I'll weight in and suggest it depends on the family situation, and the kid's particular interests. I say this as an educator who worked at BASIS several years ago.

BASIS parents often wind up ferrying kids to stronger extra-curriculars than the school offers, e.g. performance drama and music rehearsals (there really isn't a fine arts program) and sports travel teams (sports at BASIS getting more serious but not very serious). If the kid already has strong extra-curricular interests not covered by BASIS options, you're not in a good position to squire him from place to place after school or confident that he'd be OK getting himself to lessons and practices, think twice about enrolling him at BASIS.

As you probably know, BASIS lacks a real gym, stage, library and real computer lab and good music and art rooms, let alone a student radio station, greenhouse, big playing fields etc. which you're likely to find in MD suburbs/Bethesda. The program does not claim to offer a well-rounded education, but does have its pluses. Class size at BASIS is likely to be smaller than in MoCo middle schools, and math and science acceleration stronger. BASIS teachers have office hours kids can attend to get extra help, not always the case in big suburban schools. BASIS is not nearly as white or Asian as MoCo West, if that matters to you. The peer group in MoCo will likely be more stable (most students proceeding up the established feeder pyramid), since at least half the BASIS MS students will be gone by 9th grade. If your kid can test into the Montgomery Blair math or science magnets for HS, or the Richard Montgomery International Baccalaureate Diploma program, I'd say you'll be a lot better off than in BASIS' HS, but of course it's a crap shoot and you can't know if the kid will pull it off.

Is BASIS better than MD suburbs/Bethesda for a smart, math-minded student who is quiet and shy and prone to some anxiety, though usually not over academics?

Is BASIS better than moving to the burbs for MS/HS? IMHO, generally, yes. Is it a great school? No. The curriculum has a strong one-size-fits-all/paternalistic bent, and facilities are weak.

Be prepared to do heavy lifting at home to support a BASIS student with unusual interests and talents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The program isn't flexible. It's the BASIS way or the highway. They have a formula for academic success and won't deviate from it.

If you're looking for respect for individual talents, unique backgrounds, unusual ambitions, distinctive learning styles or whatever else, you want to go elsewhere.

BASIS is not perfect and not always flexible but neither is DCPS and School without Walls. School with Walls wanted my child to repeat AP World History with a score of 4 since it was done before 9th grade and absolutely would not consider a substitute such as AP Geography or another history class. SWW also would have had my kid repeat geometry and possibly Algebra 1 and 2 and Precalculus if chose to take their test and not meet their standards instead of honoring his grades and giving him a chance on taking next course in logical sequence. So we chose to stay at BASIS.

Then someone goes on to criticize no advanced language options at BASIS. Does DCPS have this or SWW? I think folks are being nitpickers. For a free public school BASIS is a pretty good option despite not being perfect.

If foreign language is your strong suit, vs. math, science, AP World History or whatever else, BASIS isn't a good fit for your kid. If that's nitpicking, so be it.