BASIS--opinions please
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Anonymous
Gladiator ring? Basis is not a gladiator ring. It offers something unique that is not what everyone wants. My daughter soaks up the stuff at Basis and is a super happy child. She has a cohort of buddies she hangs out with who are growing together. There is a lot of work, sure, but she and her buddies are NOT stressed. I am not sure if people realize that "worry" or "feeling stressed" is fear based response. What exactly is the fear? I teach my kids there is nothing to be afraid of. Just go to school. The future is wide open. I do agree that you can go to a "normal" (whatever that means) paced school, you can have a great future as well. How much does this window determine the rest of your life? You tell me. I have a sister who was an A+ student and got into 6 out of 8 ivies, and she has been suicidal and is almost homeless because she has lost her vision in life. I also went to any Ivy and am super happy with my life. So...? |
Anonymous
That's true but they had over 4 years of intense work since they were offered biology, chemistry and physics starting in 8th grade. They also had a minimal level of precalculus by the end of 11th grade and had to take AP computer sciences. So how do you explain the low standardized test results? |
Anonymous
Just stop. You literally have no way of knowing the scores of all of these students. |
Anonymous
tell that to kids with IEPs who've struggled massively at BASIS. It has nothing to do with fear and as stated above DC would do fine academically. I don't want DC educated by a quasi corporate entity that believes it's ok to neglect civil rights of SN students, even if they are not my children. BASIS DC expansion has stalled for a reason. and I don't give a f@#! about your life story 
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Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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Latin acceptances are impressive for 2017 graduates with 5.7 million in scholarship money.
Any news from BASIS 2017 class except for the three students mentioned a week ago? |
Anonymous
not yet. |
Anonymous
Don't forget that Latin's college acceptances were not remotely impressive for the first few graduating classes, and this is Basis' first class of seniors. |
Anonymous
Yes, but Latin students did not have accelerated classes and AP classes for 4 years. |
Anonymous
You are missing the point- you cannot compare the college results of a Basis' first graduating Lucas's with Latin's 5th graduating class. And the kids who began in 8th grade at Basis who are graduating this year did not get accelerated and AP classes for 4 years because they did not have the years of acceleration before 8th grade and had a lot of catching up to do, so Leap wasn't offered for them, and there were only a handful of AP classes available because there weren't enough students to take them. |
Anonymous
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The DCUM spring game of whether college admissions for any particular set of students was prestigious enough is just gross.
I don't care if we're talking about Sidwell or Latin or Basis or Wilson or McKinley Tech. |
Anonymous
+1 Agreed. These are minors. And in this case, a very small group of minors in a first graduating class, and thus easily identifiable. Not okay. At all. |
Anonymous
Hmm. how do you not give a f...about someone's life story and yet have such a passionate response? Doesn't add up. Anyway, I think the issue raised here is whether schools are responsible for leveling the playing field for IEP students in the name of civil rights. I don't want to comment on the law here. Not familiar. But since this is brought up, I have opinions. Should the burden of the success of an IEP student be exclusively put upon the school? If a student is struggling at Basis, is some of the struggle just intrinsic to this student's learning style being not ideally matched with Basis's teaching methods? In which case, why would you keep the child at Basis? Why hate the school, or demand the school to change what is foundational in its teaching philosophy? I think it is okay to "judge" the philosophy and say it doesn't agree with you nor your child, but it is not because the school is wrong. It is just that the styles do not agree? My child is not a stellar student at Basis. Style of school and temperament of my child are not a perfect match. I can argue that he has a challenged learning style. At what point should I oppose the school and call this a civil rights issue because my child is not doing so well (C's and D's). I am not disagreeing that the people who struggle with the program struggle and have a hard time. I just wonder who carries the burden of providing a solution. And my discussion here is not about Basis at all. It really is about how to match a child to his/her ideal school. Do we want the schools to change for our children, who come in various shapes, sizes, abilities and challenges? What does an accommodating school really look like, and should there even be one like that? Have we ever seen one? I'd like to enroll my child there, a school that "makes sure" my child succeeds. |
Anonymous
You can have opinions, but you should learn about the IDEA and the responsibilities of public schools before solidifying them. Here's some places to start https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childs-rights/basics-about-childs-rights/how-idea-protects-you-and-your-child https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuals_with_Disabilities_Education_Act |
Anonymous
NP here, responding. Basis accepts federal funding, so they have to follow FAPE and IDEA. Period. If they don't want to, they can dismiss themselves from the charter game and only have private schools. They receive $15k a kid, so they need to make the curriculum accessible to disabled kids that attend. It doesn't mean those kids need to do well, but it does mean that they need to provide them with a way to access the curriculum. Your child not getting A's-ANY child not getting A's has nothing to do with it, and unless your child has been proven to have an issue that affects several major life and learning functions and Has been evaluated, tested, documented as having such a thing, you CANNOT argue anything about their learning style and expect civil rights protection. Many people with disabilities and many people with diverse learning styles do not qualify for protection under section 504 or IDEA, but everyone is required by law to have FAPE. I was going to say something snarky, but really, you just need to try and understand the law and why it's there, what it does, who it protects, and what protecting them or leveling the playing field really means. And BTW, my child does VERY well at Basis despite having a 504 that we have had to fight and even file complaints and soon a discrimination lawsuit to get admin to follow-he does beautifully at the school but having to self advocate constantly is exhausting and often expensive. Sean Aiken did his best to follow the law and support students as the law deemed them to be supported, but the present HOS does not, and got rid of the one person at Basis who did tirelessly advocate for all students. All the families with kids that have 504s are not sorry to see him go-what he has done to kids like mine is deplorable. Sadly, our kid's learning style independent of his disability jives with Basis' pedagogy, but we won't be able to stay because this past HOS and the one before him would rather do anything than provide FAPE, and we are tired of fighting as hard as we have to there for our kids' civil rights. |