How to help child succeed at BASIS

[Anonymous]

I went to Hunter too and my favorite thing about the “Hunter College” poster is how they always call it Hunter College. I have literally never met another alum who calls it that, because that’s what we called the actual Hunter College (i.e., college that is part of the CUNY system that our administrators technically worked for) where we had some gym classes. Anyway, it always makes her posts every easy to spot and I’ve always wanted to ask her if her HS friends actually called it that and, if so, when she attended.

Also, Hunter’s building is awful. There are very few windows and the ones that there are are shaped like arrow slits. When a refrigeration unit malfunctioned on the top floor and squids for dissection went bad, they had to close the school for multiple days because the ventilation is so bad they couldn’t get rid of the smell. Also, teachers at one point sued over failed air quality tests being covered up. Finally, while I had a fabulous experience at Hunter, and it definitely encouraged independent thought, the GO (our student government) was totally window dressing… just like it is at almost every HS. Lots of kids ran largely for access to the GO office that everyone used for hook ups and it was basically a popularity contest for quasi-gunner types. Chris Hayes was student body President while I was there, so that’s kind of fun in retrospect. Anyway, I’m happy BASIS exists and hope my kids manage to lottery in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Hunter too and my favorite thing about the “Hunter College” poster is how they always call it Hunter College. I have literally never met another alum who calls it that, because that’s what we called the actual Hunter College (i.e., college that is part of the CUNY system that our administrators technically worked for) where we had some gym classes. Anyway, it always makes her posts every easy to spot and I’ve always wanted to ask her if her HS friends actually called it that and, if so, when she attended.

Also, Hunter’s building is awful. There are very few windows and the ones that there are are shaped like arrow slits. When a refrigeration unit malfunctioned on the top floor and squids for dissection went bad, they had to close the school for multiple days because the ventilation is so bad they couldn’t get rid of the smell. Also, teachers at one point sued over failed air quality tests being covered up. Finally, while I had a fabulous experience at Hunter, and it definitely encouraged independent thought, the GO (our student government) was totally window dressing… just like it is at almost every HS. Lots of kids ran largely for access to the GO office that everyone used for hook ups and it was basically a popularity contest for quasi-gunner types. Chris Hayes was student body President while I was there, so that’s kind of fun in retrospect. Anyway, I’m happy BASIS exists and hope my kids manage to lottery in.

This is amazing.

[Anonymous]

Checked with my spouse, bona fide Hunter grad (not alleged one you've referred to).

Actual name of the school is "Hunter Science High School," senior school of the 2 "Hunter College Campus Schools." He reports that NEW YORKERS simply say "Hunter." However, if they're referring to one of the schools in a conversation with people not necessarily familiar with them, they may go with "Hunter College high school."

I've toured the Hunter building + the BASIS DC building. The former isn't good, but a vast improvement over the latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Practically how much time do middle-schoolers spend outside of the BASIS building in a school week?
They have access to great public libraries and the mall and other spaces nearby. Would you say MSers will have some outside time or other-building time most days in an average week, or two days week at minimum?

In good weather, they go to the Mall almost everyday. In colder weather, not so often. These past few years were weird because of Covid and all the unknowns, plus all the staff/kid absences because of quarantines— that made it harder to organize outside events. I’d see how things are next year.

As for library time— IME, they aren’t regularly going to the MLK library during the school day. Their schedules are pretty tight, and they are busy at school all day. That being said, there’s nothing stopping them from going to the library after school/extra-curriculars. Thinking back to my own public middle school experience, I don’t remember visiting the school library during the day unless a class was scheduled in there, which was very rare.

The most trying aspect of the BASIS building is that there isn't a quiet, light filled space for kids to read, study and work within the building. A full fledged library doesn't seem necessary, but a book filled room with at least a PT librarian would count for a lot. We do want better facilities and will go private for high school if we can swing it financially.

I mean, it would be nice if we could all attend Hogwarts, but we can’t, so I’m going to settle for the school that will teach my kid some math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Checked with my spouse, bona fide Hunter grad (not alleged one you've referred to).

Actual name of the school is "Hunter Science High School," senior school of the 2 "Hunter College Campus Schools." He reports that NEW YORKERS simply say "Hunter." However, if they're referring to one of the schools in a conversation with people not necessarily familiar with them, they may go with "Hunter College high school."

I've toured the Hunter building + the BASIS DC building. The former isn't good, but a vast improvement over the latter.

Manhattan / Hunter Science High School is a different school than the one others are talking about. It’s on Amsterdam vs Park Ave. the Hunter College Campus Schools are HCES (“Hunter Elementary” for PK4-6th) and HCHS (“Hunter”) for 7th-12th. Manhattan / Hunter Science is of much more recent vintage.

[Anonymous]

Do families ever hire tutors to prepare for the BASIS comps? Are there tutors in the area who specifically specialize in BASIS comps tutoring? Based on a different thread regarding comps, it seems some students barely study compared to others so I know there’s a range of experiences. Just wondering if tutoring is at all common or if the students essentially rely on the school and perhaps study groups to prepare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Practically how much time do middle-schoolers spend outside of the BASIS building in a school week?
They have access to great public libraries and the mall and other spaces nearby. Would you say MSers will have some outside time or other-building time most days in an average week, or two days week at minimum?

In good weather, they go to the Mall almost everyday. In colder weather, not so often. These past few years were weird because of Covid and all the unknowns, plus all the staff/kid absences because of quarantines— that made it harder to organize outside events. I’d see how things are next year.

As for library time— IME, they aren’t regularly going to the MLK library during the school day. Their schedules are pretty tight, and they are busy at school all day. That being said, there’s nothing stopping them from going to the library after school/extra-curriculars. Thinking back to my own public middle school experience, I don’t remember visiting the school library during the day unless a class was scheduled in there, which was very rare.

The most trying aspect of the BASIS building is that there isn't a quiet, light filled space for kids to read, study and work within the building. A full fledged library doesn't seem necessary, but a book filled room with at least a PT librarian would count for a lot. We do want better facilities and will go private for high school if we can swing it financially.

I mean, it would be nice if we could all attend Hogwarts, but we can’t, so I’m going to settle for the school that will teach my kid some math.

Right, if BASIS is the best you can do, you manage. We turned down a spot at Latin because we didn't think that their STEM curriculum was serious enough. Sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision.

We can't afford private middle school AND high school. But we can swing one or the other and don't want our children in the building after 8th grade. For DS in particular, there isn't enough space for a happy experience and he wants more serious extra curriculars he can pursue with classmates.

We all find ourselves tired of a bifurcated school experience where our teens activities (music and sports) are outside the school and the only other families we know are the ones we got to know at our DCPS elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do families ever hire tutors to prepare for the BASIS comps? Are there tutors in the area who specifically specialize in BASIS comps tutoring? Based on a different thread regarding comps, it seems some students barely study compared to others so I know there’s a range of experiences. Just wondering if tutoring is at all common or if the students essentially rely on the school and perhaps study groups to prepare?

Yes, some families do, but they probably don't advertise it. I doubt there are tutors who specialize in BASIS comps tutoring. We continue to use the same great Outschool writing tutor we started with in 6th grade, when in-person learning wasn't an option. She's not expensive and does a better job than the English teachers our children have had at school (classes are too big for strong writing instruction). We work in STEM fields and tutor for math and science ourselves, often with another family that lives a few houses down from us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Hunter too and my favorite thing about the “Hunter College” poster is how they always call it Hunter College. I have literally never met another alum who calls it that, because that’s what we called the actual Hunter College (i.e., college that is part of the CUNY system that our administrators technically worked for) where we had some gym classes. Anyway, it always makes her posts every easy to spot and I’ve always wanted to ask her if her HS friends actually called it that and, if so, when she attended.

Also, Hunter’s building is awful. There are very few windows and the ones that there are are shaped like arrow slits. When a refrigeration unit malfunctioned on the top floor and squids for dissection went bad, they had to close the school for multiple days because the ventilation is so bad they couldn’t get rid of the smell. Also, teachers at one point sued over failed air quality tests being covered up. Finally, while I had a fabulous experience at Hunter, and it definitely encouraged independent thought, the GO (our student government) was totally window dressing… just like it is at almost every HS. Lots of kids ran largely for access to the GO office that everyone used for hook ups and it was basically a popularity contest for quasi-gunner types. Chris Hayes was student body President while I was there, so that’s kind of fun in retrospect. Anyway, I’m happy BASIS exists and hope my kids manage to lottery in.

This is amazing.

Unrelated but it reminded me of science teacher forgetting fertilized eggs for embryology in the incubator and all the 🐣 chicks being born 😂 (not as stinky as dead squid)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Practically how much time do middle-schoolers spend outside of the BASIS building in a school week?
They have access to great public libraries and the mall and other spaces nearby. Would you say MSers will have some outside time or other-building time most days in an average week, or two days week at minimum?

In good weather, they go to the Mall almost everyday. In colder weather, not so often. These past few years were weird because of Covid and all the unknowns, plus all the staff/kid absences because of quarantines— that made it harder to organize outside events. I’d see how things are next year.

As for library time— IME, they aren’t regularly going to the MLK library during the school day. Their schedules are pretty tight, and they are busy at school all day. That being said, there’s nothing stopping them from going to the library after school/extra-curriculars. Thinking back to my own public middle school experience, I don’t remember visiting the school library during the day unless a class was scheduled in there, which was very rare.

The most trying aspect of the BASIS building is that there isn't a quiet, light filled space for kids to read, study and work within the building. A full fledged library doesn't seem necessary, but a book filled room with at least a PT librarian would count for a lot. We do want better facilities and will go private for high school if we can swing it financially.

I mean, it would be nice if we could all attend Hogwarts, but we can’t, so I’m going to settle for the school that will teach my kid some math.

Right, if BASIS is the best you can do, you manage. We turned down a spot at Latin because we didn't think that their STEM curriculum was serious enough. Sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision.

We can't afford private middle school AND high school. But we can swing one or the other and don't want our children in the building after 8th grade. For DS in particular, there isn't enough space for a happy experience and he wants more serious extra curriculars he can pursue with classmates.

We all find ourselves tired of a bifurcated school experience where our teens activities (music and sports) are outside the school and the only other families we know are the ones we got to know at our DCPS elementary school.

I did not grow up in US and it’s interesting to read about the bifurcation of school vs activities as an issue. Basically my whole education experience from k to bachelor was “bifurcated”— school was exclusively for teaching/lectures/labs in high-rise-type buildings buildings (like ex hotels) and all activities of any kind were separate and private (sports clubs, music lessons, etc).

[Anonymous]

To clarify l don’t mean to say it’s not an issue- only reflecting how different the school experience was for me relative to how it is for kids who grow up here. It’s much nicer to have everything in one place and free 😊

[Anonymous]

I think the bifurcation issue is unfortunate, but the same families who lack a library in their charter elementary schools largely also lack extracurricular activities, especially sports-related ones, through their school. So the supplementing of extra curricular activities outside of the school setting is nothing new for many DC families. I think the calculus for us is that it’s easier to supplement the extra curricular activities than it is to supplement academics, which is what families do at many if not all of the other DC schools that aren’t bifurcated between school and activities. I am wondering how much of an effort families at BASIS make to connect their kids outside of school and coordinate with signing up for extra curricular activities? Is there a growing sense of community at BASIS? How can families and/or the school help facilitate that sense of community?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Hunter too and my favorite thing about the “Hunter College” poster is how they always call it Hunter College. I have literally never met another alum who calls it that, because that’s what we called the actual Hunter College (i.e., college that is part of the CUNY system that our administrators technically worked for) where we had some gym classes. Anyway, it always makes her posts every easy to spot and I’ve always wanted to ask her if her HS friends actually called it that and, if so, when she attended.

Also, Hunter’s building is awful. There are very few windows and the ones that there are are shaped like arrow slits. When a refrigeration unit malfunctioned on the top floor and squids for dissection went bad, they had to close the school for multiple days because the ventilation is so bad they couldn’t get rid of the smell. Also, teachers at one point sued over failed air quality tests being covered up. Finally, while I had a fabulous experience at Hunter, and it definitely encouraged independent thought, the GO (our student government) was totally window dressing… just like it is at almost every HS. Lots of kids ran largely for access to the GO office that everyone used for hook ups and it was basically a popularity contest for quasi-gunner types. Chris Hayes was student body President while I was there, so that’s kind of fun in retrospect. Anyway, I’m happy BASIS exists and hope my kids manage to lottery in.

This is amazing.

Agreed. Thank you PP!

[Anonymous]

A high % of BASIS families live on or around Capitol Hill. The kids often come out of of tight-knit ES programs and maintain the social ties they developed as little kids while at BASIS. Others may disagree, but wouldn't say that there's a growing sense of community. In our experience, the school doesn't welcome parental input for anything but fundraising. We're looking forward to moving on, grateful that we can afford private school after this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do families ever hire tutors to prepare for the BASIS comps? Are there tutors in the area who specifically specialize in BASIS comps tutoring? Based on a different thread regarding comps, it seems some students barely study compared to others so I know there’s a range of experiences. Just wondering if tutoring is at all common or if the students essentially rely on the school and perhaps study groups to prepare?

We are a 5th grade family, so no experience with comps yet. We did hire a tutor for math this year. My kid's previous elementary did not prepare him well for the pace of math instruction at BASIS. This was in line with our expectations and also one of the reasons we decided to take the BASIS seat. We were worried about DCPS instruction slowing down too much after COVID learning loss. My kid likes the school so far and is doing really well socially and academically. We are eyes wide open that this may change year to year and have an exit plan for high school, though my understanding is that many kids are staying for high school nowadays.

So, back to the OP's question - I would ask your parent-friend group for tutor recommendations and just have them on hand in case you need them this fall.