Why are kids dropping out of BASIS DC starting in 7/8th grade?

[Anonymous]

Several months ago, one of the BASIS admins told me, a volunteer, that we "want half the MS kids to leave before HS on every campus because they're not cut out for the academic challenges ahead, and the federal charter law won't let us screen for the right types."

The law, as written, is half the problem. Why not let BASIS create the charter versions of Stuyvesant, Bronx Sci and Boston Latin in various states and DC, as long as a good many low-income kids are being served in the process? What would be so horrible about that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several months ago, one of the BASIS admins told me, a volunteer, that we "want half the MS kids to leave before HS on every campus because they're not cut out for the academic challenges ahead, and the federal charter law won't let us screen for the right types."

The law, as written, is half the problem. Why not let BASIS create the charter versions of Stuyvesant, Bronx Sci and Boston Latin in various states and DC, as long as a good many low-income kids are being served in the process? What would be so horrible about that?

One observation, PP, is that BASIS MS provides a valuable educational experience even for kids who choose not to stay for BASIS HS. A highly selective MS would not provide the same benefit to kids who are not BASIS HS material, but are BASIS MS material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several months ago, one of the BASIS admins told me, a volunteer, that we "want half the MS kids to leave before HS on every campus because they're not cut out for the academic challenges ahead, and the federal charter law won't let us screen for the right types."

The law, as written, is half the problem. Why not let BASIS create the charter versions of Stuyvesant, Bronx Sci and Boston Latin in various states and DC, as long as a good many low-income kids are being served in the process? What would be so horrible about that?

I think if there are going to be magnet schools, they should be run by the city. If there's something to learn from Basis, or contract with Basis for management of one, that'd be fine. But it's a little creepy to me to think of giving private sector the right to run something like that. The general direction for something like that should be accountable to a public official.

I also think it's creepy that they're skirting the law... "the right types"...

[Anonymous]

Yea, but then the governments of China, Brazil, Russia, European countries etc. don't tend to fret about finding and challenging the "right types" in public schools, and, like it or not, we need to compete with them economically in this century.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several months ago, one of the BASIS admins told me, a volunteer, that we "want half the MS kids to leave before HS on every campus because they're not cut out for the academic challenges ahead, and the federal charter law won't let us screen for the right types."

The law, as written, is half the problem. Why not let BASIS create the charter versions of Stuyvesant, Bronx Sci and Boston Latin in various states and DC, as long as a good many low-income kids are being served in the process? What would be so horrible about that?

I think if there are going to be magnet schools, they should be run by the city. If there's something to learn from Basis, or contract with Basis for management of one, that'd be fine. But it's a little creepy to me to think of giving private sector the right to run something like that. The general direction for something like that should be accountable to a public official.

I also think it's creepy that they're skirting the law... "the right types"...

Right, right, run by the city that rejects ES GT, test-in MS programs, and Alice Deal for all. The general direction should be true rigor for the brightest and hardest working students, WITH decent school facilities (gyms, auditoriums, stages, outdoor space etc.). BASIS can't work miracles in this obnoxious political climate.

[Anonymous]

For one thing, BASIS probably assigns 3X as much homework as is healthy for kids:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/health/homework-elementary-school-study/

Kids are leaving because they've got a life to live.

[Anonymous]

You guys seem clueless.

My next door neighbor's kid, a very hard working young man whom I have known for many years attended DC BASIS since its inception.
The first year, he was a very happy 8th grader.

Year two was alright, except for the end of the year when one teacher decided to fail him without giving any prior notice for supposed plagiarism on a final exam. When hid parents asked for proof which could not be provided, the story changed; they were told that the "F" was the result of his final exam not reflecting his writing style. During a meeting, the principal promised he would retake the exam, but after postponing the test several times, he was told point blank it would not happen. As for this year, he showed me his "CJ" notebook where his end of year grade was a 93 in that English. A couple weeks later, the grade was lower by 20% in the report card.

[/b]This young man and another classmate are totally convinced that the report cards and even the AP exams are being manipulated by BASIS data person who has the ultimate control over students' grades. This is a case of the truth being stranger than fiction.[b]

You can put your tinfoil hat back on now.
And shame on you for encouraging and perpetuating such preposterous allegations. I cannot respond to the plagiarism issue - sounds completely unfair and badly handled but I was not there.
CJ's do not and have never reflected final grades.
There is no way the "BASIS data person" who seems like a lout but mostly lazy and incompetent would be capable of manipulating report cards, much less AP exams. If anyone could manipulate AP exams all the students would get 5's unless you think he took his low paying job just to be evil to an arbitrarily selected group of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP, we couldn't ALL get into Latin like your DC! And for whatever anyone says about the obnoxious BASIS booster and basher parents, I'm up.to.here with the smugness of the Latin families. Please, please write more about balancing the whole child.

Whether or not we stay at BASIS through high school, I cannot wait to compare where the first graduating seniors will be accepted in comparison to Latin.

Latin has graduated three classes already, and some people on this board decried what they viewed as on the whole shoddy college admissions, completely failing to realize that many of those kids decided where to go based on financial aid packages or merit awards. The first kids who graduate from BASIS DC will have started in 8th grade, so they hardly got the benefit of the BASIS middle school experience and their high school experience will be unlike subsequent graduating classes........... and economically many of them are in the same position as the Latin kids, so tread carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It appears that this is the business model for the BASIS franchise (not unique to DC). According the news report, "During the 2012 to 2013 school year, BASIS Scottsdale had 144 students in the sixth grade, but only 32 in the 12th grade. Other BASIS schools show a similar pattern." But BASIS explains that the cohort classes in some of these instances were small to begin with. Who to believe?

http://www.kpho.com/story/29731806/basis-schools-fight-criticism-work-to-increase-student-retention

The person who made the comment that the article was very one sided - against BASIS.
The person who pointed out that this year there are 86 kids in the senior class at BASIS Scottsdale, one of the first BASIS schools ever founded - in 1998 I think.

If that is true, I think it is evidence that they can grow their graduating classes, and they do try to grow them - at least in Arizona, but clearly it is going to be a gradual process in DC. Especially because BASIS is constantly trashed here, and it is going to take some time for risk averse high SES parents to keep their kids there for high school when they have the option of other schools with established track records for kids like theirs - Walls and Wilson.

Latin's college admissions have not been that great for their first three years but in those initial early years they had the same pattern going on - kids would leave for high school to go private or to Walls or Wilson. They seem to have turned their corner - but they were founded in 2007. We were founded in 2012, not just with one baby class of 5th graders, but we accepted everyone who applied 5th-8th. So our first graduating classes will not have had the entire BASIS education to begin with....

although at least we have gotten to the point (finally!) on this board where most agree that as MS options go in Washington DC, unless you are zoned for Deal or win the lottery for Washington Latin, BASIS is a good option for MS - and I think we can all agree that we need more good options for MS here in Washington DC......... "Alice Deal for all" is never going to become the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The kids that have left are so much happier and well-adjusted, have tons of friends, and are doing well academically in their new schools. They find school to be a fun and balanced place to learn, as well as to grow physically and socially without the dreaded surprise of failing a class during the last week of school.

Very revealing -- you have no clue. My child is one of the 7th graders who left despite all was going very well and learning was exciting and fast-paced. None of those things are true where my child is now, and I rue the day we left for private. Basis will not take back students who have left.

Thank you for posting this. There are many in the BASIS MS who go private for high school and I have wondered whether in addition to academic success they find the same academic rigor...............

The first year when 13 kids left for Walls, several wanted to return to BASIS after a few weeks - which is why we changed our charter. But Walls makes it very difficult to know what you are getting in to - they only allow accepted students to shadow, within a very small window of time, and so those who are admitted off the wait list have to make the decision basically blind. My BASIS kid shadowed and was not impressed at all - and apparently they have the same amount of homework at Walls as they do at BASIS anyway. Most top private schools admit that by 11th grade 4 hours of homework is the norm, and this is after their kids come home from sports in order to be "well rounded." We are taking the risk and staying, but just hearing your experience makes me feel better about our decision.

[Anonymous]

The entire thread makes me want to home school my kid. If I were made to go through this crap, I'd be a truant, too. Kids aren't allowed to have fun anymore.

[Anonymous]

+1. I went to an Ivy on a Pell Grant after having had a great deal of fun in HS, playing sports and in a marching band, acting in plays, participating in student government, goofing around with friends. I don't remember doing four hours of homework a night, at least not on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

BASIS and Latin should expand. The Mayor and DME should express her support and potential parents should back her up. Yes, of course, DCPS will always be the top priority.

Don't expect current parents to push for expansion. In any school, current parents care most about the risk of upsetting current operations or distracting the staff more than increasing opportunity for others in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. I went to an Ivy on a Pell Grant after having had a great deal of fun in HS, playing sports and in a marching band, acting in plays, participating in student government, goofing around with friends. I don't remember doing four hours of homework a night, at least not on a regular basis.

well said. BASIS parent here who is shocked by the amount of homework in high school at places like TJ, BASIS DC, and the top private schools in DC - but has figured out that the only way to escape may be by going to Wilson - but I think the kids there who get into Ivies from Wilson probably also have a similar amount of work as well by high school............

I went to a top DC private, had a good deal of fun in high school doing drama and other activities and also do not remember 4 hours of homework ever unless it was because I had procrastinated on a huge essay or something. Also got into an Ivy, and had a blast there. OTOH, husband went to top serious school in NYC and said that he was "overprepared" for our Ivy (and he did quite a lot of homework). I definitely did not feel "overprepared" but maybe that was a confidence issue. We were there at the same time. So who knows.

If you were in a marching band, you probably were in the suburbs............ but maybe I am wrong.

All I am saying is that the times have changed, the workload has increased (but at least at BASIS there is no busy work) and kids at Walls constantly complain about their homework load as well.

And I was quite relieved to see that the times had also changed at my old private where they are complaining about 4 hours of homework a night by 11th grade. And my BASIS 8th grader had nowhere near 4 hours of homework a night, but if we are competing with the private schools, and that is what they do, makes sense that BASIS does and has top nationally ranked schools..........

The only school that may have more homework is Banneker, and I think only the top kids there do as well. But moving from BASIS to Banneker or Walls to reduce work load or get a "normal high school experience" makes no sense. The kids at Banneker and Walls have their own culture and just as much work........ and not a "normal" experience - not to say a bad one, just different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1. I went to an Ivy on a Pell Grant after having had a great deal of fun in HS, playing sports and in a marching band, acting in plays, participating in student government, goofing around with friends. I don't remember doing four hours of homework a night, at least not on a regular basis.

well said. BASIS parent here who is shocked by the amount of homework in high school at places like TJ, BASIS DC, and the top private schools in DC - but has figured out that the only way to escape may be by going to Wilson - but I think the kids there who get into Ivies from Wilson probably also have a similar amount of work as well by high school............

I went to a top DC private, had a good deal of fun in high school doing drama and other activities and also do not remember 4 hours of homework ever unless it was because I had procrastinated on a huge essay or something. Also got into an Ivy, and had a blast there. OTOH, husband went to top serious school in NYC and said that he was "overprepared" for our Ivy (and he did quite a lot of homework). I definitely did not feel "overprepared" but maybe that was a confidence issue. We were there at the same time. So who knows.

If you were in a marching band, you probably were in the suburbs............ but maybe I am wrong.

All I am saying is that the times have changed, the workload has increased (but at least at BASIS there is no busy work) and kids at Walls constantly complain about their homework load as well.

And I was quite relieved to see that the times had also changed at my old private where they are complaining about 4 hours of homework a night by 11th grade. And my BASIS 8th grader had nowhere near 4 hours of homework a night, but if we are competing with the private schools, and that is what they do, makes sense that BASIS does and has top nationally ranked schools..........

The only school that may have more homework is Banneker, and I think only the top kids there do as well. But moving from BASIS to Banneker or Walls to reduce work load or get a "normal high school experience" makes no sense. The kids at Banneker and Walls have their own culture and just as much work........ and not a "normal" experience - not to say a bad one, just different.

My take is that if you want to give your kid a somewhat chance at an Ivy then you probably ARE condemning him/her to 4 hours homework a night in high school, anywhere you send the child. Personally, I would gut-check the goal of an Ivy before you send them down that path. These days, many of those Ivy-going kids are not close to being "whole person" developmentally when they get in, and then they are on the HabiTrail grind once more, when they get out. Again, personally, not the kind of life I pray my kid experiences. The better bet is to encourage them to develop their gifts when they are young, get them a decent post-high school education somewhere, then they do their thing in young adulthood. They'll figure it all out eventually. I don't have the same confidence in the maturation & development of Ivy school kids, not post-millenium, not at all.