Reply to BASIS--opinions please

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Two kids there, and my older is opting to stay for high school. They complain (like I did when I was their age) about work, but I never see them working incessantly on school stuff. My kids have a robust social life with many mixed activities and plenty of sleep. I am very happy that nothing gets dumbed down at Basis. Kids KNOW their stuff. The academic program is great... I do not love the shifting of staff so much. The mid year hires don't seem to do as good a job as the ones who have been there for a while. I recommend the program, but I feel as a parent that what has made it successful for us is that I do not project stress onto my kids. They get out of the program what they choose to with a clear understanding of what this program can give them (an edge on college applications/ options) and what it is not designed to give (lifegiving a-ha moments). School does the teaching, parents do the shepherding. It's very unproductive to get on to the school to do a parents' job and plant seeds of frustration in kids' minds that make them resent the wor . IMHO. So, get behind the school and enroll, or don't send your child. Don't send your kid there confused yourself and project those feelings on the children.  That messes  kids up![/quote]

devils advocate here.  if it takes a motivated and well organized kid to thrive at BASIS, couldn't that same kid seek out extra enrichment at a normally paced school (ie Kahn Academy, CTY, tutor, etc)?  i wouldn't hold my DC back, but I'm not sold that DC needs to be placed in the gladiator ring even if I like the odds of survival.[/quote]

Gladiator ring? Basis is not a gladiator ring. It offers something unique that is not what everyone wants. My daughter soaks up the stuff at Basis and is a super happy child. She has a cohort of buddies she hangs out with who are growing together. There is a lot of work, sure, but she and her buddies are NOT stressed. I am not sure if people realize that "worry" or "feeling stressed" is fear based response. What exactly is the fear? I teach my kids there is nothing to be afraid of. Just go to school. The future is wide open. I do agree that you can go to a "normal" (whatever that means) paced school, you can have a great future as well. How much does this window determine the rest of your life? You tell me. I have a sister who was an A+ student and got into 6 out of 8 ivies, and she has been suicidal and is almost homeless because she has lost her vision in life. I also went to any Ivy and am super happy with my life. So...?[/quote]

tell that to kids with IEPs who've struggled massively at BASIS.  It has nothing to do with fear and as stated above DC would do fine academically.   I don't want DC educated by a quasi corporate entity that believes it's ok to neglect civil rights of SN students, even if they are not my children.  BASIS DC expansion has stalled for a reason.

and I don't give a f@#! about your life story :-)[/quote]

Hmm. how do you not give a f...about someone's life story and yet have such a passionate response? Doesn't add up.   Anyway, I think the issue raised here is whether schools are responsible for leveling the playing field for IEP students in the name of civil rights.  I don't want to comment on the law here. Not familiar. But since this is brought up, I have opinions. Should the burden of the success of an IEP student be exclusively put upon the school?  If a student is struggling at Basis, is some of the struggle just intrinsic to this student's learning style being not ideally matched with Basis's teaching methods? In which case, why would you keep the child at Basis? Why hate the school, or demand the school to change what is foundational in its teaching philosophy? I think it is okay to "judge" the philosophy and say it doesn't agree with you nor your child, but it is not because the school is wrong. It is just that the styles do not agree? My child is not a stellar student at Basis. Style of school and temperament of my child are not a perfect match. I can argue that he has a challenged learning style. At what point should I  oppose the school and call this a civil rights issue because my child is not doing so well (C's and D's). I am not disagreeing that the people who struggle with the program struggle and have a hard time. I just wonder who carries the burden of providing a solution. And my discussion here is not about Basis at all. It really is about how to match a child to his/her ideal school.  Do we want the schools to change for our children, who come in various shapes, sizes, abilities and challenges? What does an accommodating school really look like, and should there even be one like that? Have we ever seen one? I'd like to enroll my child there, a school that "makes sure" my child succeeds. [/quote]

NP here, responding. Basis accepts federal funding, so they have to follow FAPE and IDEA. Period. If they don't want to, they can dismiss themselves from the charter game and only have private schools. They receive $15k a kid, so they need to make the curriculum accessible to disabled kids that attend. It doesn't mean those kids need to do well, but it does mean that they need to provide them with a way to access the curriculum.  Your child not getting A's-ANY child not getting A's has nothing to do with it, and unless your child has been proven to have an issue that affects several major life and learning functions and Has been evaluated, tested, documented as having such a thing, you CANNOT argue anything about their learning style and expect civil rights protection. Many people with disabilities and many people with diverse learning styles do not qualify for protection under section 504 or IDEA, but everyone is required by law to have FAPE. I was going to say something snarky, but really, you just need to try and understand the law and why it's there, what it does, who it protects, and what protecting them or leveling the playing field really means. And BTW, my child does VERY well at Basis despite having a 504 that we have had to fight and even file complaints and soon a discrimination lawsuit to get admin to follow-he does beautifully at the school but having to self advocate constantly is exhausting and often expensive. Sean Aiken did his best to follow the law and support students as the law deemed them to be supported, but the present HOS does not, and got rid of the one person at Basis who did tirelessly advocate for all students. All the families with kids that have 504s are not sorry to see him go-what he has done to kids like mine is deplorable. Sadly, our kid's learning style independent of his disability jives with Basis' pedagogy, but we won't be able to stay because this past HOS and the one before him would rather do anything than provide FAPE, and we are tired of fighting as hard as we have to there for our kids' civil rights.[/quote]

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