Reply to Basis families: talk to me about the building

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, if you're still there, I suggest that you seek out one or two former BASIS families of top students who didn't stay for the high school experience before enrolling if you get a spot.

Before we enrolled, we only spoke to families who loved BASIS without Deal as their IB option, the willingness to move to the burbs, or, apparently, the resources for privates.

Not going in with our eyes open came back to bite us. [/quote]

Last year, only a handful of kids went to Walls or private for 9th grade.  That will likely happen again this year.

We have a top student in 8th grade and are staying even though we have several other options.

The Basis curriculum is great and the school is well-run.  However, the teaching can be a uneven.  That, of course, happens at other schools as well.

We certainly agree that the school is not for everyone.  To see if there is a good fit, do your own research and make sure your kid does the shadow day and talks to current students.

Good luck![/quote] The reality is less cheery. More than a quarter of last year's 8th graders students left for whatever reasons, rather than the usual third to 40%. The curriculum just isn't great across the board. It's mediocre for English and foreign languages all the way up.

The cramped facility and tight budget don't stretch to much in the way of hands-on STEM work or arts education. There's little engineering tech at BASIS and no research lab (e.g. the marine biology research lab at TJ in Fairfax).

To see if the school is a good fit, you basically need two years on a test run, as a couple PPs noted above. A shadow day and talking to current students won't necessarily predict how your kid will handle the learning environment by late 6th or 7th grade.[/quote]

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