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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
You want to know what BASIS could do to change admissions to elite colleges?  I feel like the question has been answered in various ways on many a BASIS thread over the years, without doing one iota of good.  After five years at BASIS, glad to have left, here's my list:

*Begin to backfill the way the AZ campuses have since the get go. Lobby the politicians for permission and get it.  Recruit student talent by backfilling.

*Stop pushing 7th grade math on all the kids. If a kid is strong in humanities and average in math, let them quality to take algebra in 8th grade.

*Work much hard on teacher retention and training. Stop putting teachers with weak classroom management skills in classrooms.

*Start up an instrumental music program, a serious one.

I rest my case. [/quote]

Some of your points amount to needing more resources.  Where will Basis get the money?  They already get a lower per student allocation than DCPS schools, so they already have to make do with a lot less.

For your first point, Basis DC would most likely love to do so, but can't due to DC laws.  
For your second, I agree, but kids can slow down the math acceleration in 9th by taking precalc A, which will largely shore up the Algebra concepts they didn't fully get the first time.
For your third, there's a teacher shortage everywhere. 
 
For your fourth point, absolutely not.  School music programs are only good for the kids dabbling in music, and the non-serious programs are fine for that.  The kids who excel in music participate in local youth orchestras.  High level youth orchestras generally require kids to play in their school orchestra/band, which is a complete waste of time and waste of elective slot for a kid who already is spending a lot of time on private lessons, practicing, and their high level orchestra.  Basis kids can claim that their school doesn't have a true orchestra program, and can thus get the school participation requirement waived.  [/quote]

Not sure how much sympathy I have when BASIS DC cries poor. Fact is, their admins make exceedingly poor use of significant UMC parent resources, constantly hitting parents up for dough to top up teachers' salaries vs. asking for their input on how our donations are generated and spent. Some of us come in from DCPS ES backgrounds where PTA raised hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, close to a million in Upper NW. Before BASIS, we held gala fundraisers, wrote thick grant applications and lobbied city council members for bigger school outlays in city budgets (particularly for plant upgrades). BASIS parents do little of that mainly because they aren't permitted to. We know how to raise money but are reluctant to chip in generously at BASIS w/out a PTA structure.

As for the school music programs. FYI, several of the BASIS AZ campuses have supported strong music programs for many years, particularly competitive string orchestras. The orchestras are an impressive BASIS AZ tradition, which I know this because my nephews have played in one for years. My kid plays in a competitive youth ensemble at Strathmore post BASIS. I couldn't disagree more that requiring strong youth musicians to play in their school orchestra/band is a complete waste of time.  The school spirit that comes from participation is excellent for the programs and it's very good for kids on the high-level orchestra track to help mentor low-income musicians w/out the family resources for private lessons.[/quote]

Where are you getting your info?? Basis has a few different, related pTA-type groups led by parents to raise money. They hold a large fundraising event every year.

And if you think any charter school is raising close to a million dollars like upper NW schools, I don’t even know what to tell you. But surely the blame lies with Basis for not being able to do so.

Points like these make it pretty clear you’re not interested in a good faith discussion. Same goes for those comparing basis to magnet or private schools. It’s actually kind of amusing to follow this thread because some of you seem totally invested in casting basis in the worst light possible, “facts” be damned. There have been quite a few current parents on here who have acknowledged the school isn’t perfect and there are legitimate areas for improvement, but sure, tell me more about how Basis should be raising the same amount of money as Janney. [/quote]

Why can't BASIS raise a million+ dollars? PP isn't raising that money from the families attending the school. She's getting it from grants, sponsors, etc. If some parents want to spend their time getting the money, why can't they do that? [/quote]

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