Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 20:23     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving after multiple years. The culture and the narrow path to thriving and joy pushed our family out. This is a kid who worked really hard. Very high scores on standardized tests, etc.

My child wasn’t against doing the work. Just the grind of the narrow curriculum choices and the very small, and smaller by the year peer group.


Had you known how it was going to play out, where would you have gone?


Not sure what we would have done. Tried for Latin maybe?


Yeah. If my kid had gotten into Latin they would have gone. But they didn't, so....
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 18:59     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Moving after multiple years. The culture and the narrow path to thriving and joy pushed our family out. This is a kid who worked really hard. Very high scores on standardized tests, etc.

My child wasn’t against doing the work. Just the grind of the narrow curriculum choices and the very small, and smaller by the year peer group.


Had you known how it was going to play out, where would you have gone?


Not sure what we would have done. Tried for Latin maybe?
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 18:46     Subject: Basis DC
Do we really need another BASIS thread?? Go there, don’t go there. Whatever. It’s the same posters on all of these threads.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 18:46     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:Moving after multiple years. The culture and the narrow path to thriving and joy pushed our family out. This is a kid who worked really hard. Very high scores on standardized tests, etc.

My child wasn’t against doing the work. Just the grind of the narrow curriculum choices and the very small, and smaller by the year peer group.


Where are you moving to?
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 18:13     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:Moving after multiple years. The culture and the narrow path to thriving and joy pushed our family out. This is a kid who worked really hard. Very high scores on standardized tests, etc.

My child wasn’t against doing the work. Just the grind of the narrow curriculum choices and the very small, and smaller by the year peer group.


Had you known how it was going to play out, where would you have gone?
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 17:49     Subject: Basis DC
Moving after multiple years. The culture and the narrow path to thriving and joy pushed our family out. This is a kid who worked really hard. Very high scores on standardized tests, etc.

My child wasn’t against doing the work. Just the grind of the narrow curriculum choices and the very small, and smaller by the year peer group.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 17:43     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did you not research at all before signing up? Very frustrating as the parent of a kid who really wanted to go and would have thrived there, but didn't get a spot. Thanks for wasting one.


You're probably better off...


This is just not universally true. I know, in real life, kids who are happy there. They have to students who want to study a lot and work hard. I also know kids who absolutely hated and got out. Those kids should never have gone there, and should have left the spot for someone who is more suited.

this is about to turn into a "BASIS is child abuse" post, and it is a real disservice to DC parents who have a kid would would enjoy it and love the chance to take advanced classes.


Awww, I feel bad for you. The truth is, it’s hard to know what your 4th grader is going to enjoy. You may know they can take advanced classes (we knew that about our kid), but you don’t know what the culture is like and if your kid will enjoy it. We couldn’t have known about the culture until we tried it. Our top performing kid was miserable so we left when we could.

Either way, don’t blame the parents who are trying to make the best of a bad situation (DCPS options). Blame DCPS for not offering better options.


Amen!
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 15:21     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry to hear your child is having those problems. The focus on grades and testing is not a good fit for everyone, but I'll share my perspective: My child is generally academically unmotivated and does the least possible to get by. In our neighborhood middle school, that approach would have resulted in virtually no learning. (It's possible to learn there, but the student has to be motivated.) At Basis, the bare minimum means he has to somewhat pay attention in class and do a little bit of homework some nights - maybe a total of an hour a week. He even studied for comps a bit this year - maybe a total average of 10 minutes per class.


Soon to be 5th grader at BASIS parent here. This is EXACTLY why we chose BASIS. Thank you for saying it out loud. So many parents with kids at our terrible DCPS IB middle gloating that their kids are thriving and in the honor roll when they were barely scraping by in ES. That just tells me that all you have to do to get an A is show up.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 15:07     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are now pursuing therapy after our experience at middle school level here. The testing, pressure, anxiety and focus on grades is too much. Please do your homework and be aware before you accept a spot and make sure it is the right fit for your child.


I'm sorry your child is having problems & I'm glad you are reaching out for help.

However, I'd bet that they would have the same issues in the GT track at BCC or McLean or Langley. Don't blame the system because it doesn't bend for individuals when Basis has always been clear about what the process will be.

-parent of a 10th grader who is thriving at Basis HS after a couple of rough MS years


BASIS is not clear. They rope kids in with promises of some sort of high-end education, and really it's just a heavy workload that only a small portion of the kids are going to be able to handle. And they know that when they bring all those kids in. It's messed up.


The curriculum is public. You can see what classes kids take each year. The instructional materials are public, too, so you can see what books they're using for each class. You can also see the attrition rates. It's all out there.

The hard part is if the culture will work for your kid, because there are bright kids who it doesn't work for. I don't think you can know that ahead of time, but neither can BASIS.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 15:05     Subject: Basis DC
Many elementary schools have backed off of teaching subject matter and having homework so BASIS has to get them up to speed - this is a universal problem. Students leave elementary school with poor grammar and low basic mathematical skills.

I have two children who both graduated from BASIS DC - and they were able to easily handle their college course workload, u like some of their peers. I would rather them learn how to study and work hard while living at home/having support from me than once they went out on their own.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 14:40     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are now pursuing therapy after our experience at middle school level here. The testing, pressure, anxiety and focus on grades is too much. Please do your homework and be aware before you accept a spot and make sure it is the right fit for your child.


I'm sorry your child is having problems & I'm glad you are reaching out for help.

However, I'd bet that they would have the same issues in the GT track at BCC or McLean or Langley. Don't blame the system because it doesn't bend for individuals when Basis has always been clear about what the process will be.

-parent of a 10th grader who is thriving at Basis HS after a couple of rough MS years


BASIS is not clear. They rope kids in with promises of some sort of high-end education, and really it's just a heavy workload that only a small portion of the kids are going to be able to handle. And they know that when they bring all those kids in. It's messed up.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 14:35     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:We are now pursuing therapy after our experience at middle school level here. The testing, pressure, anxiety and focus on grades is too much. Please do your homework and be aware before you accept a spot and make sure it is the right fit for your child.


I'm sorry your child is having problems & I'm glad you are reaching out for help.

However, I'd bet that they would have the same issues in the GT track at BCC or McLean or Langley. Don't blame the system because it doesn't bend for individuals when Basis has always been clear about what the process will be.

-parent of a 10th grader who is thriving at Basis HS after a couple of rough MS years
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 12:16     Subject: Basis DC
I'm sorry to hear your child is having those problems. The focus on grades and testing is not a good fit for everyone, but I'll share my perspective: My child is generally academically unmotivated and does the least possible to get by. In our neighborhood middle school, that approach would have resulted in virtually no learning. (It's possible to learn there, but the student has to be motivated.) At Basis, the bare minimum means he has to somewhat pay attention in class and do a little bit of homework some nights - maybe a total of an hour a week. He even studied for comps a bit this year - maybe a total average of 10 minutes per class.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 11:16     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did you not research at all before signing up? Very frustrating as the parent of a kid who really wanted to go and would have thrived there, but didn't get a spot. Thanks for wasting one.


You're probably better off...


This is just not universally true. I know, in real life, kids who are happy there. They have to students who want to study a lot and work hard. I also know kids who absolutely hated and got out. Those kids should never have gone there, and should have left the spot for someone who is more suited.

this is about to turn into a "BASIS is child abuse" post, and it is a real disservice to DC parents who have a kid would would enjoy it and love the chance to take advanced classes.


Awww, I feel bad for you. The truth is, it’s hard to know what your 4th grader is going to enjoy. You may know they can take advanced classes (we knew that about our kid), but you don’t know what the culture is like and if your kid will enjoy it. We couldn’t have known about the culture until we tried it. Our top performing kid was miserable so we left when we could.

Either way, don’t blame the parents who are trying to make the best of a bad situation (DCPS options). Blame DCPS for not offering better options.


I think that's something we can all agree with. The options for kids who want (and need) advanced classes in middle school are terrible in this city, unless you are IB for Deal or Hardy.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2024 10:28     Subject: Basis DC
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did you not research at all before signing up? Very frustrating as the parent of a kid who really wanted to go and would have thrived there, but didn't get a spot. Thanks for wasting one.


You're probably better off...


This is just not universally true. I know, in real life, kids who are happy there. They have to students who want to study a lot and work hard. I also know kids who absolutely hated and got out. Those kids should never have gone there, and should have left the spot for someone who is more suited.

this is about to turn into a "BASIS is child abuse" post, and it is a real disservice to DC parents who have a kid would would enjoy it and love the chance to take advanced classes.


Statistically, they are probably better off, since the number of kids who graduate is a small fraction of those who start middle school there. So, yes it is true that they PROBABLY are better off not having gone there.