BASIS DC will seek to expand to include K to 4th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 50 or more basis kids on the mall every every afternoon until 6. Anyone claiming the mall isn’t utilized has zero connection to the school.

I don't know why you insist on conflating after-school use with school use.

[Anonymous]

The kids are in class during school. Unless they are at lunch, where you would find them in one of those places.

[Anonymous]

Just another BASIS hater who doesn’t want to admit that their kid washed out of the school/Mall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just another BASIS hater who doesn’t want to admit that their kid washed out of the school/Mall.

It is so odd the hatred. The school is not perfect at all. It has some big problems and isn’t right for everyone. But why the constant disbelief that any child there is happy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just another BASIS hater who doesn’t want to admit that their kid washed out of the school/Mall.

It is so odd the hatred. The school is not perfect at all. It has some big problems and isn’t right for everyone. But why the constant disbelief that any child there is happy?

I think it’s insecurity. We tried BASIS and left. Our kid did really well there so didn’t “wash out.” We just wanted a different school experience. We still know kids who are happy there and want to stay, and some who are there because they don’t have better options. It really is a mix. I think there are good and bad things about the school. It’s not right for everyone. I wish the defenders would just admit that instead of saying that anyone who leaves couldn’t hack it or washed out. That’s just not true. Some families just want something else. That’s ok too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just another BASIS hater who doesn’t want to admit that their kid washed out of the school/Mall.

It is so odd the hatred. The school is not perfect at all. It has some big problems and isn’t right for everyone. But why the constant disbelief that any child there is happy?

JFC why read every single non-booster comment as hatred?

[Anonymous]

It isn’t the people who left because it wasn’t a good fit like you that are the problem. It is the people who keep coming to insist that every kid who has stayed is unhappy. Those parents sound crazy. Nobody, even those with perfectly happy kids there, has ever said it is s perfect school or that it fits everyone. It is a small round hole of a school; it has to match the input pretty clearly for it to work. It isn’t just that the kid needs to be smart and organized amd self motivated with great executive functioning skills. But they also have to do well with the small number of extracurriculars offered. For instance, I know a kid who would do great there but he is obsessed with motors and engineering. Basis would be a terrible choice for him. JR is perfect. Different things fit different kids. Why all the hatred?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t the people who left because it wasn’t a good fit like you that are the problem. It is the people who keep coming to insist that every kid who has stayed is unhappy. Those parents sound crazy. Nobody, even those with perfectly happy kids there, has ever said it is s perfect school or that it fits everyone. It is a small round hole of a school; it has to match the input pretty clearly for it to work. It isn’t just that the kid needs to be smart and organized amd self motivated with great executive functioning skills. But they also have to do well with the small number of extracurriculars offered. For instance, I know a kid who would do great there but he is obsessed with motors and engineering. Basis would be a terrible choice for him. JR is perfect. Different things fit different kids. Why all the hatred?

+1

I know a kid who got in and turned it down. She would have done really well at Basis, mature, studious, etc. She turned it down because when she visited she didn’t like the facility and the lack of outdoor time. She didn’t hate the school, just wasn’t for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t the people who left because it wasn’t a good fit like you that are the problem. It is the people who keep coming to insist that every kid who has stayed is unhappy. Those parents sound crazy. Nobody, even those with perfectly happy kids there, has ever said it is s perfect school or that it fits everyone. It is a small round hole of a school; it has to match the input pretty clearly for it to work. It isn’t just that the kid needs to be smart and organized amd self motivated with great executive functioning skills. But they also have to do well with the small number of extracurriculars offered. For instance, I know a kid who would do great there but he is obsessed with motors and engineering. Basis would be a terrible choice for him. JR is perfect. Different things fit different kids. Why all the hatred?

Nonsense; crazy parents aren't insisting that all the BASIS students who stay are unhappy. In our experience the critical ingredient for success at BASIS from day one, is a family psychology not dissimilar to a military mindset. You need to be comfortable doing what you're told to a far greater extent than in good suburban public schools in an upscale area, to march in step, not to question management or the system (no PTA allowed), not to raise issues of concern with admins, to shut up and pay for ECs that aren't offered. BASIS isn't a great choice for families with a tendency to think outside the box, with unusual backgrounds, with a yen to get involved at the school, or with quirky interests. We didn't like the strong emphasis on conformity or admins pushing policies that are far from best practices in education (particularly no language study before 8th grade and then only at the beginning level).

[Anonymous]

I fully disagree. I don’t think you know any basis families. You are the crazy parent.

[Anonymous]

We were a BASIS DC family for years and agree with PP above. It's a painfully top-down school but at least the kids learn a lot. If you're thinking about BASIS for your rising 5th grader, don't kid yourselves that parent input is welcomed.

I can't imagine a BASIS elementary school being all that much fun, but I bet the kids will learn grammar, spelling, math, like we did at my Catholic grammar school in the 70s.

[Anonymous]

No skin in the game here. Kid is not at Basis and we are not interested in Basis.

But I think it’s a good thing to open a charter elementary school with a solid middle school option. We need more of these schools for the kids in DC.

And before anyone says, well they might take kids who otherwise would go to their IB elementary school, I would say that would change if DCPS doesn’t socially promote everyone or does tracking and placement of kids in appropriate academic levels. But we know that is not going to happen. In fact, academics continues to be dumb down to the lowest common denominator which is lower now post Covid then ever before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were a BASIS DC family for years and agree with PP above. It's a painfully top-down school but at least the kids learn a lot. If you're thinking about BASIS for your rising 5th grader, don't kid yourselves that parent input is welcomed.

I can't imagine a BASIS elementary school being all that much fun, but I bet the kids will learn grammar, spelling, math, like we did at my Catholic grammar school in the 70s.

This. If your family can stomach the PTA ban, admins blowing off parent concerns, the bad building and higher teacher turnover than you'd like (can't imagine that an ES being much better on any level), BASIS can work pretty well for hard-working kids. If DCPS is going to continue to hassle families EotP with sub-par ES academics and middle school lottery luck stress, our ed leaders deserve a BASIS DC ES. I say this as a parent who stuck with 5th grade at our DCPS ES EotP and wish we hadn't bothered. Yes, things are much worse post Covid. My youngest hardly learned a thing at school in 5th grade. We practically home schooled her with help from tutors and Mathnasium.

[Anonymous]

A common enough tale. Bring on the academic competition a BASIS elementary program would provide to shake DCPS and fellow charters up a little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A common enough tale. Bring on the academic competition a BASIS elementary program would provide to shake DCPS and fellow charters up a little.

All the opening of charter schools has done is make DCPS 5th grade and middle school weaker. There is no “shaking up” DCPS. They simply DNGAF about catering to high fliers.