Last night my kid said "I really like Basis - I'm glad I go to school there"!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, the Blocks are doing their best to rake in millions in BASIS corporate profits. Parents EotP are too desperate for acceptable public middle schools to mind. The arrangement represents a failure of local governance in this city. Parents can’t be blamed.

I don't know the numbers, but there are around 20,000 Basis students. If, for example (and please share sources for real numbers, as I'm purely making this up), they made $2 million in profit, that's $100 per kid. And that's not for nothing; they are providing services. I can't get worked up about that. Again, if you have more details about something we SHOULD be getting worked up about, please share.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP. Private schools cost 20K or more a year. BASIS and Deal are for free. You can choose which one, both have their good and bad. I would never want my child to be 1 of 500 6th graders. That is good enough for me. Others might find it OK but hate how the teachers at BASIS teach. My point being everybody's choice is an individual right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thats really great, if the bullying would calm down, my 7th grader would be equally as happy

Parent of another seventh grader. Can you tell me what element your child is in? My DC has struggled a lot in his class and I wonder if there is bullying going on or what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BASIS parent agrees with the school being the best option for middles school in DC. It's isn't perfect but it is the best for our child.

Wait, I read carefully and it sounded like PPs were saying it was the best option compared to *their* DC MS options, not all DC public MS.
What if you are IB for a Ward 3 middle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS parent agrees with the school being the best option for middles school in DC. It's isn't perfect but it is the best for our child.

Wait, I read carefully and it sounded like PPs were saying it was the best option compared to *their* DC MS options, not all DC public MS.
What if you are IB for a Ward 3 middle?

This parent, in ward 3, thinks its best for their child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from Arizona. BASIS has had very mixed reviews in the state since the get go, particularly from the state legislature. The sort of tit for tat criticism and defensiveness you see on DCUM isn’t just a DC phenomenon.

Sure, someone from Arizona is monitoring the DC public and public charter school forum on DCUM. And agrees 100% with the PP. Very likely.

8 0f the 10 ranked high schools in Arizona are BASIS, and some of these are ranked among the best in the country. No one, including the state legislature, is giving mixed reviews.

PP, stop lying and posting false information here.

Chill out guy. I live on CH. I came to to DC from AZ years ago. I have old friends who send their kids to BASIS programs back home.

So what, anonymous poster who lived in Arizona "years ago"?

Here is what an objective source says about the top schools in Arizona:

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/arizona

[Anonymous]

Damn!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I roll my eyes when 5th grade BASIS families jump on DCUM to wax enthusiastic about how much their children love this over-rated program. A school with BASIS DC’s particular building, management model and curriculum can only be so good.As kids get older, you tire of schlepping them to quality extra-curriculars and other sourcing inputs necessary to ensure that they get a well-rounded education as teens. You also get fed up with paying to supplement on the enrichment front to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars a year for decent music, performing arts, art, foreign language, sports or whatever.. If we could do it over again we’d probably have moved to Arlington. BASIS essentially offers half an education, not more.

Few BASIS MS parents can see that far ahead.

You can’t really evaluate Basis without understanding the context most patents are coming from. Our assigned middle school (Stuart Hobson) didn’t seem like a good fit because DC is tortured by too much chaos and has seen how chaotic the S-H kids seem to be out and about in the neighborhood. She wasn’t willing to even try. We can’t afford private. I considered MoCo for years, but DH loves our neighborhood and would be crushed to live in the suburbs. So…? We played the lottery and were thrilled to have Basis as a choice.

At the same time, it’s not a perfect fit for DC or our family and not the school I’d choose if I had several strong choices. We have our grumbles. But we didn’t have several strong choices, and at least it’s (mostly) teaching DC a lot, and we like most of the kids. DC is considering other high school options but may decide to stay at Basis because supposedly high school is more enjoyable than middle school. As much as DC is torn now, I think high school might end up being a great experience. Most things in life are not either all great or all bad.

All the Basis schools, including the private ones, have the same curriculum. So, your kids are studying the same stuff at the same time as kids paying $40-45,000/year in McLean, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Silicon Valley, etc.

I am sure there is more hand-holding and attention in the privates. But you are not paying anything for Basis DC. So, what do expect?

For many of us, Basis is far and away the best option in DC.

[Anonymous]

Bully for you.

We're not religious. Yet we left for a modest parochial school where the Blocks don't set the curriculum, shareholders don't rake in profits and admins don't advise you to find another school, or ignore you, if you express concerns about the way the place runs. Middle school #2 has a library, playing fields, a gym, serious language study from day 1, a variety of strong electives, band, orchestral music and performing arts, student government and competitive sports. Straight A kid isn't as challenged but is much happier. Didn't know what we were missing from BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bully for you.

We're not religious. Yet we left for a modest parochial school where the Blocks don't set the curriculum, shareholders don't rake in profits and admins don't advise you to find another school, or ignore you, if you express concerns about the way the place runs. Middle school #2 has a library, playing fields, a gym, serious language study from day 1, a variety of strong electives, band, orchestral music and performing arts, student government and competitive sports. Straight A kid isn't as challenged but is much happier. Didn't know what we were missing from BASIS.

Name your “modest parochial school” if you think it is so good.

[Anonymous]

Don't take the bate, PP. Ignore. He's asking so he can attack your school, in his jealousy, given how dreary BASIS can be for the kids.

I'm guessing you've landed in Upper NW or Arlington. Kudos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't take the bate, PP. Ignore. He's asking so he can attack your school, in his jealousy, given how dreary BASIS can be for the kids.

I'm guessing you've landed in Upper NW or Arlington. Kudos.

You sound dreary yourself one-note Basis hater writing the same drivel all the time.

[Anonymous]

BASIS boosters have furnished most of the one-note drivel on DCUM for almost a decade now. Kid loves the place, really. Who needs a well-rounded education? Not us!! We’re thrilled with a middle school where there’s little fun, creativity or choice to be had, an institution w/out a stable teaching force, a stable admin team, well-paid teachers etc. etc. Yes, it gets old. This has been an unusual thread because the boosters haven’t dominated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BASIS boosters have furnished most of the one-note drivel on DCUM for almost a decade now. Kid loves the place, really. Who needs a well-rounded education? Not us!! We’re thrilled with a middle school where there’s little fun, creativity or choice to be had, an institution w/out a stable teaching force, a stable admin team, well-paid teachers etc. etc. Yes, it gets old. This has been an unusual thread because the boosters haven’t dominated.

If its been almost a decade, it's not some small group of parents.

I have never understood the Basis animosity out there -- its surreal. Why can't a kid like Basis and want to go there? I'm the ward 3 poster who is sending a kid to Basis over Deal. Both schools have benefits and drawbacks. But the anger on this board about the school is just bizarre and makes people sound unhinged.

[Anonymous]

If you lived in Ward, you wouldn’t be asking this question. No Deal in Ward 6. This means that BASIS is the closest thing Ward 6 has to a by-right ms and many parents aren’t too thrilled. Hence the animosity.