Reply to Parents of former Basis students - where did you go, and why

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have a child who left for BASIS for Walls. Our DC was performing very well at BASIS but we felt the social and extracurricular opportunities were equally important. DC is not motivitated to do much outside of school so we felt we needed to change to a slightly larger and more established environment.
 Not all their credits transferred which was frustrating.
Our child was totally fine at BASIS but is happy we made the change.

[/quote]

Dear PP,
thank you very much for your honest and thoughtful answer.

You have no idea how much it means to get a real response when present Basis parents have run off the rails, much to the detriment of Basis - both in terms of recruiting and retention.

When you say "extracurricular opportunities," would you please elaborate on that?  Earlier in this thread someone posted a whole slew of activities that are available at Basis (not many of which I am familiar with). I was just wondering what the difference was between what Basis offers (according to that poster) and the offerings at SWW.

When you say not all of the credits transferred, we were told dc would have to retake World History, and that math would be an issue as well.  Did the math credits not transfer?  And were there any other courses?  And does that kind of mean that your child can coast in some classes, including AP classes?  Because I could see how that could free up time to do other things that would make an applicant more appealing to colleges and universities.

Again, I am extremely grateful for your response, because I learned quite a few things from it.

It is very interesting to me that your child was totally fine at Basis, and was doing well academically, but you decided nonetheless to make the change to SWW, and now your child is happy you did it.  We have kind of thought that in terms of college admissions, being at Basis might give dc an academic edge over being at Walls.

And I have not met many children who are sort of take it or leave it about Basis.  Most of my children's friends either love it (but recognize we have a ways to go) or hate it (and nothing I can imagine would ever change that).  And like your dc, these are the kids who are doing relatively well grade wise, and have a solid group of friends.

So you learn something new every day.  Thank you for letting me know that there is an entirely different category and dynamic at play, at least for your child........

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing one of the few answers on this thread (I have also appreciated the posts from parents who are still at Basis but have no intention of staying).

Maybe we can get back on track here...........

NB if you support Basis, please do not claim that you were "biting your tongue" until something happened that made you go on a racial rant, and please do not blame parents and students for "failing" at Basis with a tone of superiority and elitism that should be offensive to all Basis parents, whether their children are on Distinguished Honor Roll or are constantly struggling, and especially to those whose children have been retained and have decided to return to Basis and try again, instead of abandoning the school.

[b][u]Silence is golden[/u][/b], and the noises you all are making might completely undo the countless hours we have spent talking to parents in person trying to get them to send their children to Basis, and certainly could legitimately cause any parent who has been considering Basis as a possibility to decide that whatever additional academic opportunities the school might offer are outweighed by racial and class tensions and an elitist attitude that demonstrates an appalling lack of empathy among the parents at Basis that makes creating a real community of parents and/or children impossible.

I hear a group of parents I do not know, and do not want to, and for anyone who is following this thread because they are considering enrolling their children in Basis, I can assure you that parents like these are a distinct minority who for some unknown reason have chosen this particular moment, and these particular threads, to crawl out of their holes.  They are sufficiently aware to recognize that they would be shunned if they ever had the guts to post their true opinions on our school list serve and sign their names.  But of course they would never do that because they are cowards at heart and know their kids would ultimately pay for it.  No administrator, teacher, or decent parent would treat these comments as anything but what they are - comments by selfish, self aggrandizing, narcissistic people who clearly do not care enough about the future of Basis, or the future of their children at Basis (yes they are intertwined), to control themselves.

[b]Please crawl back under the rocks from which you came, NOW, before you do anymore damage just because you feel a need to express your opinion and think everyone would benefit from hearing it. Basis does not benefit from your decisions that it is more important for you to vent your spleen than think about our future, and Basis does not benefit from attracting any more parents and children with whom your rants resonate[/b]

PP, I would really like to continue this conversation, and would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the additional questions I have asked, or anything else that you think might help us keep more students like your dc at Basis through high school..........
[/quote]

NP, and without a dog in this fight.

If "Silence is Golden" - why do you talk and talk and talk and (oh sweet Jesus, still with the talking!) talk?

Perhaps silence is only [i]truly[/i] golden to you, when it "gilds" those people with whom you disagree?

Just curious, of course.  [/quote]

"gilds"  comes from "gilding the lily" which means adding gold to a lily, and is used as a metaphor for trying to improve something that is already perfect.  A lily is already beautiful and covering it in gold is unecessary, and sometimes implies stupidity.

Basis is not perfect, but my kids have had a great experience there so far socially and intellectually, and it is tremendously diverse.  My hope is that more kids will come from private schools, and fewer will leave for SWW.  My hope is that it will become more perfect and lily gilding will become unnecessary.

The Basis parents who have posted about "cringeworthy" racial issues brought up on an internal list serve, 
the parents who "complain" about people using racism as an excuse for why their children are failing, 
the parents who "wonder" if test anxiety was an issue or factor for the child whose parent is the ONLY one who has answered the original question when that was not mentioned or even remotely implied as a reason for leaving Basis,

and the parents who assert that all kids who are failing or not getting excellent grades are doing so because their parents or they are lazy, when some struggling kids are frequently at teacher hours, as are their parents,

these Basis parents are not lilies.  They definitely need to be gilded, and on this thread at least (and for the love of God and loyalty to Basis) on any other thread where their comments are off topic, they need to be quiet.  It as if they interpreted the question as an attack on Basis, and then through their comments revealed many reasons not to go to Basis that most people on DCUM have never heard before and should never hear again.

Basis is not a lily either, but there is no reason for parents who purport to love the school, and I assume want to see more people come, to reveal negative information, negative attitudes, and their own prejudices about kids who are not doing well when sometimes it is the fault of the previous school that did not educate them sufficiently to immediately adapt to an advanced curriculum.

This is called blaming the victim, and is painting with a broad brush every struggling child and parent as one who cries racism after not doing their work.  Even the child who left for SWW must have had test anxiety, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with Basis except a deranged woman who wants to torpedo it, a bunch of people who cry racism at every turn, and struggling kids who have no one to blame but their parents and themselves.

Go gild a lily guys, but stop trashing the school I want to succeed.  We will succeed by bringing in more students who want to and are capable of ascending the steep learning curve.  These comments do nothing to advance that..... to the contrary, you should all be ashamed of yourselves.[/quote]

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