Reply to Basis Charter School - Experience and Insight Requested

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Basis Charter School - Experience and Insight Requested"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Loooong post above says little more than the v. short post above it.

BASIS is decent for 5th grade for almost everybody. But the higher you go, the more complicated it gets. We left after middle school not because the work, rigor and testing were stressful.

We were out the door because the curriculum is narrow, the facilities and enrichment weak, the best teachers tend to leave, admins are OT pushy and parents are absurdly disempowered.

On top of all that, the campus (and franchise?) is ridiculously indebted and cash strapped.   [/quote]

They've been running a surplus for years. It's actually something that pisses me off since I'd rather see the money reinvested. The only debt they have is the building. All charter schools have mortgage service. But by all means don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.

P.S. This is "Exhibit A" for why it is useless to try and get info about BASIS on DCUM. [/quote]

Exhibit B shows us how useless to try and get info about BASIS from current BASIS parents and admins. You need to talk to parents of top students who bailed to get a rounded picture. Hint: almost everybody with the dough to leave, luck in Walls admissions, and/or a willingness to move to Upper NW or the burbs, exits somewhere between 6th and 9th grades. [/quote]

This is untrue. I know this for a fact because my kid was admitted to Walls and we chose to stay, and weren’t the only ones by a long shot.[/quote]

Yes, ours too. Look -- some choose to leave. Some choose to stay. I was surprised that mine wanted to stay, but they had found their comfortable spot and their friend group and enjoys the general sense that no one cares what they wear, no one cares if they're good at sports, there is little to no bullying and little to no "popular crowd" or social pressures that anyone pays attention to, and they like it being small. Would I like more high-quality extracurriculars for my kid? Sure. Would I go crazy in a class of 56? Sure. Do I take seriously that 2/3 of the original 5th grade cohort chose to leave by 8th? Sure. But it was my kid's choice and, after 4 years at the school already, they knew what BASIS is and isn't and still preferred it over Walls.

That's all to say, OP, that there's a really wide range of experiences and, in the end, it is very particular to each person. Many kids enjoy 5th grade at BASIS. 6th grade becomes more stressful with the end-of-year exams (comps) and their midyear precursors (pre-comps). People will leave every year. But those who remain become a pretty tight, small cohort.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics