Thoughts on DCI, Latin or BASIS

[Anonymous]

I know these all are good school but would love to get opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of each school. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

BASIS - strong math and science instruction. The visual arts curriculum and faculty is also great. Easy commute from most corners of the city. Weakness - the building sucks.

[Anonymous]

Latin--wonderful "whole child" atmosphere, classical education, excellent teachers, nice new building. Cons: not as accelerated as some would like especially in math.

[Anonymous]

DCI-- strong community for the kids, IB, 3 languages, great electives. Cons: still working out scheduling kinks, still in swing space next year.

[Anonymous]

^^ yep, pretty much sums it up.

[Anonymous]

DC was accepted to basis for 5th, but it is a terrible fit for my insecure child. Hope to get off Latin wait list - in 50's.

Otherwise it's time to put house on market.

[Anonymous]

Latin sounds great but several posters report it is not as challenging. What does this mean exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC was accepted to basis for 5th, but it is a terrible fit for my insecure child. Hope to get off Latin wait list - in 50's.

Otherwise it's time to put house on market.

Not sure Latin typically gets to 50s on wait list. . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Latin sounds great but several posters report it is not as challenging. What does this mean exactly?

Mostly it means that students are grouped heterogeneously, so some advanced students will be in English or Latin classes, for example, with some weaker students. Also, in math, there's no seventh-grade algebra option. Or rather, there is, but they then are forced to do algebra over two years, "1A" in seventh and "1B" in eighth. This latter concept strikes many (me included) as bizarre since surely many students could do a full year of algebra in seventh grade. You can still get to highly advanced math in HS (BC Calc), but people do that by doubling up on math (geometry and Algebra 2) in ninth grade, which again, seems strange because seventh-grade algebra would eliminate the need to do that.

We have found it to be plenty challenging for our advanced student with the exception of math, but it's true that if academic difficulty is your main goal, that Basis would probably be better (from what I've heard, since I have no first-hand experience with Basis).

[Anonymous]

Latin does not have a very impressive list of college acceptances either. No idea of basis and DCI is too new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Latin does not have a very impressive list of college acceptances either. No idea of basis and DCI is too new.

Here is the link: http://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WLPCS-College-Acceptances-2015.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin does not have a very impressive list of college acceptances either. No idea of basis and DCI is too new.

Here is the link: http://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WLPCS-College-Acceptances-2015.pdf

I actually think the list is impressive, relative to where most of these kids would've ended up if they attended their IB school. Isn't it primarily low SES? Agree though that it'd be interesting to parse out college admissions results for high SES kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin does not have a very impressive list of college acceptances either. No idea of basis and DCI is too new.

Here is the link: http://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WLPCS-College-Acceptances-2015.pdf

I actually think the list is impressive, relative to where most of these kids would've ended up if they attended their IB school. Isn't it primarily low SES? Agree though that it'd be interesting to parse out college admissions results for high SES kids.

Agree. Seems like there's a lot of value-added.

[Anonymous]

Agree, wide range of schools and lots of them. Congrats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin sounds great but several posters report it is not as challenging. What does this mean exactly?

Mostly it means that students are grouped heterogeneously, so some advanced students will be in English or Latin classes, for example, with some weaker students. Also, in math, there's no seventh-grade algebra option. Or rather, there is, but they then are forced to do algebra over two years, "1A" in seventh and "1B" in eighth. This latter concept strikes many (me included) as bizarre since surely many students could do a full year of algebra in seventh grade. You can still get to highly advanced math in HS (BC Calc), but people do that by doubling up on math (geometry and Algebra 2) in ninth grade, which again, seems strange because seventh-grade algebra would eliminate the need to do that.

We have found it to be plenty challenging for our advanced student with the exception of math, but it's true that if academic difficulty is your main goal, that Basis would probably be better (from what I've heard, since I have no first-hand experience with Basis).

Why would you need to double up in 9th to get to BC Calc?

A typical pathway in my kid's MCPS high school is

8th -- Algebra 1
9th -- Geometry
10th -- Algebra 2
11th -- PreCalc
12th -- BC Calc

The kids who take Algebra 1 in 7th take Multivariable Calc of IB Math HL in 12th, both of which have a BC Calc prerequisite.