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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Question for all the PP who know struggling students at BASIS...do you know whether these kids are studying, keeping up with homework (finishing all 30 math homework problems, for example), meeting regularly with teachers during their office hours, etc?

I ask because my DS was struggling in a couple of his classes during the first grading period. As soon as he got a low grade for the mid-term grading period he was called down to student support services and talked through his problems with them. In addition to giving him advice on how to get on top of things, student support wrote in his CJ the specific times he was expected to go meet with his teachers for extra help. The teachers had to sign the CJ as proof that he went in and then he had follow up with student support. To me, this sort of fast, specific kind of support was far and away better than he ever had at his old school. At his old school he never really knew exactly what the expectations were or how he was doing. I'm happy to report that DS is absolutely on the right track now and he is doing really well. He is learning how to study and how to take notes. He now goes and meets with his teachers after school or during AERO on his own when he feels he needs extra help.

One thing that I was nervous about going in to this year was that BASIS would be too cold or too heartless of a school. That has not been our experience at all. We have found that the teachers and administration are interesting, kind and caring, and they go above and beyond to help students (or my kid, at least).  You can call me an unabashed BASIS booster because we are very happy.

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That's fascinating and certainly a great thing they did.  Interestingly, the 2 kids I know directly who are really struggling have been going to the tutoring/homework hour most every day after school all year.  They both come from (2 separate) DCPS's, have extremely supportive home lives with parents there to help with homework (both moms work part-time to facilitate this), and are bright and hard working.  Not brilliant or gifted, but not bad students at all.  They both have report cards full of F's.  In the case of 1 of them, there was certainly no call down to student support services and the mother has combed through the CJ for any indication that there was this kind of academic crisis going on.  No indication of missed homework or failed quizzes/tests.  No notes, no phone calls, no e-mails.  Definitely was a tough start-up for that particular child as the expectations were ramped up, but this is a hard working kid and has been doing what they thought was an adequate if not above-adequate job (not failing or even close).  I am hearing other similar stories that people have shared with the mother as she has expressed her upset, though I don't know the people directly so I have no way of confirming those situations.

I want to believe in BASIS and would like an academic program like it to be available.  I have no problem with the idea that some kids won't be able to hang in there.  However, once a child is in the school, every effort needs to be made for EVERY kid to make sure that they make it through the year successfully.  To leave a kid looking for a school in December, interestingly after the funding count has been done, is really hard on a family.  When a kid is sitting there every day after school doing homework and available to be helped (also did the STARS program), why would that kid be failing?  I'm glad they went the extra mile for your kid, I really am, just wondering why they didn't for my friend's kid.[/quote]

BASIS parent here again.

With all due respect, I find it surprising that your friend looked through the CJ and she didn't find any evidence of her child's struggle with school. Again, I only speak from our own personal experience, but I want to write down specifics about what we have experienced at BASIS because I think all too often on these boards there are just wild speculations about the school.

Kids at BASIS -- no, scratch that -- I'll say 5th graders at BASIS (because I know the routine for my 5th grader's class and I won't speak for the rest of the grades) take tests and quizzes all the time. Every single Wednesday there is a math quiz. Every Friday there is an Intro to Science quiz. The other classes have projects, quizzes and tests throughout the grading period, but I believe they are taken on a less regular basis. Every time a quiz or test or project is graded, the teacher will either write or put a sticker in the student's Communications Journal (CJ) indicating how the student did on the test. A parent is supposed to put their signature in the CJ right next to the test grade. There have been no surprises on my DS report card because he and I have both seen the grades for the tests throughout.

A note about the CJ for non-BASIS folks -- it is a spiral bound calendar notebook that kids need to take to every class. Kids must write down homework or indicate that there is no homework for every class in the CJ every single day. If a parent has a note or a comment for the teacher, they can write it in the CJ. My kid had a lunchtime detention from a teacher one day he forgot his CJ at home and he has not left it behind again.

At BASIS there are not designated parent-teacher conference days. Rather, every teacher has an hour or two set aside every week to meet with parents. Generally, the office hours are before school. Parents can just call or email the school to set up an appointment.

The PP mentioned that her friend's child stayed after school to do homework, it sounds like maybe the child was staying for the "Late Bird" program and not actually getting one-on-one help from teachers. I hope that someone will elaborate on Late Bird, because my child does not participate in this so I don't know much about it. What I do know is that the Late Bird program is sort of a paid after-care program until 6 pm. The kids are supervised after school and it is my understanding that they are supposed to do homework. The Late Bird program is different and separate from the after school teacher hours I wrote about before. If a teacher has after school help hours, any student can simply go to the teacher's classroom for help -- they are not part of Late Bird and you certainly don't have to pay for that time.

Of course, I don't know why the PP's friend's child is struggling so much and it is distressing to hear that this person feels like the school is not making an effort to educate their child. In our personal experience, data point of one, that has not been the case for us. I've written so much about this because there has been so much hearsay on these boards about what BASIS does and doesn't do.[/quote]

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