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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

So I am not surprised by the attrition - I don't know what the rates are in AZ but they are certainly out of the norm for charters.  [b]Attrition is good. [/b] I expect a graduating class of 50 or so, all motivated and mostly smart, and a peer group equivalent to a private school but these kids will have much more education under their belts, most will have much less money, and their faces will be shades of white, brown, black and Asian.  Size will end up being private school like, everyone will know each others name.[/quote]

Attrition would indeed be good if BASIS and DCPC had a plan to replace kids who can't and won't cope with kids who can and will.  We've decided to turn down our 5th grade spot.

Asian kids with Asian parents (like mine) in 12th grade?  Show me the money. You might have a few left adopted by whites, but Asian parents have shown almost no interest in any DC public HS to date.

Sadly, the weak facilities at BASIS will be a non-starter for many, perhaps most, other parents of the city's strongest students outside Upper NW (the only area with a fairly high-performing MS and HS).  When I visited, the lack of performance space and sports facilities turned me off.  I went to MIT and was only saved by super nerdom in HS by playing in the band and running track. My asphalt-ringed NYC MS and HS rented playing fields elsewhere, which BASIS seems to have no plan to do.
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BASIS replaces older kids who can't cope with younger kids, who, because they start in 5th, have a better chance of coping eventually.  A cohort of about 150 5th graders will probably shrink to 40 or 50 by graduation.  Perhaps a test-in model would be more efficient, but it is against the BASIS philosophy and the DC charter law.

As for high enrollment of Asian kids with Asian parents, are there any studies that demonstrate that it is a good proxy for the caliber of a school?  Why would it matter except to families who want their Asian kids to go to school with other Asian kids?  People self-segregate for various reasons.

By they way, have you considered moving to VA and applying to TJ?  It seems to offer the ethnic composition you seek.  Be careful though, I understand that there might be a demographic shift in progress there.

As for facilities, BASIS is just a few blocks from the Mall.  At my asphalt-ringed NYC prep school, we made use of Riverside Park, which was a comparable distance from the school.  Weak facilities are not surprising given the location.  Real estate in Penn Quarter is not cheap.  On the other hand, I am very happy to have DC in school near my office and we meet for lunch frequently.

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