Parents of former Basis students - where did you go, and why

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response and info on class credits transferring and testing. I have a child in 7th at BASIS and am happy there but have always considered Walls as a good high school option since DD was in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Wow, just wow 19:06: Maybe rethink the approach to "attracting and retaining" parents by calling them elitist, narcissistic racists if they don't agree with you about how much you think Basis needs to change, and to flog and scream at supportive and otherwise happy parents to shut and go crawl under a rock.

It's all fine and good to be well intentioned in soliciting thoughts on what you think should change - to an extent - but ultimately, we also need to recognize and acknowledge that ultimately parents/boosters are not school directors and have limited input - we as parents, can, should and do certainly suggest any small changes as appropriate, and I've seen Basis be responsive to many such suggestions over the last 2 years, but on the flip side, we also need to recognize that any major or fundamental change to Basis DC substantially divergent from their other Basis schools and model isn't going to happen, i.e. curriculum, comps, policy, APs, discipline, et cetera.

As with that sudden flurry of similar posts on the listserv, this thread has tragically gone off the deep end into the surreal. Thankfully most of us parents are a bit more calm, pragmatic and grounded than that. Hopefully posters can be mindful to take a few deeeeep breaths before clicking on the "submit" button next time.

Any genuinely *positive and constructive* suggestions are always welcome - but I think we can all do without the accusations and attacks.

Peace out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there are activities at BASIS though our DC never really participated in much. Academics have never been an issue for this one, grades were excellent, was in the Junior National Honor Society at BASIS. 4.0 the whole time.

Last year Mr. Aiken impressed upon parents that kids at a new BASIS school are free to start clubs and activties, which is great. We just don't have that kind of kid. And Walls is just larger and there more opportunities like Model UN and crew and even a cheese club. Of course your kid can start a cheese club at Basis too. Our kid wants nothing to do with cheese club anywhere btw.

Regarding math, the BASIS kids had to take additional tests the first week of school which was pretty irritating since some kids were rusty after the summer. So they ended up in different classes. Two out of the 13 basis kids are in pre calc which is where they would be had they stayed.

Our kid excelled in history at BASIS but chose not to take the AP test. So having to retake it is annoying. I think one BASIS child scored well enough on the AP exam to test out of history at Walls. Not everyone took it last year.

So it is not a perfect solution but so far it is a good fit.
Best of luck.

Not to put words in your mouth but it sounds like maybe tests were part of the issue. DC was also anxious about it, but it's gotten much better. We found a lot of good freebie resources on the web that can help with test taking strategy and preparing / relaxing / focus / other general test-taking issues. DC's a lot less worried about tests this year as compared to last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there are activities at BASIS though our DC never really participated in much. Academics have never been an issue for this one, grades were excellent, was in the Junior National Honor Society at BASIS. 4.0 the whole time.

Last year Mr. Aiken impressed upon parents that kids at a new BASIS school are free to start clubs and activties, which is great. We just don't have that kind of kid. And Walls is just larger and there more opportunities like Model UN and crew and even a cheese club. Of course your kid can start a cheese club at Basis too. Our kid wants nothing to do with cheese club anywhere btw.

Regarding math, the BASIS kids had to take additional tests the first week of school which was pretty irritating since some kids were rusty after the summer. So they ended up in different classes. Two out of the 13 basis kids are in pre calc which is where they would be had they stayed.

Our kid excelled in history at BASIS but chose not to take the AP test. So having to retake it is annoying. I think one BASIS child scored well enough on the AP exam to test out of history at Walls. Not everyone took it last year.

So it is not a perfect solution but so far it is a good fit.

Best of luck.

pp, you said your child opted out of taking the exam. We wanted to opt out but were told we did not have a choice ... so strange.

[Anonymous]

Just curious how the hijacking comes off to you?
Just curious how Basis DC comes off to you?
Just curious how well you think the school being represented and advertised by the parents who are posting?
Just curious if you think they are helping or hurting, gilding their lily?
Just curious, after reading all the posts from current parents, would you go?
Just curious if you can ID one deranged woman or if there appear to be a few of them?

Just curious whether you would want to be in a school where people think that a lack of academic success HAS to be because the child and the parent are lazy, failed to act soon enough, failed to avail themselves of help, etc...

I know these parents have to believe in their own inherent superiority, in their own ability to control their destiny and that of their children, that if they and their progeny do everything Basis DC asks, they will end up with the desired result........

because if they thought otherwise they would be admitting that sometimes there are things that happen that are beyond their control.......... And that is too scary to contemplate.
But by believing all of this they do insult the struggling students and their parents in the process.
Just curious, would you want your child to go to this school?
Or any school where this is what the "honors" parents and children think of the struggling C parents and their children?

[Anonymous]

BASIS parent here and NP to this thread. I do not look down on struggling students (my DC has had struggles, too) and am certain that a C student at BASIS could be an A student at any other DCPS school.

However, it becomes tiresome to hear accusations of favoritism and unfairness from certain parents of struggling students, who somehow feel that the administration is out to get them. Or that they just don't "get" them, and that's why the student struggles.

The administration wants the students, all the students, to excel. It is the best advertisement for the school. They have nothing to gain by bending the rules for anyone, struggling or otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know these parents have to believe in their own inherent superiority, in their own ability to control their destiny and that of their children, that if they and their progeny do everything Basis DC asks, they will end up with the desired result........

because if they thought otherwise they would be admitting that sometimes there are things that happen that are beyond their control.......... And that is too scary to contemplate.
But by believing all of this they do insult the struggling students and their parents in the process.

Just curious to know where you get these ideas, second deranged poster.

[Anonymous]

I feel bad for the family of any student who isn't succeeding but what the "shut up" woman seems to be missing is some of the backstory that came out, for example the mom that waited until the school year was nearly over before getting her child tutoring and help. Unfortunate, yes - but also fixable and avoidable, hopefully a lesson learned to get help early and often, and there's plenty of help available, including from other parents - but I really fail to see how that talking about it somehow makes all of the rest of us "elitist" or "lily gilding" or any of the other nasty things we've all been accused of here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So there are activities at BASIS though our DC never really participated in much. Academics have never been an issue for this one, grades were excellent, was in the Junior National Honor Society at BASIS. 4.0 the whole time.

Last year Mr. Aiken impressed upon parents that kids at a new BASIS school are free to start clubs and activties, which is great. We just don't have that kind of kid. And Walls is just larger and there more opportunities like Model UN and crew and even a cheese club. Of course your kid can start a cheese club at Basis too. Our kid wants nothing to do with cheese club anywhere btw.

Regarding math, the BASIS kids had to take additional tests the first week of school which was pretty irritating since some kids were rusty after the summer. So they ended up in different classes. Two out of the 13 basis kids are in pre calc which is where they would be had they stayed.

Our kid excelled in history at BASIS but chose not to take the AP test. So having to retake it is annoying. I think one BASIS child scored well enough on the AP exam to test out of history at Walls. Not everyone took it last year.

So it is not a perfect solution but so far it is a good fit.
Best of luck.

Not to put words in your mouth but it sounds like maybe tests were part of the issue. DC was also anxious about it, but it's gotten much better. We found a lot of good freebie resources on the web that can help with test taking strategy and preparing / relaxing / focus / other general test-taking issues. DC's a lot less worried about tests this year as compared to last year.

Basis booster, please shut up. Signed, Basis parent, FWIW
They did not say testing was an issue, this is your attempt to craft an explanation of why they left..... which seems to have nothing to do with tests, since the child in question had very good grades, and comps are so essential to that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a child who left for BASIS for Walls. Our DC was performing very well at BASIS but we felt the social and extracurricular opportunities were equally important. DC is not motivitated to do much outside of school so we felt we needed to change to a slightly larger and more established environment.
Not all their credits transferred which was frustrating.
Our child was totally fine at BASIS but is happy we made the change.

Dear PP,
thank you very much for your honest and thoughtful answer.

You have no idea how much it means to get a real response when present Basis parents have run off the rails, much to the detriment of Basis - both in terms of recruiting and retention.

When you say "extracurricular opportunities," would you please elaborate on that? Earlier in this thread someone posted a whole slew of activities that are available at Basis (not many of which I am familiar with). I was just wondering what the difference was between what Basis offers (according to that poster) and the offerings at SWW.

When you say not all of the credits transferred, we were told dc would have to retake World History, and that math would be an issue as well. Did the math credits not transfer? And were there any other courses? And does that kind of mean that your child can coast in some classes, including AP classes? Because I could see how that could free up time to do other things that would make an applicant more appealing to colleges and universities.

Again, I am extremely grateful for your response, because I learned quite a few things from it.

It is very interesting to me that your child was totally fine at Basis, and was doing well academically, but you decided nonetheless to make the change to SWW, and now your child is happy you did it. We have kind of thought that in terms of college admissions, being at Basis might give dc an academic edge over being at Walls.

And I have not met many children who are sort of take it or leave it about Basis. Most of my children's friends either love it (but recognize we have a ways to go) or hate it (and nothing I can imagine would ever change that). And like your dc, these are the kids who are doing relatively well grade wise, and have a solid group of friends.

So you learn something new every day. Thank you for letting me know that there is an entirely different category and dynamic at play, at least for your child........

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing one of the few answers on this thread (I have also appreciated the posts from parents who are still at Basis but have no intention of staying).

Maybe we can get back on track here...........

NB if you support Basis, please do not claim that you were "biting your tongue" until something happened that made you go on a racial rant, and please do not blame parents and students for "failing" at Basis with a tone of superiority and elitism that should be offensive to all Basis parents, whether their children are on Distinguished Honor Roll or are constantly struggling, and especially to those whose children have been retained and have decided to return to Basis and try again, instead of abandoning the school.

Silence is golden, and the noises you all are making might completely undo the countless hours we have spent talking to parents in person trying to get them to send their children to Basis, and certainly could legitimately cause any parent who has been considering Basis as a possibility to decide that whatever additional academic opportunities the school might offer are outweighed by racial and class tensions and an elitist attitude that demonstrates an appalling lack of empathy among the parents at Basis that makes creating a real community of parents and/or children impossible.

I hear a group of parents I do not know, and do not want to, and for anyone who is following this thread because they are considering enrolling their children in Basis, I can assure you that parents like these are a distinct minority who for some unknown reason have chosen this particular moment, and these particular threads, to crawl out of their holes. They are sufficiently aware to recognize that they would be shunned if they ever had the guts to post their true opinions on our school list serve and sign their names. But of course they would never do that because they are cowards at heart and know their kids would ultimately pay for it. No administrator, teacher, or decent parent would treat these comments as anything but what they are - comments by selfish, self aggrandizing, narcissistic people who clearly do not care enough about the future of Basis, or the future of their children at Basis (yes they are intertwined), to control themselves.

Please crawl back under the rocks from which you came, NOW, before you do anymore damage just because you feel a need to express your opinion and think everyone would benefit from hearing it. Basis does not benefit from your decisions that it is more important for you to vent your spleen than think about our future, and Basis does not benefit from attracting any more parents and children with whom your rants resonate

PP, I would really like to continue this conversation, and would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the additional questions I have asked, or anything else that you think might help us keep more students like your dc at Basis through high school..........

NP, and without a dog in this fight.

If "Silence is Golden" - why do you talk and talk and talk and (oh sweet Jesus, still with the talking!) talk?

Perhaps silence is only truly golden to you, when it "gilds" those people with whom you disagree?

Just curious, of course.

"gilds" comes from "gilding the lily" which means adding gold to a lily, and is used as a metaphor for trying to improve something that is already perfect. A lily is already beautiful and covering it in gold is unecessary, and sometimes implies stupidity.

Basis is not perfect, but my kids have had a great experience there so far socially and intellectually, and it is tremendously diverse. My hope is that more kids will come from private schools, and fewer will leave for SWW. My hope is that it will become more perfect and lily gilding will become unnecessary.

The Basis parents who have posted about "cringeworthy" racial issues brought up on an internal list serve,
the parents who "complain" about people using racism as an excuse for why their children are failing,
the parents who "wonder" if test anxiety was an issue or factor for the child whose parent is the ONLY one who has answered the original question when that was not mentioned or even remotely implied as a reason for leaving Basis,

and the parents who assert that all kids who are failing or not getting excellent grades are doing so because their parents or they are lazy, when some struggling kids are frequently at teacher hours, as are their parents,

these Basis parents are not lilies. They definitely need to be gilded, and on this thread at least (and for the love of God and loyalty to Basis) on any other thread where their comments are off topic, they need to be quiet. It as if they interpreted the question as an attack on Basis, and then through their comments revealed many reasons not to go to Basis that most people on DCUM have never heard before and should never hear again.

Basis is not a lily either, but there is no reason for parents who purport to love the school, and I assume want to see more people come, to reveal negative information, negative attitudes, and their own prejudices about kids who are not doing well when sometimes it is the fault of the previous school that did not educate them sufficiently to immediately adapt to an advanced curriculum.

This is called blaming the victim, and is painting with a broad brush every struggling child and parent as one who cries racism after not doing their work. Even the child who left for SWW must have had test anxiety, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with Basis except a deranged woman who wants to torpedo it, a bunch of people who cry racism at every turn, and struggling kids who have no one to blame but their parents and themselves.

Go gild a lily guys, but stop trashing the school I want to succeed. We will succeed by bringing in more students who want to and are capable of ascending the steep learning curve. These comments do nothing to advance that..... to the contrary, you should all be ashamed of yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So there are activities at BASIS though our DC never really participated in much. Academics have never been an issue for this one, grades were excellent, was in the Junior National Honor Society at BASIS. 4.0 the whole time.

Last year Mr. Aiken impressed upon parents that kids at a new BASIS school are free to start clubs and activties, which is great. We just don't have that kind of kid. And Walls is just larger and there more opportunities like Model UN and crew and even a cheese club. Of course your kid can start a cheese club at Basis too. Our kid wants nothing to do with cheese club anywhere btw.

Regarding math, the BASIS kids had to take additional tests the first week of school which was pretty irritating since some kids were rusty after the summer. So they ended up in different classes. Two out of the 13 basis kids are in pre calc which is where they would be had they stayed.

Our kid excelled in history at BASIS but chose not to take the AP test. So having to retake it is annoying. I think one BASIS child scored well enough on the AP exam to test out of history at Walls. Not everyone took it last year.

So it is not a perfect solution but so far it is a good fit.
Best of luck.

Not to put words in your mouth but it sounds like maybe tests were part of the issue. DC was also anxious about it, but it's gotten much better. We found a lot of good freebie resources on the web that can help with test taking strategy and preparing / relaxing / focus / other general test-taking issues. DC's a lot less worried about tests this year as compared to last year.

Basis booster, please shut up. Signed, Basis parent, FWIW
They did not say testing was an issue, this is your attempt to craft an explanation of why they left..... which seems to have nothing to do with tests, since the child in question had very good grades, and comps are so essential to that

Good grief. Attack, attack, attack. Again, the way to attract and retain families is through honey, not vinegar PP. You seem to be enjoying an overabundance of vinegar, "shut up" lady.

[Anonymous]

I am a NP to this thread and a non-BASIS parent. PP, I assume you mean well but quite frankly, your posts are becoming more unhinged and you are not helping the image of the BASIS parent. I have no dog in this fight but if I were considering your school, I would seriously worry that I would be forced to drink your kool-aid or be considered some sort of troublemaker and made to feel ashamed for not sharing your opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP to this thread and a non-BASIS parent. PP, I assume you mean well but quite frankly, your posts are becoming more unhinged and you are not helping the image of the BASIS parent. I have no dog in this fight but if I were considering your school, I would seriously worry that I would be forced to drink your kool-aid or be considered some sort of troublemaker and made to feel ashamed for not sharing your opinions.

If you are a non BASIS parent what are you doing on this forum? And not just reading but even responding to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP to this thread and a non-BASIS parent. PP, I assume you mean well but quite frankly, your posts are becoming more unhinged and you are not helping the image of the BASIS parent. I have no dog in this fight but if I were considering your school, I would seriously worry that I would be forced to drink your kool-aid or be considered some sort of troublemaker and made to feel ashamed for not sharing your opinions.

If you are a non BASIS parent what are you doing on this forum? And not just reading but even responding to it.

It is a DC Public and Public Charter Schools forum and I am a DCPS parent. Good grief. BTW, you are only further proving my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a NP to this thread and a non-BASIS parent. PP, I assume you mean well but quite frankly, your posts are becoming more unhinged and you are not helping the image of the BASIS parent. I have no dog in this fight but if I were considering your school, I would seriously worry that I would be forced to drink your kool-aid or be considered some sort of troublemaker and made to feel ashamed for not sharing your opinions.

If you are a non BASIS parent what are you doing on this forum? And not just reading but even responding to it.

It is a DC Public and Public Charter Schools forum and I am a DCPS parent. Good grief. BTW, you are only further proving my point.

And you are proving my point as well. You sound like an ass and yet again are another Basis parent. This is a public forum, which is why I am begging people not to air dirty opinions or dirty laundry. Anyone who is considering Basis will do a search and this will come up long after the mistress of the universe has a Basis child who gets a bad grade and rethinks her position........ If you want to keep this kind of crap up, please take it to the list serve......... or just be quiet.

We just had a great meeting at Basis. You should have been there, instead of lecturing people on what t