Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that they will give Shorbe (who will be the 7th HoS) a year or two to see if he can turn it around - if that’s convenient with the lease term. The market is there, the brand is there (outside of McLean), many teachers are strong. The problem as others have stated is the horrific management and the broken promises (or flat out lies for the more cynical) combined with the lack of strong community/culture have led to massive student and faculty/staff turnover.

The wording of the press release suggests that Shorbe will be the HoS "for the 2021-22 school year". BINS is always extremely careful with their wording on things like this, which tells me that the mutual agreement is for him to attempt to stabilize the situation for one year while they (again) look for a permanent solution.

If you were a parent at the school and attended a meeting with Mr. Shorbe you would know that your assumptions are incorrect. As a parent at the school, I have been in several meeting with Mr. Shrobe and he has very plainly explained that one of the reasons he's taking this job is because he has children that he has been moving around with as he has been taking on schools inside the Basis network and he is looking to provide some long term stability for his family. Every current parent that I have talked to has been very pleased with what we have learned about him in the meetings this school year and we are all very excited for him to join us soon. Keep your negativity to yourself to take it to your current school, please.

You must be new. They all say why they plan to stay or meet their term. Until they don’t.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that they will give Shorbe (who will be the 7th HoS) a year or two to see if he can turn it around - if that’s convenient with the lease term. The market is there, the brand is there (outside of McLean), many teachers are strong. The problem as others have stated is the horrific management and the broken promises (or flat out lies for the more cynical) combined with the lack of strong community/culture have led to massive student and faculty/staff turnover.

The wording of the press release suggests that Shorbe will be the HoS "for the 2021-22 school year". BINS is always extremely careful with their wording on things like this, which tells me that the mutual agreement is for him to attempt to stabilize the situation for one year while they (again) look for a permanent solution.

If you were a parent at the school and attended a meeting with Mr. Shorbe you would know that your assumptions are incorrect. As a parent at the school, I have been in several meeting with Mr. Shrobe and he has very plainly explained that one of the reasons he's taking this job is because he has children that he has been moving around with as he has been taking on schools inside the Basis network and he is looking to provide some long term stability for his family. Every current parent that I have talked to has been very pleased with what we have learned about him in the meetings this school year and we are all very excited for him to join us soon. Keep your negativity to yourself to take it to your current school, please.

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that they will give Shorbe (who will be the 7th HoS) a year or two to see if he can turn it around - if that’s convenient with the lease term. The market is there, the brand is there (outside of McLean), many teachers are strong. The problem as others have stated is the horrific management and the broken promises (or flat out lies for the more cynical) combined with the lack of strong community/culture have led to massive student and faculty/staff turnover.

The wording of the press release suggests that Shorbe will be the HoS "for the 2021-22 school year". BINS is always extremely careful with their wording on things like this, which tells me that the mutual agreement is for him to attempt to stabilize the situation for one year while they (again) look for a permanent solution.

BIM needs to do two things in order to be successful.

1) BASIS Independent Schools needs to find a solid, experienced Head of School, pay them, and LET THEM DO THEIR JOB. The central office in Arizona meddles entirely too much and simply does not understand the unique challenges of operating in a high-academic environment with the unique types of competitors that exist here. BIM needs its version of Hadley Ruggles or Toby Walker - there's a reason why the Brooklyn and Silicon Valley campuses have been so successful.

2) BASIS Independent Schools needs to eat the cost and just build out the other side of the building. You're leasing and paying for the space anyway, and building out that side will give folks something to believe in. That will allow them to actually begin to sell a real high school experience like the one that exists at those other campuses.

Essentially, start fresh. You have a strong academic product to sell and you have several outstanding teachers, but it has to conform to what this area wants.

My guess is that they will give Shorbe (who will be the 7th HoS) a year or two to see if he can turn it around - if that’s convenient with the lease term. The market is there, the brand is there (outside of McLean), many teachers are strong. The problem as others have stated is the horrific management and the broken promises (or flat out lies for the more cynical) combined with the lack of strong community/culture have led to massive student and faculty/staff turnover.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

All I can figure is that their operating losses are smaller than the cost of eating the lease outright over its remaining life, so running the school is cheaper than folding it. Nothing else makes much sense.

Of course, no one knows the lease terms except the secret insiders with clearance, so parents have no way of judging management's likely future steps.

Why would parents have any information about the lease terms of the school? This schools is an independent school that is in now way linked to a parent board. I find that most of the parents that complain about Basis are usually the ones expecting the school to be like other privates in the area. Management has no obligation to inform you of their lease terms.You want to know if the schools plans to be open in the coming years, ask. I have, it's not a secret conspiracy. You dont like the answer or don't trust it, leave. It will be ok ,for you and the school.

Because if they are still losing money when the lease is up, closing the school becomes an attractive option.

Actually, BIM did have a plan to be a profitable school by now with 600-700 students, but enough parents thought otherwise that it didn't exactly work out. Good luck hanging on there.

Anonymous wrote:The school has pluses and minuses. We left because the school closing is a legitimate concern.

I don’t know about the inner politics but I do agree with PP that it seemed like we heard less and less from the management above McLean each year. And certainly not because things were running smoothly.

Are they really considering closing? We are planning to switch from another area school and committing to a whole lot of $. The last thing I want is to pay, lose my money, and have to look for a new school. I'm glad I found this forum. We have not signed the contract yet. It's making me think twice. WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING AT THIS SCHOOL?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

All I can figure is that their operating losses are smaller than the cost of eating the lease outright over its remaining life, so running the school is cheaper than folding it. Nothing else makes much sense.

Of course, no one knows the lease terms except the secret insiders with clearance, so parents have no way of judging management's likely future steps.

Why would parents have any information about the lease terms of the school? This schools is an independent school that is in now way linked to a parent board. I find that most of the parents that complain about Basis are usually the ones expecting the school to be like other privates in the area. Management has no obligation to inform you of their lease terms.You want to know if the schools plans to be open in the coming years, ask. I have, it's not a secret conspiracy. You dont like the answer or don't trust it, leave. It will be ok ,for you and the school.

Very arrogant response! BECAUSE IT SHOWS NO ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSURANCE OF FINANCIAL STABILITY AND LONGEVITY!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

All I can figure is that their operating losses are smaller than the cost of eating the lease outright over its remaining life, so running the school is cheaper than folding it. Nothing else makes much sense.

Of course, no one knows the lease terms except the secret insiders with clearance, so parents have no way of judging management's likely future steps.

Why would parents have any information about the lease terms of the school? This schools is an independent school that is in now way linked to a parent board. I find that most of the parents that complain about Basis are usually the ones expecting the school to be like other privates in the area. Management has no obligation to inform you of their lease terms.You want to know if the schools plans to be open in the coming years, ask. I have, it's not a secret conspiracy. You dont like the answer or don't trust it, leave. It will be ok ,for you and the school.

That's funny. BIM competes with the privates in the area but won't meet the same standards. Parents are supposed to ask abut important issues, which they do every year. The school lies to them over and over and over, but really, this time, it will be different, so you can believe them.

Yes, the people who don't like that do leave. But that doesn't stop the school being held accountable for its actions and statements in public, like any other school or business. That's what is happening here.

Scrutiny is tough sometimes.

It's not a matter of being held to the same standards but of being managed in the same way. There is a difference between a for-profit and nonprofit school ran by a board. The school sells educations and does a great job offering that as far as Im concerned and other parents are concerned. You can say the school lies all you want but what that really means is that you are not hearing what you want. There is no big conspiracy or big plan to make the precious NVA snowflakes suffer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

All I can figure is that their operating losses are smaller than the cost of eating the lease outright over its remaining life, so running the school is cheaper than folding it. Nothing else makes much sense.

Of course, no one knows the lease terms except the secret insiders with clearance, so parents have no way of judging management's likely future steps.

Why would parents have any information about the lease terms of the school? This schools is an independent school that is in now way linked to a parent board. I find that most of the parents that complain about Basis are usually the ones expecting the school to be like other privates in the area. Management has no obligation to inform you of their lease terms.You want to know if the schools plans to be open in the coming years, ask. I have, it's not a secret conspiracy. You dont like the answer or don't trust it, leave. It will be ok ,for you and the school.

Because if they are still losing money when the lease is up, closing the school becomes an attractive option.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

All I can figure is that their operating losses are smaller than the cost of eating the lease outright over its remaining life, so running the school is cheaper than folding it. Nothing else makes much sense.

Of course, no one knows the lease terms except the secret insiders with clearance, so parents have no way of judging management's likely future steps.

Why would parents have any information about the lease terms of the school? This schools is an independent school that is in now way linked to a parent board. I find that most of the parents that complain about Basis are usually the ones expecting the school to be like other privates in the area. Management has no obligation to inform you of their lease terms.You want to know if the schools plans to be open in the coming years, ask. I have, it's not a secret conspiracy. You dont like the answer or don't trust it, leave. It will be ok ,for you and the school.

That's funny. BIM competes with the privates in the area but won't meet the same standards. Parents are supposed to ask abut important issues, which they do every year. The school lies to them over and over and over, but really, this time, it will be different, so you can believe them.

Yes, the people who don't like that do leave. But that doesn't stop the school being held accountable for its actions and statements in public, like any other school or business. That's what is happening here.

Scrutiny is tough sometimes.

The school has pluses and minuses. We left because the school closing is a legitimate concern.

I don’t know about the inner politics but I do agree with PP that it seemed like we heard less and less from the management above McLean each year. And certainly not because things were running smoothly.

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

As someone thats part of the Basis community I know this to be a incorrect and I'm embarrassed and sad to see someone that claims to be part of our community is posting it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the management team above the school level considers the McLean campus to be a loss, a disaster or even a joke. They don’t want to take responsibility or touch McLean with a 10 ft pole. That’s why we never hear from them. Maybe they show up once a year to say everything will be alright (it never is) or they send an email message intended to be reassuring (but is instead patronizing). There will be no improvement at the school level, because BINS and Spring seem to have given up on this campus.

All I can figure is that their operating losses are smaller than the cost of eating the lease outright over its remaining life, so running the school is cheaper than folding it. Nothing else makes much sense.

Of course, no one knows the lease terms except the secret insiders with clearance, so parents have no way of judging management's likely future steps.

Why would parents have any information about the lease terms of the school? This schools is an independent school that is in now way linked to a parent board. I find that most of the parents that complain about Basis are usually the ones expecting the school to be like other privates in the area. Management has no obligation to inform you of their lease terms.You want to know if the schools plans to be open in the coming years, ask. I have, it's not a secret conspiracy. You dont like the answer or don't trust it, leave. It will be ok ,for you and the school.