BASIS Lottery ONLY for 5th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, the inveterate boosters are the worst on these threads.

BASIS admins can do no wrong.

C'mon, the program doesn't go from around 130 mostly bright and hard-working 5th graders to four dozen seniors without a whole bunch of families finding BASIS lacking.

Basis parent here. There's plenty of things not to like or not to like about Basis. But I would argue it's a bit early to claim this is the permanent trend- its first class of 5th graders only graduated last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the inveterate boosters are the worst on these threads.

BASIS admins can do no wrong.

C'mon, the program doesn't go from around 130 mostly bright and hard-working 5th graders to four dozen seniors without a whole bunch of families finding BASIS lacking.

Basis parent here. There's plenty of things not to like or not to like about Basis. But I would argue it's a bit early to claim this is the permanent trend- its first class of 5th graders only graduated last year.

Maybe, but I doubt it. A college roommate had her kids in BASIs Scottsdale AZ for MS. Her issues with the lack of respect for individual learning styles and backgrounds would not have stood out in the DC context. The AZ programs predate the DC campus by 20 or 25 years. My roommates’ children were no slouches at a different Publix’s HS. One to CalTech and the other to Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the inveterate boosters are the worst on these threads.

BASIS admins can do no wrong.

C'mon, the program doesn't go from around 130 mostly bright and hard-working 5th graders to four dozen seniors without a whole bunch of families finding BASIS lacking.

Basis parent here. There's plenty of things not to like or not to like about Basis. But I would argue it's a bit early to claim this is the permanent trend- its first class of 5th graders only graduated last year.

Maybe, but I doubt it. A college roommate had her kids in BASIs Scottsdale AZ for MS. Her issues with the lack of respect for individual learning styles and backgrounds would not have stood out in the DC context. The AZ programs predate the DC campus by 20 or 25 years. My roommates’ children were no slouches at a different Publix’s HS. One to CalTech and the other to Brown.

It's a fair criticism of the program. I just don't get why people expect it to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is why charters aren't the answer. Taxpayers don't have a say in how they're run. There's almost no accountability.

Seriously? Because Basis doesn't cater to immersion students it shouldn't exist?

No, because its inflexibility means it can't serve most of the students originally chosen by lottery, as evidenced by high attrition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is why charters aren't the answer. Taxpayers don't have a say in how they're run. There's almost no accountability.

Seriously? Because Basis doesn't cater to immersion students it shouldn't exist?

No, because its inflexibility means it can't serve most of the students originally chosen by lottery, as evidenced by high attrition.

Which brings us full-circle to the constant lament that there’s no test-in middle school program.

In the absence of a test in program a little more self-selection by parents would be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is why charters aren't the answer. Taxpayers don't have a say in how they're run. There's almost no accountability.

Seriously? Because Basis doesn't cater to immersion students it shouldn't exist?

No, because its inflexibility means it can't serve most of the students originally chosen by lottery, as evidenced by high attrition.

+100. This.

We bailed because our kid was miserable in BASIS in 7th grade. Moved in-boundary for Deal where he's been happy, gets all As, takes advanced math and advanced Spanish, does all sorts of extra-curriculars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is why charters aren't the answer. Taxpayers don't have a say in how they're run. There's almost no accountability.

Seriously? Because Basis doesn't cater to immersion students it shouldn't exist?

No, because its inflexibility means it can't serve most of the students originally chosen by lottery, as evidenced by high attrition.

Which brings us full-circle to the constant lament that there’s no test-in middle school program.

In the absence of a test in program a little more self-selection by parents would be helpful.

Boston Latin graduate who agrees with this. But the problem with BASIS is that self-selection only gets you so far. My kid did algebra in 6th grade without a problem, made 90s club, yet disliked BASIS by 7th grade. He wasn't getting nearly enough fresh air or fun, had no chance to perform (which he loves) at school, too much busy work homework, had too many inexperienced teachers giving us all headaches.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids at Basis and DL has given me a great chance to see the curriculum and homework. Overall I’m enormously impressed, though the content is certainly challenging. That said the workload for both of my kids is manageable (with the occasional off day).

I agree some teachers are inexperienced, though others are great.

No insult to your son, but 90s club is no big deal. There’s a lot of grade inflation at the school and it strikes me that almost any kid who makes a serious effort is in 90s club. (I’ve never counted the kids, but it definitely seems like over half the grade.)

And yes the facilities are crappy, athletic and theater opportunities are poor, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is why charters aren't the answer. Taxpayers don't have a say in how they're run. There's almost no accountability.

Seriously? Because Basis doesn't cater to immersion students it shouldn't exist?

No, because its inflexibility means it can't serve most of the students originally chosen by lottery, as evidenced by high attrition.

+100. This.

We bailed because our kid was miserable in BASIS in 7th grade. Moved in-boundary for Deal where he's been happy, gets all As, takes advanced math and advanced Spanish, does all sorts of extra-curriculars.

where will he go to high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the inveterate boosters are the worst on these threads.

BASIS admins can do no wrong.

C'mon, the program doesn't go from around 130 mostly bright and hard-working 5th graders to four dozen seniors without a whole bunch of families finding BASIS lacking.

Basis parent here. There's plenty of things not to like or not to like about Basis. But I would argue it's a bit early to claim this is the permanent trend- its first class of 5th graders only graduated last year.

What are you smoking, PP? It is a permanent trend, by design, not a secret. The AZ campuses ensure that most of the middle school students don't stay for high school. Somewhere between half and two-thirds of the middle school students have been gone by high school at the original campuses since the 90s. That's the BASIS model. The franchise gets away with weeding out most of their public school students by 9th grade everywhere they operate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is why charters aren't the answer. Taxpayers don't have a say in how they're run. There's almost no accountability.

Seriously? Because Basis doesn't cater to immersion students it shouldn't exist?

No, because its inflexibility means it can't serve most of the students originally chosen by lottery, as evidenced by high attrition.

+100. This.

We bailed because our kid was miserable in BASIS in 7th grade. Moved in-boundary for Deal where he's been happy, gets all As, takes advanced math and advanced Spanish, does all sorts of extra-curriculars.

where will he go to high school?

Walls, knock on wood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the inveterate boosters are the worst on these threads.

BASIS admins can do no wrong.

C'mon, the program doesn't go from around 130 mostly bright and hard-working 5th graders to four dozen seniors without a whole bunch of families finding BASIS lacking.

Basis parent here. There's plenty of things not to like or not to like about Basis. But I would argue it's a bit early to claim this is the permanent trend- its first class of 5th graders only graduated last year.

What are you smoking, PP? It is a permanent trend, by design, not a secret. The AZ campuses ensure that most of the middle school students don't stay for high school. Somewhere between half and two-thirds of the middle school students have been gone by high school at the original campuses since the 90s. That's the BASIS model. The franchise gets away with weeding out most of their public school students by 9th grade everywhere they operate.

Look Basis is not for everyone. I don’t have any kids at Basis. But with the amazing low standards in DC, I have no problems with a school that focuses on STEM and academics over other things like advanced languages, extracurriculars, outside spaces, facilities, whatever. I think it’s good that a school has certain academic standards and doesn’t take political BS with equity and weeds out kids if they can’t perform.

If your kid doesn’t fit above, then don’t lottery in the school. If your kid can’t adapt to whatever inflexibility you think Basis has, then transfer your kid out. If your kid can’t handle the homework or pressure or whatever related to it, then transfer out.

Although PRACC scores are not the be all and end all, it’s obvious by their scores that they are one of the highest performing school.

Some parents in DC are in a bubble thinking everything is peachy with the academic standards in DC when it’s not. Others supplement like crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, the inveterate boosters are the worst on these threads.

BASIS admins can do no wrong.

C'mon, the program doesn't go from around 130 mostly bright and hard-working 5th graders to four dozen seniors without a whole bunch of families finding BASIS lacking.

Basis parent here. There's plenty of things not to like or not to like about Basis. But I would argue it's a bit early to claim this is the permanent trend- its first class of 5th graders only graduated last year.

What are you smoking, PP? It is a permanent trend, by design, not a secret. The AZ campuses ensure that most of the middle school students don't stay for high school. Somewhere between half and two-thirds of the middle school students have been gone by high school at the original campuses since the 90s. That's the BASIS model. The franchise gets away with weeding out most of their public school students by 9th grade everywhere they operate.

Look Basis is not for everyone. I don’t have any kids at Basis. But with the amazing low standards in DC, I have no problems with a school that focuses on STEM and academics over other things like advanced languages, extracurriculars, outside spaces, facilities, whatever. I think it’s good that a school has certain academic standards and doesn’t take political BS with equity and weeds out kids if they can’t perform.

If your kid doesn’t fit above, then don’t lottery in the school. If your kid can’t adapt to whatever inflexibility you think Basis has, then transfer your kid out. If your kid can’t handle the homework or pressure or whatever related to it, then transfer out.

Although PRACC scores are not the be all and end all, it’s obvious by their scores that they are one of the highest performing school.

Some parents in DC are in a bubble thinking everything is peachy with the academic standards in DC when it’s not. Others supplement like crazy.

This sort of blame-the-families take on BASIS isn't reasonable. My kid could handle the homework, the pressure, the inflexibility without difficulty. But it wasn't a humane set up. Kids who weren't going to last were routinely shunned by others (don't bother with him, he won't be in our grade next year). Middle schoolers, particularly boys, bounced off the walls without enough natural light, space or exercise to thrive. Just not a very happy place. Not what the taxpayer should be paying for.

[Anonymous]

^^ Agreed. Taxpayers should instead prioritize spacious buildings with lots of natural light, athletic fields, and social advancement (without firm, rigorous academic standards).

Wait. That sounds like many DCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Come on, Deal has a decent building and academics. Whatever happened to Alice Deal for all?