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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are moving. We waffled the first few years of elementary because we like the neighborhood and our ES. And we've done the dance with "well SH seems okay, maybe we can put it off."

But then one morning I woke up and decided: I don't want to do this anymore. We are moving after this year ends. Our primary goal in where we end up is solid ES-MS-HS situation, no surprises. I think we have lower standards for what that means than many in this area, but higher than Eastern. We want honors tracking, foreign language, good IB or AP offerings, and a solid extracurricular program. I don't need my kids to go to "the best" high school. I didn't. But I want them to have options, whether they are high achievers or just middle of the road.

We are also excited about more space (a yard!), better in state college options, and hopefully a slightly slower paced neighborhood with less crime and general angst. We'll miss the walkability and great transit options, and some of our neighbors [/quote]

I’m excited for you. I wish we had moved years ago. [/quote]

Thank you, we are excited too. That's how I knew it was the right choice. The thought if just putting this whole conversation in our rear view just filled me when the joy.[/quote]

Just curious—how old are your kids? And where are you considering? Hoping to stay on the Hill at the school we love a bit longer, but I don’t want to wait too long and have the transition be tougher on the kids having to make new friends. Curious when you are making the leap. I also feel like I will be so relieved once we’ve just chosen a path through high school, but we gotta hang on a bit. Uncertainty is not my forte though 😫[/quote]

I will say this as someone who has a clear path through high school: having a path doesn't necessarily make things easier.  We are at BASIS and my child is doing very well (top 5%), and I am constantly questioning whether we should just move. BASIS is stressful and the building sucks.  The city feels like it is getting more and more dangerous.  We love the Hill and our friends, but we are questioning our choices all the time.  [/quote]

We're in the same situation as you -- kid at BASIS with consistent straight As -- but kid isn't stressed and thinks the building is fine. So I'm the one who wants to move, but I wonder if the move is more for me than for my kid? Would I make his situation worse off by moving?[/quote]

The MS years are hard enough (physically, socially, mentally, etc) so if you have a kid who is happy at school and doing well, I wouldn't rock the boat.[/quote]

100% agree with this. I changed schools in 7th grade from a small school to a huge public middle in the burbs. It was awful.[/quote]

Whatever. My social anxiety-prone older Hill kid was happy with virtual learning, pleased that she didn't have to deal with other human beings while hiding at home. Sitting in front of computer screen all day made her happy and helped her academically. But was the arrangement good for her? Absolutely not. Then there's my younger kid, the "gifted" one, who cruised through her upper ES grades in her DCPS and 5th grade at BASIS without breaking a sweat. She liked easily earning top grades while improving her doodling skills. My spouse and I grew fed up with BASIS' laser beam like emphasis on test prep, crappy building, weak arts education and ECs and high teacher turnover. We bailed for a private middle school after grandparents offered to pay tuition, even though the kids would have been fine with staying where they were (these are the kids who'd have ice cream at every meal if you let them).  Thankfully, the kids love their new school.  [/quote]

No one said that change is necessarily bad, just that they thought that "if you have a kid who is happy at school and doing well, I wouldn't rock the boat."  Your judgment that moving to a different school would be better for your kids is also perfectly reasonable, and I'm glad it worked out for you and them. Like the previous posters, we're sticking with Basis, which I readily admit is imperfect, but where our kids are doing well. Are we making the best decision? Hell if I know. But I'm quite sure that we (like you) making a [i]good[/i] decision. [/quote]

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