What? Not for nothing, but Deal and Latin are vastly different middle schools. Different culture ( uniforms, no uniforms ), different curriculum ( IB. MYP vs. Classical ), one is a neighborhood school, one is a charter school, one is huge, the other is tiny, one has a million extra curricular activities, the other has few. Need I go on?

OP here. Thank you for everyone's great thoughts about my child. In the end, we have decided to submit an application at least to BASIS to enter as a 5th grader as they still have placements for 2013-2014. I definitely want to tour, get a feel for the place. I think we will pass on Latin because it doesn't seem so ingredibly different from Deal, other than possibly smaller class sizes. It seems the issues are similar. Deal seems like it's incredibly overcrowded with 7 elementary schools feeding into it, and many more coming from other OOB schools. Deal, as it happens, is no longer having tours and will not schedule a personal tour for me. So it goes, I guess...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is Latin? The actual street location for the MS and for the HS, I mean.

I'm pp--it is very weird how they list 4 different addresses for where the school actually is. Why not just say directly on the website. Can anyone on here tell me where the MS is located and the HS?

This year they are located on three different campuses along 16th St. Next year they will be in one building at 2nd and Ingraham, NW. I think this is where you would get the four different addresses.

Anonymous wrote:Where is Latin? The actual street location for the MS and for the HS, I mean.

I'm pp--it is very weird how they list 4 different addresses for where the school actually is. Why not just say directly on the website. Can anyone on here tell me where the MS is located and the HS?

Where is Latin? The actual street location for the MS and for the HS, I mean.

Anonymous wrote:Student at BASIS may not be kicked out, but they do leave. My DC told me one arrived at his school recently. Shrug. Everything is not for everyone.

Keep an open mind OP.

I think BASIS "kicks out" very few kids, if any. I imagine that only kids with serious discipline problems who pose a threat to other students are ever kicked out.

BASIS does hold kids back, though, when they fail to demonstrate mastery of grade-level material. This policy gives the kids an additional year to master the material in preparation for the more advanced material taught in subsequent years.

Some kids will repeat the year. Others will leave. Of those that leave, perhaps some complain that they were essentially "kicked out".

Student at BASIS may not be kicked out, but they do leave. My DC told me one arrived at his school recently. Shrug. Everything is not for everyone.

Keep an open mind OP.

Anonymous wrote:Goodbye and good riddance. Happy Ivy League career, happy life to you.

Exactly, PP. Damn those Ivy Leaguers who value education so highly. And damn their well-prepared and hard-working kids as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids was at Latin for fifth and really got a ton of attention. Now at Basis and getting a better education which will continue thru highschool (and we really hope BASIS sticks to their word and that those who fail the sixth grade comps go to summer school, and if they fail again either repeat sixth or leave) but it is a lot of pressure (although self imposed, and most of the kids from the JKLM cohort have no problem) and she does get less attention unless she goes to office hours. But in general you cannot lose by going to Latin if you think you are going to go private for high school. Walls seems in flux now and Wilson may be to large for the child. Private is not an option for us and we have a highly gifted math kid (not my doing!)

Ha. No honors classes at Latin MS and hardly any differentiation, even for math. Kids who can barely read or do basic math monopolize any given teacher's attention. Watch out for the hype, the demographics, the lot. We're out of there after 8th this year, and summer school to catch up before a private (and my kid is one of the most academic)!

Bad move pp. Tons of honors/AP classes in Latin HS and tiny class size. It was a revelation, after MS, just how good the HS is.

And it is true that in Europe the assumption is that not everyone will take their A levels and go to university, so while the point about the rigor is correct, the conclusion is not spot on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids was at Latin for fifth and really got a ton of attention. Now at Basis and getting a better education which will continue thru highschool (and we really hope BASIS sticks to their word and that those who fail the sixth grade comps go to summer school, and if they fail again either repeat sixth or leave) but it is a lot of pressure (although self imposed, and most of the kids from the JKLM cohort have no problem) and she does get less attention unless she goes to office hours. But in general you cannot lose by going to Latin if you think you are going to go private for high school. Walls seems in flux now and Wilson may be to large for the child. Private is not an option for us and we have a highly gifted math kid (not my doing!)

Ha. No honors classes at Latin MS and hardly any differentiation, even for math. Kids who can barely read or do basic math monopolize any given teacher's attention. Watch out for the hype, the demographics, the lot. We're out of there after 8th this year, and summer school to catch up before a private (and my kid is one of the most academic)!

It is true that they were trying to find a way to advance my kid in math at Latin and had no precedent for it. The reason I suggested Basis is that class participation is not emphasized and mostly not even part of the grade, it is possible to go to talk to the teachers one on one, and most of the tests are multiple choice and I think that reduces the stress level. For whatever reason, the attrition rate in each grade is high at the schools in Arizona (many kids choose to leave, especially right before high school), and I expect my dc graduating class to be around 50/60 kids so most people will know each other. And honestly the kids who came from our DCPS to Basis and are doing fine are a real mix - a lot of them I would not have picked as academic standouts, and at least one parent has been really surprised at how well her previously not all that motivated child has taken to the school curriculum, which is exciting if you do not start from behind. They are still admitting rising fifth graders, although sixth grade has a waiting list and only let in around 25 kids. But after sixth I do not believe they accept new students

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids was at Latin for fifth and really got a ton of attention. Now at Basis and getting a better education which will continue thru highschool (and we really hope BASIS sticks to their word and that those who fail the sixth grade comps go to summer school, and if they fail again either repeat sixth or leave) but it is a lot of pressure (although self imposed, and most of the kids from the JKLM cohort have no problem) and she does get less attention unless she goes to office hours. But in general you cannot lose by going to Latin if you think you are going to go private for high school. Walls seems in flux now and Wilson may be to large for the child. Private is not an option for us and we have a highly gifted math kid (not my doing!)

Ha. No honors classes at Latin MS and hardly any differentiation, even for math. Kids who can barely read or do basic math monopolize any given teacher's attention. Watch out for the hype, the demographics, the lot. We're out of there after 8th this year, and summer school to catch up before a private (and my kid is one of the most academic)!

Does your kid go to the same school as mine? I have an 8th grader at Latin. Math is differentiated, the kids have written many papers this year, the music class is a lot more rigorous than I thought it would be.... Looking forward to HS where there will be honors classes.

Goodbye and good riddance. Happy Ivy League career, happy life to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids was at Latin for fifth and really got a ton of attention. Now at Basis and getting a better education which will continue thru highschool (and we really hope BASIS sticks to their word and that those who fail the sixth grade comps go to summer school, and if they fail again either repeat sixth or leave) but it is a lot of pressure (although self imposed, and most of the kids from the JKLM cohort have no problem) and she does get less attention unless she goes to office hours. But in general you cannot lose by going to Latin if you think you are going to go private for high school. Walls seems in flux now and Wilson may be to large for the child. Private is not an option for us and we have a highly gifted math kid (not my doing!)

Ha. No honors classes at Latin MS and hardly any differentiation, even for math. Kids who can barely read or do basic math monopolize any given teacher's attention. Watch out for the hype, the demographics, the lot. We're out of there after 8th this year, and summer school to catch up before a private (and my kid is one of the most academic)!

Just a few of the many advantages of diversity.

Anonymous wrote:Our kids was at Latin for fifth and really got a ton of attention. Now at Basis and getting a better education which will continue thru highschool (and we really hope BASIS sticks to their word and that those who fail the sixth grade comps go to summer school, and if they fail again either repeat sixth or leave) but it is a lot of pressure (although self imposed, and most of the kids from the JKLM cohort have no problem) and she does get less attention unless she goes to office hours. But in general you cannot lose by going to Latin if you think you are going to go private for high school. Walls seems in flux now and Wilson may be to large for the child. Private is not an option for us and we have a highly gifted math kid (not my doing!)

Ha. No honors classes at Latin MS and hardly any differentiation, even for math. Kids who can barely read or do basic math monopolize any given teacher's attention. Watch out for the hype, the demographics, the lot. We're out of there after 8th this year, and summer school to catch up before a private (and my kid is one of the most academic)!