Basis McLean new HOS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people keep leaving? What it mostly comes down to is BASIS Independent McLean values money over people and will always be run as a business and not a school. That, and it requires people to basically sell their souls to work there. If you can not care about what's best for students, families, or your colleagues...If you can be a puppet for the central office/private equity group, you can be successful working there.

For those wanting to know specific reasons why people keep leaving, here's why some folks have left in the past few years:

-Admissions has become so desperate to fill the school, they will let in anyone. Even when the teachers/deans/directors advise not to admit a student who may not be the best fit, there is pushback from central office because they don't care whether the student will be successful or not, they just want the tuition $$. Accepting students who are not a good fit not only hurts those students, but it hurts the peers of those students whose classroom experience is now diluted because teachers and deans are focused on helping the student who should have never been admitted in the first place.

-The school does not care about its staff as human beings. Only as employees who can make them $$. People have resigned after being denied taking unpaid leave to visit a dying family member in hospice or using PTO to take care of a newborn. Staff are reprimanded by the Head of Operations for celebrating each other's birthdays or sending care gifts when colleagues are sick. Things that build connection, community, and a sense of appreciation at other workplaces are not allowed here.

-The model keeps changing. It doesn't just impact families and students when BIM decides to change its model to save some $$. The early learning teachers' workloads doubled when they changed the model from a two-teacher classroom with different subject matter experts to a one teacher and one teaching fellow model with a few weeks notice before school started. Everyone was impacted when they cut a middle school dean position a few months into the school year with no plan on who would take on middle school student support. And, when they cut an Engineering teacher and then decided it didn't matter if the course was taught by a subject matter expert and made anyone who would fold under their pressure give up planning time to teach the class. Whether or not the school actually has a high school dean (and not just a teacher that they make work extra) changes every year, too. Have you noticed they removed listing class sizes on their website and marketing materials? It's so they can change those on a whim as well.

-There is no professional development, coaching, or support for anyone on campus. The people in leadership positions are not qualified (because when they hire smart, qualified people they push back on all of the above to the point of exhaustion and leave). The people who stay really embody everything that makes a poor leader: bad communication skills, no adaptability, micromanagement, a know-it-all attitude, no accountability, no expressions of appreciation, no integrity, no building of culture or community, etc.

It is truly a toxic workplace. And even if it hasn't yet, it will unfortunately inevitably trickle down to the student experience.

+1000 based on direct experience there

[Anonymous]

What happened to the facilities manager?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happened to the facilities manager?

She was a total sweetheart, an ex-teacher who loved playing with the little kids. Kept the school running like a top in terms of physical plant. Yet another mysterious midyear departure under the new HoS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people keep leaving? What it mostly comes down to is BASIS Independent McLean values money over people and will always be run as a business and not a school. That, and it requires people to basically sell their souls to work there. If you can not care about what's best for students, families, or your colleagues...If you can be a puppet for the central office/private equity group, you can be successful working there.

For those wanting to know specific reasons why people keep leaving, here's why some folks have left in the past few years:

-Admissions has become so desperate to fill the school, they will let in anyone. Even when the teachers/deans/directors advise not to admit a student who may not be the best fit, there is pushback from central office because they don't care whether the student will be successful or not, they just want the tuition $$. Accepting students who are not a good fit not only hurts those students, but it hurts the peers of those students whose classroom experience is now diluted because teachers and deans are focused on helping the student who should have never been admitted in the first place.

-The school does not care about its staff as human beings. Only as employees who can make them $$. People have resigned after being denied taking unpaid leave to visit a dying family member in hospice or using PTO to take care of a newborn. Staff are reprimanded by the Head of Operations for celebrating each other's birthdays or sending care gifts when colleagues are sick. Things that build connection, community, and a sense of appreciation at other workplaces are not allowed here.

-The model keeps changing. It doesn't just impact families and students when BIM decides to change its model to save some $$. The early learning teachers' workloads doubled when they changed the model from a two-teacher classroom with different subject matter experts to a one teacher and one teaching fellow model with a few weeks notice before school started. Everyone was impacted when they cut a middle school dean position a few months into the school year with no plan on who would take on middle school student support. And, when they cut an Engineering teacher and then decided it didn't matter if the course was taught by a subject matter expert and made anyone who would fold under their pressure give up planning time to teach the class. Whether or not the school actually has a high school dean (and not just a teacher that they make work extra) changes every year, too. Have you noticed they removed listing class sizes on their website and marketing materials? It's so they can change those on a whim as well.

-There is no professional development, coaching, or support for anyone on campus. The people in leadership positions are not qualified (because when they hire smart, qualified people they push back on all of the above to the point of exhaustion and leave). The people who stay really embody everything that makes a poor leader: bad communication skills, no adaptability, micromanagement, a know-it-all attitude, no accountability, no expressions of appreciation, no integrity, no building of culture or community, etc.

It is truly a toxic workplace. And even if it hasn't yet, it will unfortunately inevitably trickle down to the student experience.

+1000 based on direct experience there

Sounds like you were an employee from the first year or so...and making HUGE assumptions. From what I gather, the teachers seem to be good at their jobs and care for the students. That should matter the most for the parents, no? The staff are the ones that are struggling with HOPS and making their lives miserable. If someone feels it's a toxic environment, they can make the decision to leave.
And no it will never trickle down to the students- really? There will always be problems with any school, any job, any teacher, nothing is perfect. It should be the happiness of your child- NOT YOU.

[Anonymous]

I currently work there and all of the above is true. No assumptions or exaggerations. Teachers struggle with the HOPS, too. She doesn't just work with staff. She is in charge of all things HR which obviously impacts all of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I currently work there and all of the above is true. No assumptions or exaggerations. Teachers struggle with the HOPS, too. She doesn't just work with staff. She is in charge of all things HR which obviously impacts all of us.

What has the new HoS tried to change there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people keep leaving? What it mostly comes down to is BASIS Independent McLean values money over people and will always be run as a business and not a school. That, and it requires people to basically sell their souls to work there. If you can not care about what's best for students, families, or your colleagues...If you can be a puppet for the central office/private equity group, you can be successful working there.

For those wanting to know specific reasons why people keep leaving, here's why some folks have left in the past few years:

-Admissions has become so desperate to fill the school, they will let in anyone. Even when the teachers/deans/directors advise not to admit a student who may not be the best fit, there is pushback from central office because they don't care whether the student will be successful or not, they just want the tuition $$. Accepting students who are not a good fit not only hurts those students, but it hurts the peers of those students whose classroom experience is now diluted because teachers and deans are focused on helping the student who should have never been admitted in the first place.

-The school does not care about its staff as human beings. Only as employees who can make them $$. People have resigned after being denied taking unpaid leave to visit a dying family member in hospice or using PTO to take care of a newborn. Staff are reprimanded by the Head of Operations for celebrating each other's birthdays or sending care gifts when colleagues are sick. Things that build connection, community, and a sense of appreciation at other workplaces are not allowed here.

-The model keeps changing. It doesn't just impact families and students when BIM decides to change its model to save some $$. The early learning teachers' workloads doubled when they changed the model from a two-teacher classroom with different subject matter experts to a one teacher and one teaching fellow model with a few weeks notice before school started. Everyone was impacted when they cut a middle school dean position a few months into the school year with no plan on who would take on middle school student support. And, when they cut an Engineering teacher and then decided it didn't matter if the course was taught by a subject matter expert and made anyone who would fold under their pressure give up planning time to teach the class. Whether or not the school actually has a high school dean (and not just a teacher that they make work extra) changes every year, too. Have you noticed they removed listing class sizes on their website and marketing materials? It's so they can change those on a whim as well.

-There is no professional development, coaching, or support for anyone on campus. The people in leadership positions are not qualified (because when they hire smart, qualified people they push back on all of the above to the point of exhaustion and leave). The people who stay really embody everything that makes a poor leader: bad communication skills, no adaptability, micromanagement, a know-it-all attitude, no accountability, no expressions of appreciation, no integrity, no building of culture or community, etc.

It is truly a toxic workplace. And even if it hasn't yet, it will unfortunately inevitably trickle down to the student experience.

+1000 based on direct experience there

Sounds like you were an employee from the first year or so...and making HUGE assumptions. From what I gather, the teachers seem to be good at their jobs and care for the students. That should matter the most for the parents, no? The staff are the ones that are struggling with HOPS and making their lives miserable. If someone feels it's a toxic environment, they can make the decision to leave.
And no it will never trickle down to the students- really? There will always be problems with any school, any job, any teacher, nothing is perfect. It should be the happiness of your child- NOT YOU.

It’s naive to think it doesn’t trickle down to the kids. While the teachers might have the best intent, being overworked and having too many students (often across multiple class types and or subjects) affects teacher office hour availability, attention to individual student needs, and ability to assign in-depth complex projects projects. They simply don’t have the bandwidth, add a frustrating work environment into the mix and it’s very hard to compartmentalization.

[Anonymous]

We are looking at basis for the fall, but these threads have us nervous. How does basis handle non perfect children? Our DS has ADHD and we are in elementary still. DS is very bright and does well academically, but can be impulsive and inflexible . Our neighbors said a number of elementary teachers have left this spring. Our other option is a small Catholic (or public). We didn’t get into the other privates to which we applied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at basis for the fall, but these threads have us nervous. How does basis handle non perfect children? Our DS has ADHD and we are in elementary still. DS is very bright and does well academically, but can be impulsive and inflexible . Our neighbors said a number of elementary teachers have left this spring. Our other option is a small Catholic (or public). We didn’t get into the other privates to which we applied.

When I worked there a couple of years ago, they had zero specialized personnel to handle kids with issues like that. BASIS is a test factory that rams kids through as much testable material as possible through their junior year. Anyone who doesn't keep up or fit in drops by the way side after the deans (who have no special ed background) make a token effort to support them.

An impulsive, inflexible kid will not fit in with the rest who are conditioned to plug into the test track and never get off.

I would not send your kid there. Completely wrong atmosphere. The hew HOS may have changed the management chaos or not, I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at basis for the fall, but these threads have us nervous. How does basis handle non perfect children? Our DS has ADHD and we are in elementary still. DS is very bright and does well academically, but can be impulsive and inflexible . Our neighbors said a number of elementary teachers have left this spring. Our other option is a small Catholic (or public). We didn’t get into the other privates to which we applied.

Public is your best option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at basis for the fall, but these threads have us nervous. How does basis handle non perfect children? Our DS has ADHD and we are in elementary still. DS is very bright and does well academically, but can be impulsive and inflexible . Our neighbors said a number of elementary teachers have left this spring. Our other option is a small Catholic (or public). We didn’t get into the other privates to which we applied.

When I worked there a couple of years ago, they had zero specialized personnel to handle kids with issues like that. BASIS is a test factory that rams kids through as much testable material as possible through their junior year. Anyone who doesn't keep up or fit in drops by the way side after the deans (who have no special ed background) make a token effort to support them.

An impulsive, inflexible kid will not fit in with the rest who are conditioned to plug into the test track and never get off.

I would not send your kid there. Completely wrong atmosphere. The hew HOS may have changed the management chaos or not, I don't know.

Ugh- that sounds like a nightmare for a kid - is the testing atmosphere pervasive even in elementary? I assumed I could get off the train in middle school and transfer elsewhere once there were more options available for a super academic kid. Our neighbor has hinted that they are be very rigid with students. However, I couldn't tell if that was academically or behaviorally and we don't know the neighbor quite well enough to ask in more depth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at basis for the fall, but these threads have us nervous. How does basis handle non perfect children? Our DS has ADHD and we are in elementary still. DS is very bright and does well academically, but can be impulsive and inflexible . Our neighbors said a number of elementary teachers have left this spring. Our other option is a small Catholic (or public). We didn’t get into the other privates to which we applied.

When I worked there a couple of years ago, they had zero specialized personnel to handle kids with issues like that. BASIS is a test factory that rams kids through as much testable material as possible through their junior year. Anyone who doesn't keep up or fit in drops by the way side after the deans (who have no special ed background) make a token effort to support them.

An impulsive, inflexible kid will not fit in with the rest who are conditioned to plug into the test track and never get off.

I would not send your kid there. Completely wrong atmosphere. The hew HOS may have changed the management chaos or not, I don't know.

Ugh- that sounds like a nightmare for a kid - is the testing atmosphere pervasive even in elementary? I assumed I could get off the train in middle school and transfer elsewhere once there were more options available for a super academic kid. Our neighbor has hinted that they are be very rigid with students. However, I couldn't tell if that was academically or behaviorally and we don't know the neighbor quite well enough to ask in more depth.

That training process really kicks off in 5th grade then picks up in 6th. The "precomp" exams after Christmas (up to 6-7 tests in one week) are midterms that count for a large chunk of the course grade. The kids are taught early that they survive the test gauntlet or they lose. Then the "comps" do the same as finals. From 9th grade, they start taking APs with potentially 5-6 AP classes at once as juniors.

This is how the BASIS founders believed that kids should be challenged. In retrospect, I think there are better strategies and educational cultures elsewhere. The pressure and stress levels at BASIS are up there. And yes, they are very rigid about it. Your kids fit or they don't. No wiggle room.

As for other behavior, they tried to spot and stop bullying when they could, but I know it still happened, a lot of it online. Behavior inside the school building was usually exemplary. They don't admit behavior problem kids.

[Anonymous]

Put simply, Basis does not tolerate behavioral challenges. It distracts from the rigorous and test intensive environment in all grades. The structure can even be tough for mainstream kids with no issues at the elementary level.

Regarding “getting off the train” something for you to seriously consider is that other privates don’t really understand the Basis rigor and it’s impact to grading. Even really smart kids end up with some mediocre grades. Add to that the SSAT/ISEE test optional environment and the kids don’t stand out at all after putting in all of that effort. Not to mention that the Basis model is to keep kids there since it goes through 12, which means no real help or support in applying out. The result is often that kids get stuck there or going to public as there is not a great track record for those that seek admission to other competitive local privates.

[Anonymous]

Sigh .. .all of this is unbelievably helpful. . . it is very difficult to find a super academic school that also allows for some less than perfect children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh .. .all of this is unbelievably helpful. . . it is very difficult to find a super academic school that also allows for some less than perfect children.

FWIW, a friend had a daughter with learning issues and sent her to Field with great results. I don't know what grades were involved when she started. Looks like they are 6-12.