Reply to BASIS Lottery ONLY for 5th grade?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a (mostly content)[b] Basis parent to a current 6th grader it is always very interesting to see the rage [/b]that Basis engenders in some parents (of non Basis students and a few former Basis students).

In my experience the math and science instruction has been top notch (this is after coming from Brent, which is no slouch in these departments). English has been a bit perplexing for me, since it has been so heavily focused on grammar, and not much expository writing (but teachers have been very good both 5th and 6th). Social studies/history - the content is great - the teachers vary. Latin has been super solid teaching both years.

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Give us a break. We left BASIS  last year without "rage" in the mix, which wasn't unusual.  We weren't happy that our nearly bilingual Spanish-speaking 6th grader was going to be forced to take beginning Chinese f or years, rather than being permitted to take advanced Spanish in 7th and 8th grades due to "scheduling issues."  We were also unhappy with the lack of fresh air, exercise and a decent music or art program, particularly performing arts.  And, frankly, we didn't like the dearth of character training and instruction in ethics.

BASIS is a cram school with a one-size fits all curriculum for middle school. Works great for some families, not for others, including some extremely bright, talented and hard-working kids.[/quote]

I think this is a fair assessment, but there does seem to be a weird ragy response to posts by many people.

That said, I don't understand why parents whose kids are coming from immersion schools come to Basis and then get frustrated that they can't change the curriculum regarding language. I understand how you would want to have them continue studying, but why would you choose basis in the first place?[/quote]

Any strong college prep program builds assertively on the raw material it gets.  If a kid arrives as a Spanish ace, encourage them to shoot for a top score on AP Spanish in 8th grade, just like they're encouraged to take AP calc or World History, is logical.  Don't beat up their Spanish by forcing them to study a random 2nd language they're not interested in pursuing.  Parents mainly choose BASIS because it''s one of the best several college prep programs in the DC public system.  Elite colleges appreciate all kinds of skills in their applicants, not just math, science and writing, but language skills.  Not respecting or supporting bilingualism is a sad throwback to an earlier generation, when US schools lagged far behind those in most other rich countries in teaching languages and celebrating bilingualism.
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