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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My child is at BASIS.  I would not make the decision about whether to go to BASIS on the building, but I find it depressing, dark, and somewhat cramped-feeling.

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I just toured Basis last month.  I made the decision not to consider it because of the building.  IMO, the good academics just can’t compensate enough for the terrible facilities.

I realize we are privileged in that we have other options while some families don’t.  [/quote]

They can take your clothes, they can take your riches, they can even take your freedom, but one thing they cannot take is your education. I'll go for the academics. You can't take the pretty buildings and manicured lawns with you but your knowledge and skills will travel with you everywhere. This famous quote comes from my mother.[/quote] if the education at BASIS were worth missing out on much in way of natural light for 8 years, I’d agree  with your mother 100%. We weren’t impressed impressed by at least half of my kid’s classes in 5th and 6th grades, along with the ban on modern language instruction until 8th and along with the requirement that students learn languages at the beginning level (some sort of 80s throwback). We hired an English tutor to ensure that our kid wrote weekly essays that were corrected. His parochial doesn’t require [b]half as much memorization[/b] but offers a much better/livelier education overall. But if DCPS is your only viable alternative,sure, BASIS is terrific.[/quote]

If this is the end result of not requiring a little "memorization" ( https://www.thefp.com/p/dishonor-code-what-happens-when-cheating) I will take BASIS!  Seriously - learning new things takes memorization/hard work.  No other way to go about it.  (of course should be combined with discussion/explanation, etc, but first you need to know key concepts/facts to even have the discussin!)[/quote]

In our experience, too often, memorization in BASIS middle school classes provides cover for lazy teaching. 11 and 12-year-olds are expected to sit in too many darkened rooms watching PP presentations taking notes to help them memorize info as prep for quizzes and tests. The balance between memorizing facts to prep for endless quizzes and applying knowledge could be better. I get it, BASIS can't afford to hire or retain better trained and more motivated and experienced teachers. New parents should understand that BASIS isn't a GT program, where kids are encouraged to memorize as preparation to apply and discuss concepts. Honestly, the students tend to be better than the instruction outside of sci classes, an arrangement which has a way of letting weak teachers off the hook. Yes, the instruction is probably better than in DCPS and other charters overall, but it's very uneven. [/quote]

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