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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I feel this particular issue is discussed ad nauseam but here we go.  Classes get smaller and smaller at BASIS because there is attrition and no backfilling.  People leave the school in particular and DC in general for various reasons and cannot be replaced with new students.  BASIS is not for everyone or becomes a bad fit as the intensity increases or is a great option for middle school but students want or need a different high school experience for various reasons (different/more extra curriculars, different learning environment that’s less test focused, etc.).  It’s not a traditional school and just like any other school has its pros and cons.  It seems a family has to really value the things it does very well (test prep, college admissions) to justify foregoing a[b] more traditional high school experience.[/b] [/quote]

I don't believe that most BASIS middle school parents who leave are in fact looking for a "more traditional high school experience." No, this euphemism just doesn't cover the gamut of reasons explaining the exodus.

From what I've observed, many BASIS 8th grade parents are looking for more inspired and reliably good teaching, better facilities (particularly resources for good tech), above all, a happier school with more competent and open-minded administrators.

If your student(s) aren't part of the BASIS Brahmin group, mostly comprised of kids can handle college math by 9th or 10th grades, the BASIS HS experience isn't necessarily a positive one overall.  To some of us, test prep alone isn't a fine education. We'd be OK without a "traditional HS experience" if the education on offer was more interesting and, frankly, fun.

The BASIS HS experience works off a one-size-fits-all model to a lesser extent that the MS experience, but march-in-step-to-blue-chip-colleges is still the suffocating premise. Corny as it sounds, many families of the strongest middle school students leave yearning to breathe freer.  By 9th grade, parents are tired of being slapped down by tin ear admins who've insinuate that they're the problem, vs. addressing the actual problem.

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Pure pablum by the same poster.  Stop pontificating.  You don’t even have a kid at the school.[/quote]

NP who definitely has a kid at the school and finds this comment baffling. I have no idea was a “Basis Brahmin” might be but otherwise generally agree with the quoted poster.

Basis discussions on this forum get so weird, but it seems to be because a few people are all-in on one position or the other and are falsely confident that they speak for everyone else. In my experience in real life, most kids’ experience and most parents’ opinions are a mixed bag. For our family, we were thrilled to get into Basis because our assigned options were bad (I won’t attempt to rate schools we don’t go to, but they’re a very bad fit for our particular kid) and because we liked that Basis promised a challenging education with a learning-focused peer group. After a few years, we still appreciate some aspects of the education but have concerns about other aspects. It’s far from the education I would design if I was able to design a school. In fact, it’s far from the education I would even pick if we had any real choice. But the thing is, we didn’t have any real choice, and between Basis and our assigned school, I still think Basis was the better option.

We will apply to Walls for high school because it would be a better fit for our kid for multiple reasons, but there’s no guarantee and even if DC gets in we’re not sure about the commute or about switching from a known to an unknown. Plus we’re crossing our fingers that Basis high school will in fact be more analysis-focused and less of a memorization grind than in MS. Whichever path we end up following, I’m sure there will be mixed feelings either way. [/quote]

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