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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So, some people don't even consider BASIS; some attend but wish they had better options (however they define that) and happily leave for 9th; and others continue through high shool.

Sounds like lots of schools in the city. NOt sure why it attracts the haters.

I think it's because the school - and many of its parents - claims to have the most advanced curriculum for a DC public, at least in MS. That boast strikes some as cocky and arrogant, others as true. [b]It also makes some parents annoyed that their MS doesn't have similar advanced options, albeit in a kinder, gentler, more beautiful setting.
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Sort of.  I take issue with the assertion that BASIS offers the most "advanced curriculum," at least across the board.  While it's true that most advanced math and science classes in both the BASIS MS and HS are far and away the most challenging in the public system in the City, unfortunately, the same can't be said of BASIS' humanities classes.  Arguably, humanities is stronger at Washington Latin and possibly Deal. We have neighbors who bailed on BASIS during or after MS mainly because they were fed up with weak and uninspired ELA and foreign language instruction for their humanities-oriented students as much as anything else. For example, the BASIS HS teaches no language past the AP level, while Walls and Wilson do.  At Walls, the sky is essentially the limit for advanced language instruction at GW for students who can handle advanced course work. Putting BASIS on a broad-based academic achievement pedestal makes for a tidy argument, but it's not warranted.[/quote]

BASIS does have AP Latin, fwiw.and also offers more humanities APs than any other public or charter high school in DC.[/quote]

Right, but the truth is that English, and foreign language instruction, at BASIS is still comparatively weak. Middle school writing assignments and instruction tend not to be inspired. Teacher turnover in humanities subjects is high, higher than for STEM subjects. Worse still, kids who arrive bilingual but not bilingual aren't encouraged to master the foreign language they already speak - they're forced to start over with a 3rd language or take beginning classes in the language they speak. This is sheer idiocy.  
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You complain about BASIS a lot. I don’t think it’s sheer idiocy for a school to not change its entire curriculum because a kid is bilingual in a different language. It’s not like accommodating the training schedule of an Olympic athlete or something.[/quote]

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