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[quote=Anonymous]As another current Basis parent (new poster), I am mystified by the posters who freely admit that they have no children at Basis but loudly claim that Basis does little to support its students.

In my experience, Basis provides a lot of academic and non-academic support to students. Basis has a dedicated team to support students who are struggling academically and falling behind, and to support students with IEPs and 504 plans. When a student's academic average dips below a certain percentage for any reason, Basis automatically and proactively puts together a team to support that student academically and monitors progress. In my children's classes, there has also often been a second teacher in the classroom who is dedicated to supporting students who are falling behind in math and ELA.

Basis provides additional, free academic support to every student who wants it. Every teacher in every subject has weekly student hours, and there are daily math student hours. (In addition to each math teacher's weekly student hours, there is another math teacher on duty each day who can support students in any math class.) Students also have weekly "math lab" math support during lunch. There is peer-to-peer tutoring of younger students by high school students who are excelling academically, and Georgetown students provide additional weekly tutoring in all subject areas. In the House system, older students also mentor younger students within their House.

Every two weeks, every student gets a detailed report on every test result they have received in every class. Therefore, students, parents, and the school have an accurate, up-to-date sense of how each student is doing academically and can catch academic issues early.

Basis has a psychologist and a social worker who meet with students individually to provide non-academic support. They also do presentations for students and parents on a variety of subjects geared towards supporting students' mental health.

In addition, every grade has a dedicated dean who is the triage person when a student is struggling, whether academically or non-academically, and connects the student and parents with the appropriate support. And if a student misses more than three days of school, the dean contacts all of the student's teachers and puts together a catch-up plan for the student. In my experience, teachers and administrators have been exceptionally kind and flexible in helping my kids catch up.

Furthermore, every Basis teacher has weekly virtual parent hours, and all deans and administrators are available to meet virtually with parents weekly and by appointment. Basis has a scheduling system that allows parents to set up all of these appointments online. It's been so much easier for us to quickly meet with teachers, deans, and administrators at Basis than at any other school we've attended.

It's also important to keep in mind that an extremely small percentage of Basis students are told that they will need to repeat the academic year -- maybe 1-3%? A very small percentage of students fail the Comp (the comprehensive exam that students take at the end of the year), and then every student who fails the Comp is given the opportunity to study over the summer and retake it and pass. The Comp is designed to test the most central principles in each class -- the ones that teachers have emphasized over and over -- so in my children's experience, they have been easier than the usual assessments and have actually brought their GPA up.

Based on my experience as a Basis parent, if a student is willing to put in the time and effort, Basis tries hard to help the student succeed. If you are considering Basis for your child, don't rely on the uninformed opinions on this forum of people who don't have children at Basis. Instead, please talk to the school, talk to current parents, ask detailed and tough questions about the support system that Basis offers, and try to determine whether Basis would be a good fit for your family.[/quote]

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