known a handful of kids who I'm 100 percent sure should have been happy, excellent BASIS students (bc we are there, I have one, and know the kids who also actually appreciate being taught something real, held to high standards, and for whom it's not an overwhelming amount of work) who were shut out of the lottery, and I see kids who are struggling and will not last, and it's painful. When a very high aptitude kids get a bad lottery score and live EOTP, the options are grim.

Yeah I have a bright EOTP kid who was shut out of BASIS and know other kids in the same position. And then there are the kids who did get in and probably aren’t good fits but their parents see no other good options. I don’t begrudge them sending their kid to BASIS and seeing how it goes. We would have done the same. Even though we thought our kid could handle it, we weren’t sold on it as a great fit overall bc of the ECs and other issues discussed above. I don’t have any problem with a parent taking the seat and reevaluating after a year. Those are the cards we have all been dealt.

Disagree.

If your kid is not a good fit for BASIS, don’t enroll him or her.

The model only really works for academically motivated kids.

Not exactly. I know a number of “academically motivated” kids for whom BASIS ended up not being a good fit. They didn’t like it for various reasons. For some, it exacerbated perfectionist tendencies. For others, they needed broader options for electives, clubs, ECs. All kids who I understand to have done well before and during BASIS and went there assuming they’d stay. People assume if your kid is a good student it will work there and that’s just not the case.

What? Pp said it only works for academically motivated kids. He did NOT say it works for all academically motivated kids. So many people on this thread don’t understand the difference, which is a good indicator that the family won’t be a good fit for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is taking around 25% of 6th grade applicants for French, 30% for Chinese and 0% for Spanish.

Meanwhile, BASIS takes around half of applicants for 5th grade. If you strike out at BASIS, or don't like BASIS and don't try, your odds of cracking DCI during the next lottery cycle simply aren't good.

Yes odds are lower but better than nothing.

If you get in Basis, take it and then do lottery for 6th. You don’t win if you don’t play.

OMG, don't do this unless your kid really wants to go to BASIS and knows what they are getting themselves into. And I say this as the parent of a happy BASIS student. When it's a bad fit, it's miserable. Save the spot for someone who will stay.

In our experience, BASIS isn't miserable for 5th graders. Very few of the kids mind 5th grade. Where it becomes miserable for some is 6th grade, and for even more in 7th. And even some of the "good fit" kids who really want to go (good at math, diligent, consistently prepared to work hard) wind up disliking or hating the program. No family has any sort of obligation to "save the spot" for somebody who will stay. Who knows who will stay. I really thought that my v. industrious and focused eldest would. No.

Seriously, no one owes Basis anything. Do what is best for your child. Use 5th as a springboard at Basis if you want to try it out and then move on to better options if needed.

Ok. I guess that will keep happening.

But I have known a handful of kids who I'm 100 percent sure should have been happy, excellent BASIS students (bc we are there, I have one, and know the kids who also actually appreciate being taught something real, held to high standards, and for whom it's not an overwhelming amount of work) who were shut out of the lottery, and I see kids who are struggling and will not last, and it's painful. When a very high aptitude kids get a bad lottery score and live EOTP, the options are grim.

Yeah I have a bright EOTP kid who was shut out of BASIS and know other kids in the same position. And then there are the kids who did get in and probably aren’t good fits but their parents see no other good options. I don’t begrudge them sending their kid to BASIS and seeing how it goes. We would have done the same. Even though we thought our kid could handle it, we weren’t sold on it as a great fit overall bc of the ECs and other issues discussed above. I don’t have any problem with a parent taking the seat and reevaluating after a year. Those are the cards we have all been dealt.

Disagree.

If your kid is not a good fit for BASIS, don’t enroll him or her.

The model only really works for academically motivated kids.

Not exactly. I know a number of “academically motivated” kids for whom BASIS ended up not being a good fit. They didn’t like it for various reasons. For some, it exacerbated perfectionist tendencies. For others, they needed broader options for electives, clubs, ECs. All kids who I understand to have done well before and during BASIS and went there assuming they’d stay. People assume if your kid is a good student it will work there and that’s just not the case.

What? Pp said it only works for academically motivated kids. He did NOT say it works for all academically motivated kids. So many people on this thread don’t understand the difference, which is a good indicator that the family won’t be a good fit for the school.

Why don't you explain the distinction then, if it's so obvious? And you have shifted from talking about the kid to whether the "family" is a good fit. It seems like you are moving the goalposts.

[Anonymous]

141 5th graders to 58 11th graders?

For a public school?

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:141 5th graders to 58 11th graders?

For a public school?

Wow.

So, is the idea that BasisDC only gets credit for those who stay through graduation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:141 5th graders to 58 11th graders?

For a public school?

Wow.

How many of the 6th graders who start at Deal end up graduating from JR? How many of the 6th graders who start at Stuart Hobson end up graduating from Eastern?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:141 5th graders to 58 11th graders?

For a public school?

Wow.

Give me a break. Ballou loses two thirds of its students between 9th and 12th grade. Roosevelt High School's senior class is 60 percent smaller than its freshman class. Dunbar loses more than half its students. And 60 percent of ALL high school students in DC are chronically absent. Y'all just looking for reasons to complain about BASIS.