Reply to Latin Cooper - Capitol Hill families?

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Latin Cooper - Capitol Hill families?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No longer have a dog in this fight, but know that DC parents kid themselves that the trade-off doesn't take a toll on the kids. I say this having working at BASIS DC, lasting but a school year (although my contract was renewed). The set up just isn't a healthy arrangement for adolescents. There isn't enough light, air, space to run around. There aren't enough places to read and reflect quietly in good light. It's not uncommon for middle school kids, particularly boys, to develop mild behavioral problems in the building. The young BASIS executives who chose the space are long gone from the franchise and Arizona leaders well aware that the building is subpar (helping explain chronic high staff turnover). The worst of the facilities in the constellation of Arizona campuses are much more pleasant. I also worked for BASIS AZ.  [/quote]

No arguing that the building is not great, but your data points confuse correlation with causation and/or seem kind of strange.

[b]There aren't enough places to read and reflect quietly. [/b]
What type of MS experience did you have? I bet you are one of those people who think US News should continue to use library volumes as a metric for college and Law School rankings. Wanting more space in hallways and a fulsome outdoor space I get. What you argue here about "reflection" seems...strange.

[b]It's not uncommon for middle school kids, particularly boys, to develop mild behavioral problems in the building[/b]
That's true of every MS in the US. And boys in MS always have more behavioral problems than girls. That's not specific to Basis. You are confusing correlation and causation.

[b](helping explain chronic high staff turnover)[/b]
Basis turnover is high...as is all turnover in public education in urban areas. I have not seen any data to support the thesis that Basis's is higher than other schools. You are confusing correlation and causation.

[b]Arizona leaders well aware that the building is subpar[/b]
As is anyone with eyes and a brain. What's your point? NO ONE THINKS THAT BUILDING IS GREAT. No Basis parent thinks to themselves, "I'm glad we don't have more outdoor space. Or more windows. Or more room in the hallways." The issue is not whether the building is great, but rather whether the trade-off makes it a worthwhile one. It's a fair question. But the points above confusing causation with correlation don't support a conclusion one way or the other.

[b]The worst of the facilities in the constellation of Arizona campuses are much more pleasant.[/b]
OK. And...? No one in DC who decides whether Basis DC is a good fit for them is deciding between Arizona campuses and DC, so how is that remotely relevant to the discussion? 
 [/quote]

Nice effort but you are wasting your breath with the three Basis haters who always post here:  the disgruntled former Basis teacher, the fresh air/computer lab fetishist, and the the-burbs-are-better promoter.  They obviously have a lot of emotional baggage to unpack.

Reading these comments reminds me of going to a cocktail party and hearing the following:

Person A: I just came back from Spain for 2 weeks and had a great time.  The people were friendly, the food was fantastic, and I saw so many interesting sites.

Person B: I went to Madrid for a day 10 years ago and was mugged.  Spain is awful.  I would never go there.

In other words, when current Basis parents are posting that their kids are happy and learning a lot, no one cares that Basis was not a good fit for you when you spent a short time there years ago.  Everyone knows that Basis is not a good fit for every kid.

Plus, when current Basis parents are posting that they are fine with the physical layout because their kid is getting what amounts to a private school education for nothing, no one cares that you don’t like the building or that you chose to send your kid to a school with a computer lab or library.[/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