Reply to I am confused between Stuart Hobson Middle School vs. Deal Middle School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Post above is silly. Nobody here has the time or energy to "hate" BASIS DC. We're too busy.

In our experience at BASIS, most of the families who leave don't do so, contrary to the conventional wisdom, because their kids "wash out."

They leave because they have the money for greener pastures, and/or are willing and able to move WotP or out of the District to find them.[/quote]

We have had kids at BASIS for a while, and that is not our experience.  You sound like you left the school a while ago and don't really understand how the school works currently.

Some kids leave BASIS leave because their parents move to other areas because of job transfers and the like.  Some leave for Walls for 9th grade (but now that Walls has weakened its entrance requirements, more students are staying at BASIS).

The fact is that most kids that leave BASIS do wash out.

[/quote]
What is your factual basis for arguing this? You've see the report cards of most of the students who leave when between one-third and half of the students in any given 5th grade cohort are gone by senior year in HS? We left after SY 2019-2020. [b]The independent school we switched to never closed during the pandemic.  [/b]

We claimed that we were leaving because of a job transfer a few times to avoid awkward conversations with fellow parents who probably couldn't swing independent school. In fact, our BASIS student won a music scholarship. When you're heading to a private, you tend to quietly connect with other families intent on leaving. [/quote]

Lots to unpack there, but I've got a few moments free...

[i]"The independent school we switched to never closed during the pandemic."[/i] And...? DC schools closed. All of them. That's not BASIS specific. Also, do you expect another once in a hundred years pandemic? This seems a weird thing to note in this context.

[i]"in any given 5th grade cohort are gone by senior year in HS"[/i] I don't know how many kids wash out vs leave of their own accord, but if you knew anything about BASIS you'd know that kids wash out well before HS. There tend to be two distinct populations: (i) those who wash out in 6/7 and (ii) those who exit in 9th for application HS. Most of the latter have historically ended up at Walls (although the elimination of the test is going to change that). If you seek to refute someone alleging wash-outs you need to look at the kids who depart by 8th. The HS data is too dirty and no one who knows anything about BASIS would suggest those kids who leave for application HS are "washing out".

[i]"our BASIS student won a music scholarship."[/i] Congrats! That is clearly something your kid got because of your commitment to supporting that outside of school because BASIS does not have much in that vein. I wish they did, but I knew they didn't going in. No school is perfect so between marginal academics and more robust music programs and the inverse (i.e. BASIS) we chose BASIS because it is much easier to support that outside of school. My point is this: BASIS is not perfect. I know of no school that is. To my earlier point about the circular firing squad, the oddity on DCUM is the reflexive response to attack what BASIS doesn't have instead of demanding that the schools you want to send your kids to provide those things.

[i]"They leave because they have the money for greener pastures...or out of the District to find them."[/i] You didn't write this but it seems in line with what you posted. As to "greener pastures", again, it proves my point about the circular firing squad. So many people hate BASIS for what it is and what it isn't and then pivot to "greener pastures". That seems so odd to me. That would make sense in the context of whether people want to stay in DC or a private school forum, but it is a very odd way to attack a school in favor of other public schools...that you also won't send your kid to.

[i]"and/or are willing and able to move WotP"[/i] Data does not support the claim people are moving IB for JR in HS. Data aside, if people were going to do that why not do it in 5th or 6th? The data tells us this isn't happening. 25% of the BASIS HS enrollment is from JR. Only 12% of the MS grades at BASIS are from Hardy and Deal. In 5th grade there isn't a single JR feeder with high enough #s to register. That tells us those kids are staying at higher rates than non-JR catchment kids. My point is this: your sincere conviction of belief does not make it so.

Some of my favorite BASIS posts are those from people who left in 9th for Walls and are soooooo much happier than they were at BASIS. Which ignores the reality that: (i) HS and MS are two different things and (ii) your 4 years at BASIS got your kid into Walls (or at least contributed to it). It also relies on the assumption to prove the theory not supported by facts. 243 of the 597 kids at SWW are IB for JR. 120 are from Eastern IB catchment. That tells us that high performing kids are leaving JR in large #s. And yet i don't see people using that as evidence of JR being a terrible place.

I said it before, I'll say it again. If the DCUM BASIS haters instead devoted their efforts to demanding that DCPS create in schools what they feel BASIS lacks they'd be much better off.  [/quote]

What if I don’t hate BASIS but just verbose, smug BASIS defenders?[/quote]

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