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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Like droves of parents EotP, we felt a little desperate for an acceptable public MS. The reality is that we (collective we) have somewhat better HS options in the public system. We can swing parochial HS for 4 years if necessary (but couldn't have paid tuition from 5th or 6th on up). Our kid might crack Walls and will probably be admitted to Banneker. We might even rent IB for JR in a pinch.

For the e-record, grateful as I am to have had BASIS for MS, given a choice, [b]I'll take a better-rounded, healthier and happier option.[/b] I want less rushing around as a family to seek out serious sports and music. I want nothing more to do with the intransigent HoS.

I'm hoping that my kid can take classes at [b]Walls with excellent former BASIS teachers who bailed to DCPS[/b]. [/quote]

What does that mean? If you had unlimited money and/or didn't live in DC you'd choose something else? [b]That's the part about the BASIS animosity I cannot comprehend. [/b]The question for parents in DC is not whether Sidwell is a better than public options (it is!) or whether there are better schools outside of DC (there are!), the question is what is the best available option at any grade. For many families that is BASIS. Does not mean that BASIS is perfect or that there are not things people would change given additional resources. (e.g. obviously the building)

Something else just occurred to me. If there are SOOOOO many BASIS teachers who bailed for Walls (unconfirmed as those reports may be), why were those jobs open in the first place? Wouldn't that mean that teachers left Walls in order to open up those slots? What's wrong at Walls that caused all those teachers to leave!!!! (Kidding, it's a bogus argument in both cases.)[/quote]

You and the HoS, both. If BASIS DC wants more ethnic diversity, along with better retention of ms families and more robust college admissions (not clear), more attention needs to be paid to individual backgrounds and academic preferences of the families who stick around until 7th or 8th grade.

I switched my kid to a suburban system (where my ex lives) where students can freely test out of program requirements from 8th grade on up. What this means is that if your family is in a position to prep a kid independently for particular APs, say Japanese and Art-Drawing, the school doesn't require your student to take classes in language or art.

The lack of flexibility in the high school curriculum at BASIS, including for the most ambitious and capable students, invites hostility on the part of free spirits whose children can score high on a slew of AP exams.

You conformists adore BASIS, but non-conformists who aim high and put nose to the grindstone should be more welcome on campus for our hard-earned tax dollars. This business of, don't-like-what-we-offer-take-a-hike is a drag, particularly in cases where the BASIS curriculum presents few challenges for your kid.  The issue isn't just resources; there's a provincial mindset under-girding the operation.  [/quote]

You lack perspective. Take a look at the complaints about BASIS on DCUM and you will see it is at once too rigorous (doesn't do enough to help kids who are behind) and also not rigorous enough (kids are bored). It has too great a focus on AP exams and also doesn't allow kids to sign up for AP exams in other subjects. You moved from (BASIS total enrollment in 5-12 650) to a suburban public school with way more kids per grade and a mandate to meet the needs of a broad based population; they take all comers. Yet you seem perplexed by why BASIS can't offer the same range of academics and flexibility as the suburban school. That's not how BASIS or DCI or Duke Ellington are designed. They are singular entities with specific focus and approaches. You used the word "provincial", I assume to suggest a limited focus or offering. That's accurate. No charter has scale or mandate to be all things to all people. They schools that try tend to fail pretty miserably.    [/quote]

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