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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are also making a hard choice between sticking around for DCI or departing for Basis.  I’d be curious to hear your thought process if you don’t mind sharing, PP.  Also, do you plan to maintain the foreign language outside of Basis?  I don’t mean to derail this thread.  I have concerns about potentially preparing for Basis coming out of an immersion school where most of the academic challenge derived from the foreign language component.[/quote]

We just made this tough decision for our rising 5th grader and opted for BASIS because academics rank higher than language. Either way we figured we would have to supplement something but language is lower in priority than math, writing, study skills, self-advocacy etc.  We were torn on the size of DCI as there appears to be a growing number of activities but we were concerned that many of the behavior and classroom management issues at our feeder would persist at DCI. Our child is also below grade level in Spanish reading and after all these years still doesn’t feel comfortable speaking Spanish. We included our child in the decision making process and they prefer advanced Math and Science over any instruction in Spanish. Spanish immersion was likely not the best fit for our child but we stuck with it for DCI as a backup option for Walls and Latin for high school. We do have a younger child that has picked up Spanish a lot easier (started in Pk3 instead of K) so that decision will be even more difficult when the time comes.[/quote]

+1.

DCI IB scores are well below the global average in part because many kids don't achieve anything close to fluency in whatever track they follow.  So, at DCI, you end up with the worst of both worlds: less rigorous curriculum and subpar language skills.

In fairness to DCI, language instruction in the US is poor, so that result is not surprising.  If you really want your kid to learn a language well, supplement and send them to summer immersion programs overseas.

Also, BASIS isn’t really dumping foreign languages before 8th grade.  Kids used to do Latin in 5th and 6th and pick a foreign language for 7th.  Instead, starting next year, they will now have a writing class in 5th (which will cover Greek and Latin roots) and take linguistics in 6th and 7th.  The linguistics classes lay a foundation for study in a foreign language, so the kids have a head start in 8th.  And kids will stick with the same foreign language they select in 8th grade until they graduate (so, 5 years of the language).[/quote]

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