The truth about Basis School DC

[Anonymous]

Not surprised to hear any of this, PP. The joyless cave of a building is super stressful for kids. Plus the curriculum isn't implemented well. The main problem is that BASIS doesn't really ability group for anything but math in the middle school. The result is that half the kids can't really handle the work but are left in class with kids who can for most of the day. No wonder kids act out.

We left BASIS 3.5 years in. My wise guy kid's behavior improved dramatically after we put him in a school with playing fields, expanses of green, and a strong sport and exercise program. For starters, Garrett needs to do more to get the kids outside seeing the sky and breathing fresh air, a lot more.

Good luck everybody who's stayed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if Basis McLean is better run than Basis DC. Current Basis DC parent here and I have been very unimpressed with Garrett’s leadership. Also, there are too many fights and altercations. My kid has witnessed one child smash another child’s face into a locker that resulted in a bloody nose. Another child gave a girl a black eye. Last year the kids spent several anxious hours huddled under desks after a teacher overreacted to two kids verbally insulting one another (at least that’s my understanding). My kid said one of his classmates wet his pants that day. Just awful. They do not have a handle on the behavioral problems there, and I wonder if some of the behavior is stress-induced. The curriculum is super stressful for kids. Garrett does not communicate well with the school community about active measures they are taking to address these issues by articulating school values and vision.

BASIS McLean is much smaller and is a private school with parents paying $30K per year in tuition. It's simply not going to have the same issues as a DC public charter school.

Whether they're managing BASIS DC well is a whole other question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not surprised to hear any of this, PP. The joyless cave of a building is super stressful for kids. Plus the curriculum isn't implemented well. The main problem is that BASIS doesn't really ability group for anything but math in the middle school. The result is that half the kids can't really handle the work but are left in class with kids who can for most of the day. No wonder kids act out.

We left BASIS 3.5 years in. My wise guy kid's behavior improved dramatically after we put him in a school with playing fields, expanses of green, and a strong sport and exercise program. For starters, Garrett needs to do more to get the kids outside seeing the sky and breathing fresh air, a lot more.

Good luck everybody who's stayed.

Because DCPCS will not create test in schools, they have to create fail out ones. The behavior problem dramatically improve once the students have the end of the year comps. 7th grade is calmer than 5/6, 8th is even better and by high school the cohort is very chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: We have a 6th grader there who is drowning under the homework. Sometimes it takes him 3-4 hours a night. And he is not the only one. Anecdotally, other parents have expressed similar concerns.

Former Basis parent here. If your child is drowning under the homework, run don't walk away from Basis. We left after 6th grade and my main regret is that we waited that long to leave. It's an insane amount of work for 11 year olds. My child did horribly on the comp and when we were given the material he needed to work on over the summer in order to be promoted, I knew it was time to leave and we couldn't be happier with our decision. Some kids excel in that kind of environment but Basis is not for every kid and it sounds like it is not the best place for your kid. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not surprised to hear any of this, PP. The joyless cave of a building is super stressful for kids. Plus the curriculum isn't implemented well. The main problem is that BASIS doesn't really ability group for anything but math in the middle school. The result is that half the kids can't really handle the work but are left in class with kids who can for most of the day. No wonder kids act out.

We left BASIS 3.5 years in. My wise guy kid's behavior improved dramatically after we put him in a school with playing fields, expanses of green, and a strong sport and exercise program. For starters, Garrett needs to do more to get the kids outside seeing the sky and breathing fresh air, a lot more.

Good luck everybody who's stayed.

Because DCPCS will not create test in schools, they have to create fail out ones. The behavior problem dramatically improve once the students have the end of the year comps. 7th grade is calmer than 5/6, 8th is even better and by high school the cohort is very chill.

Do not agree that US is very chill; although more lax on grades. US parent here. Wish we had left in the 6th grade. My child's writing is atrocious (gets A's in English) and I am having to pay a lot of money to have him work on it. No research paper nor have they taught them how to cite sources or basic research skills. He thinks it is just fine because of his grades although I consider it 6th/7th grade level at best. Make sure that your child gets a 3.0 in 7th grade otherwise your child options are limited to apply out. We were accepted at privates but my son did not want to go; wish I had insisted. The education, other than science is not that good. The math is just formulaic not conceptual. Don't be hoodwinked by the boosters; I am trying to get my US child's conceptual understandings and abilities up to where a good private; with no AP classes, would have afforded him.

[Anonymous]

US as in USA? Are you a foreign BASIS DC parent? Not clear from your post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:US as in USA? Are you a foreign BASIS DC parent? Not clear from your post.

NP. Upper School (8th-12th)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not surprised to hear any of this, PP. The joyless cave of a building is super stressful for kids. Plus the curriculum isn't implemented well. The main problem is that BASIS doesn't really ability group for anything but math in the middle school. The result is that half the kids can't really handle the work but are left in class with kids who can for most of the day. No wonder kids act out.

We left BASIS 3.5 years in. My wise guy kid's behavior improved dramatically after we put him in a school with playing fields, expanses of green, and a strong sport and exercise program. For starters, Garrett needs to do more to get the kids outside seeing the sky and breathing fresh air, a lot more.

Good luck everybody who's stayed.

Because DCPCS will not create test in schools, they have to create fail out ones. The behavior problem dramatically improve once the students have the end of the year comps. 7th grade is calmer than 5/6, 8th is even better and by high school the cohort is very chill.

Do not agree that US is very chill; although more lax on grades. US parent here. Wish we had left in the 6th grade. My child's writing is atrocious (gets A's in English) and I am having to pay a lot of money to have him work on it. No research paper nor have they taught them how to cite sources or basic research skills. He thinks it is just fine because of his grades although I consider it 6th/7th grade level at best. Make sure that your child gets a 3.0 in 7th grade otherwise your child options are limited to apply out. We were accepted at privates but my son did not want to go; wish I had insisted. The education, other than science is not that good. The math is just formulaic not conceptual. Don't be hoodwinked by the boosters; I am trying to get my US child's conceptual understandings and abilities up to where a good private; with no AP classes, would have afforded him.

This is about the most useful BASIS post I've ever come across. Thanks a lot, PP. We're heading to a DCPS middle school (not Deal) where I plan to embrace your "half home-school based on standards of a good private" model to make it work. You're a smart and observant cookie and an inspiration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not surprised to hear any of this, PP. The joyless cave of a building is super stressful for kids. Plus the curriculum isn't implemented well. The main problem is that BASIS doesn't really ability group for anything but math in the middle school. The result is that half the kids can't really handle the work but are left in class with kids who can for most of the day. No wonder kids act out.

We left BASIS 3.5 years in. My wise guy kid's behavior improved dramatically after we put him in a school with playing fields, expanses of green, and a strong sport and exercise program. For starters, Garrett needs to do more to get the kids outside seeing the sky and breathing fresh air, a lot more.

Good luck everybody who's stayed.

Because DCPCS will not create test in schools, they have to create fail out ones. The behavior problem dramatically improve once the students have the end of the year comps. 7th grade is calmer than 5/6, 8th is even better and by high school the cohort is very chill.

Do not agree that US is very chill; although more lax on grades. US parent here. Wish we had left in the 6th grade. My child's writing is atrocious (gets A's in English) and I am having to pay a lot of money to have him work on it. No research paper nor have they taught them how to cite sources or basic research skills. He thinks it is just fine because of his grades although I consider it 6th/7th grade level at best. Make sure that your child gets a 3.0 in 7th grade otherwise your child options are limited to apply out. We were accepted at privates but my son did not want to go; wish I had insisted. The education, other than science is not that good. The math is just formulaic not conceptual. Don't be hoodwinked by the boosters; I am trying to get my US child's conceptual understandings and abilities up to where a good private; with no AP classes, would have afforded him.

This is about the most useful BASIS post I've ever come across. Thanks a lot, PP. We're heading to a DCPS middle school (not Deal) where I plan to embrace your "half home-school based on standards of a good private" model to make it work. You're a smart and observant cookie and an inspiration.

I found it to be one of the most useless posts ever. The PP was obviously lazy and waited till high school to supplement academic weaknesses. That is much too late. You cannot rely solely on grades no matter the school. Despite top grades I critique the writing of my child and supplement math beyond the school curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if Basis McLean is better run than Basis DC. Current Basis DC parent here and I have been very unimpressed with Garrett’s leadership. Also, there are too many fights and altercations. My kid has witnessed one child smash another child’s face into a locker that resulted in a bloody nose. Another child gave a girl a black eye. Last year the kids spent several anxious hours huddled under desks after a teacher overreacted to two kids verbally insulting one another (at least that’s my understanding). My kid said one of his classmates wet his pants that day. Just awful. They do not have a handle on the behavioral problems there, and I wonder if some of the behavior is stress-induced. The curriculum is super stressful for kids. Garrett does not communicate well with the school community about active measures they are taking to address these issues by articulating school values and vision.

BASIS McLean is much smaller and is a private school with parents paying $30K per year in tuition. It's simply not going to have the same issues as a DC public charter school.

Whether they're managing BASIS DC well is a whole other question.

McLean has a bigger facility and less fights, but major issues with leadership. Teacher turnover has been a challenge as well. The curriculum is similar to all the other schools, as they all take the same precomp and comp exams. As for homework, there are definitely middle schoolers who say they have no homework and those who say they have hours worth work and stay up late. The only difference I see is that some kids do homework during class while the teacher is teaching. My kid feels that is disrespectful, especially those who do homework for another class during classes where the teacher might not notice. My kid says that of course he would finish his homework during the day if he didn’t engage in classes and instead did homework for several hours during the school day. There has been no remedy to the excessive homework even with parents and students complaining to all the HOS, deans and directors. It is a lot of repetition and busy work. Very stressful and unhappy environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not surprised to hear any of this, PP. The joyless cave of a building is super stressful for kids. Plus the curriculum isn't implemented well. The main problem is that BASIS doesn't really ability group for anything but math in the middle school. The result is that half the kids can't really handle the work but are left in class with kids who can for most of the day. No wonder kids act out.

We left BASIS 3.5 years in. My wise guy kid's behavior improved dramatically after we put him in a school with playing fields, expanses of green, and a strong sport and exercise program. For starters, Garrett needs to do more to get the kids outside seeing the sky and breathing fresh air, a lot more.

Good luck everybody who's stayed.

Because DCPCS will not create test in schools, they have to create fail out ones. The behavior problem dramatically improve once the students have the end of the year comps. 7th grade is calmer than 5/6, 8th is even better and by high school the cohort is very chill.

Do not agree that US is very chill; although more lax on grades. US parent here. Wish we had left in the 6th grade. My child's writing is atrocious (gets A's in English) and I am having to pay a lot of money to have him work on it. No research paper nor have they taught them how to cite sources or basic research skills. He thinks it is just fine because of his grades although I consider it 6th/7th grade level at best. Make sure that your child gets a 3.0 in 7th grade otherwise your child options are limited to apply out. We were accepted at privates but my son did not want to go; wish I had insisted. The education, other than science is not that good. The math is just formulaic not conceptual. Don't be hoodwinked by the boosters; I am trying to get my US child's conceptual understandings and abilities up to where a good private; with no AP classes, would have afforded him.

This is about the most useful BASIS post I've ever come across. Thanks a lot, PP. We're heading to a DCPS middle school (not Deal) where I plan to embrace your "half home-school based on standards of a good private" model to make it work. You're a smart and observant cookie and an inspiration.

I found it to be one of the most useless posts ever. The PP was obviously lazy and waited till high school to supplement academic weaknesses. That is much too late. You cannot rely solely on grades no matter the school. Despite top grades I critique the writing of my child and supplement math beyond the school curriculum.

OK, we're inspired by you, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if Basis McLean is better run than Basis DC. Current Basis DC parent here and I have been very unimpressed with Garrett’s leadership. Also, there are too many fights and altercations. My kid has witnessed one child smash another child’s face into a locker that resulted in a bloody nose. Another child gave a girl a black eye. Last year the kids spent several anxious hours huddled under desks after a teacher overreacted to two kids verbally insulting one another (at least that’s my understanding). My kid said one of his classmates wet his pants that day. Just awful. They do not have a handle on the behavioral problems there, and I wonder if some of the behavior is stress-induced. The curriculum is super stressful for kids. Garrett does not communicate well with the school community about active measures they are taking to address these issues by articulating school values and vision.

BASIS McLean is much smaller and is a private school with parents paying $30K per year in tuition. It's simply not going to have the same issues as a DC public charter school.

Whether they're managing BASIS DC well is a whole other question.

McLean has a bigger facility and less fights, but major issues with leadership. Teacher turnover has been a challenge as well. The curriculum is similar to all the other schools, as they all take the same precomp and comp exams. As for homework, there are definitely middle schoolers who say they have no homework and those who say they have hours worth work and stay up late. The only difference I see is that some kids do homework during class while the teacher is teaching. My kid feels that is disrespectful, especially those who do homework for another class during classes where the teacher might not notice. My kid says that of course he would finish his homework during the day if he didn’t engage in classes and instead did homework for several hours during the school day. There has been no remedy to the excessive homework even with parents and students complaining to all the HOS, deans and directors. It is a lot of repetition and busy work. Very stressful and unhappy environment.

Ridiculous, what a shame.