Reply to Is Basis really as hard as people think?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]While some posters seem to be stuck in the weeds of "holy cow, that much math homework" and "holy cow, they are memorizing the periodic table in 5th grade", they may not see that as what they had in mind, maybe their background is liberal arts or other fields - but for us - who ARE actually from hard science and engineering backgrounds, and who are planning on college, and likely graduate school and a potential career in innovative tech or science for DC, the "big picture" view of BASIS is fantastic.[/quote]

What about the big picture view of DC charters being geared toward serving low-income and lower-middle-class AA students?  My 4th grader is Asian and upper-middle-class.   [b]I'm not sure I want to enroll DC in the BASIS middle school because that may well put me on a path to having to pay for an independent HS to stay in the District, making life tough for my kid socially.[/b]   Almost seems better to bail for MoCo for 6th so that my kid learns what he has to in order to keep up there for HS, preferably in a test-in academic magnet like Blair math and science, or an IB program up there.

I know I'l have a strong HS in MoCo whereas in DC, [i][b]I may just have what Latin has[/b][/i], a HS that's around 80% AA and poor.  Not what I'm looking for my kid socially since I had that myself in HS and didn't enjoy it much.  From where I sit, a fantastic big picture view of BASIS would include a HS population that's at least half non AA, in other words truly diverse, are we going to get that?  Doesn't sound like it when Latin is far from a good HS mix after a decade.  I too hava a STEM background and nearly half the class at my alma mater was Asian.
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You won't need to seek out another HS because BASIS is building out high school with the current flight of students.  We are planning on having our current BASIS 5th grader stay at BASIS straight through to college.  And as for demographic and diversity, I'm good with BASIS on that score.  Sure, there are some low-income AA students there, but there are also kids who get dropped off by limo, there are white, latino, and a fair number of european and international students, as well as other demographics represented there as well.  [/quote]

One difference which may prove to be a major differentiator between BASIS and Latin is that unlike Latin, BASIS does not do social promotion.  Students have to pass comprehensive exams in order to advance - and as I hear it, they have no intention of watering down the acceleration, curriculum and expectations simply because it is DC.  There will no doubt be attrition as a result, separating the students who are motivated and hard working from the ones who are just coasting along, or who aren't really cut out for an intense program.  [b]Additionally, they will ultimately only be accepting incoming students at 5th grade, unless incoming students in the upper grades can demonstrate that they are coming from a similarly accelerated program, so that they won't be coming in several grades behind.[/b]

That approach is currently not the case with Latin, where they have social promotion, and where they have to deal with a fair number of kids coming in at all grade levels who are far behind where they should be.[/quote]

Regarding incoming students that are far behind, they may end up getting placed in a lower grade.  But one of the other great things about BASIS is that they offer a lot of support to the students who may be struggling, with STARS tutoring, math lab, reading lab - and also, regarding the comps, if a student fails comps, they will have an opportunity to study over the summer and retake the comps.  While they set high expectations, they also offer a lot of support and opportunities to make it work for those willing to put in the effort.[/quote]

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