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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m new to the area. Can someone help?

DCI?
Latin?
Basis?
ITS?

Can you give me the general gist if these schools?

Thank you. [/quote]

Lol, I hope this is a joke, but here:

DCI: Dual language with tracks in Spanish, French, and Chinese. You will not get in unless your child attends one of the feeder elementaries, especially if you are Spanish track, as feeders get preference in the lottery (lots of Spanish feeders, only one Chinese and a couple French). Most of those are hard to get into via the lottery, especially for PK. So this may come down to your willingness to send your kid to immersion in 1st or 2nd grade. YMMV.

Latin: People seem to like it ok. Better option than Eastern for sure. Two campuses, the newer one (Cooper) is closer to the Hill, though a temporary space that isn't that great. They have an IB diploma program. You have to lottery for this and there are no feeders, and lots of people don't get spots.

BASIS: Very math/science focused, very testing focused. Lots of stuff on the Basis approach online, go look it up. People who really care about high math scores like Basis a lot because that can be hard to find in DC. Campus is in Chinatown, reasonable commute from the Hill. But not a great fit if you really care about things like having access to arts, athletics, foreign language at school (many BASIS families do those, but outside school). It's kind of a love it or hate it situation. Also incredibly hard to get into via the lottery.

ITS: This is a fairly progressive charter with emphasis on social justice and socio-emotional learning, though they have decent test scores. Elementary feeds to middle, if you don't get into ITS in PK there are opportunities to lottery in during middle elementary or even just for middle school, and you don't have the immersion issue if you do. MS is very small, which is not for everyone (limits activities and certain course offerings as well). Like BASIS, this school is either a good fit for you or it's really not a good fit for you. Know yourself.

Five years ago, most people would have put every one of these schools above the Ward 6 middle schools. Now, there are more people who would argue the proximity, size, and offerings of Stuart Hobson, Eliot-Hine, and Jefferson Academy make them better options for many students. They all have better IB buy-in than they used to, and it will likely increase as competition for spots at charters gets harder.

However, pretty much everyone still prefers any of these over Eastern High School (save ITS, which only goes through middle), so even people who are open minded about the DCPS middle schools will lottery for spots at these schools in order to have a more concrete HS path.[/quote]

Whoever wrote this doesn’t know much about BASIS, and is just parroting points they read on DCUM:

1) BASIS has a lot of advanced math/science but the ELA is advanced as well.  If you look at high school, they have among the top ELA PARCC scores in DC.  If you exclude at-risk students (they are 100% lottery), they have the best ELA PARCC scores in DC.  BASIS also has the top average SAT scores of any public school in DC.

2) BASIS is not in Chinatown.  It is downtown though.

3) Access to arts?  The school is a block from the National Portrait Gallery and easily walkable to the main Smithsonian art museums on the mall.  There are plenty of art classes as well.

4) BASIS is pretty small and not particularly sports focused but they have plenty of sports for their size.  But, yes, if you want to play tackle football or lacrosse, go someplace else.

5) Foreign languages?  BASIS requires 2 years of linguistics (which covers different languages) plus 5 years of a specific foreign language.  That is 7 years total.  DCPS requires 2 years of a foreign language to graduate.[/quote]

Wow, defensive much?

1) No one said BASIS had bad ELA scores. They are math/science focused though. That's the whole draw.
2) The school is between the Chinatown and Archives metro stops. I guess technically you'd call it Penn Quarter. Saying it's in Chinatown is more accurate than "downtown".
3) No one who is talking about access to arts in education is talking about the school's proximity to a museum, lol. Yes they have art classes, no arts are not a focus, including performing arts (next you'll tell me their proximity to Ford's Theater and arena music acts at Capitol One proves they have a great theater/music program).
4) Right, so not a good fit for people who expect to get a lot of athletics programming from their school, which includes plenty of people who don't care about "tackle football."
5) Some people on DCUM complain about the way BASIS handles foreign language. My understanding is it has something to do with when you are allowed to start taking foreign language, as well as maybe whether kid's with native experience with a language are allowed to test into a higher level. Others can speak to this more than I can, but it's definitely commented on here.

Note that no one is saying BASIS is a bad school, and that every other school in that list also had pluses and minuses. I don't understand what is wrong with BASIS parents who will not accept any commentary other than "BASIS IS #1! BASIS Rules and all other schools drool!" Or freak out if someone says they aren't interested in the school because the curriculum/approach is not a good fit ("whatever, you're just jealous because you didn't get a spot!").

Perhaps one of the downsides of BASIS that should be mentioned for newcomers is: weirdly cultish boosters who are unable to accept the school, like all schools, has limitations and downsides.[/quote]

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