Reply to Does anyone know the status of the Proposed BASIS Expansion

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Reply to "Does anyone know the status of the Proposed BASIS Expansion"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Disagree.  You overestimate the popularity of the Basis middle school.  Most CH families with 4th graders who enter the 5th grade lottery list both Latins ahead of Basis.  The Basis waitlist also moves 60+ spots every summer; this means that there are 60+ families who listed Basis on their lottery bingo card and then after matching declined the space.  You also underestimate the extent to which some core CH families moved into their current home in part due to the IB elementary school.  They are not likely to give that up in early elementary to commute to Basis simply to lock in the middle school.  Lastly, people will disagree here, SH/EH have some buy-in now where not everyone is likely to know precisely how they feel about that option until they take a harder look at it in the late elementary years.  Shaw is its own different question mark with rights to Francis Stevens and Euclid.[/quote]

Popularity is not really the point here.  And neither is the wait list.

Unlike Latin, BASIS offers a rigorous curriculum, does tons of testing, and doesn't socially promote.  It is definitely more suited to more academically motivated kids--and those kids are going to be scattered around DC.  True, it does get a lot of kids from the Hill but the Hill also has a lot of academically motivated kids.

However, plenty of people list BASIS in the lottery, especially people that don't have good in-bounds options, because all they have to do is check a box.  Then, if they get in, they realize that the school isn't a good fit for their kid and go elsewhere.  Other parents decide on BASIS because they don't have a good in-bounds option and, if that is their sole reason for sending their kid, are often disappointed.

Saying Latin is more popular than BASIS is like saying a Billie Eilish concert is more popular than a hackathon.  A concert is easy and fun; a hackathon is tough and challenging.  Sure, a concert is a more popular but a hackathon is more valuable.

The fact is that there is plenty of demand for an elementary school like BASIS but BASIS will never be truly "popular" because it is hard and challenging.[/quote]

Right, that's the only thing people dislike about BASIS. Couldn't be anything else, right? BASIS is perfect.[/quote]

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