Whenever I hear a Hill parent wax enthusiastic about BASIS for 5th grade I wonder if they'll be singing the same tune in 7th and 8th grade (the two years BASIS makes a point of weeding out the weak).

Sure, 5th grade at BASIS is fine, but the journey can turn into such a tedious, stressful and unpleasant ride later on that most MS students bail before HS. Even kids who can handle the workload without trouble suffer from lack of fresh air, exercise, a library, a stage, solid offerings in the arts, much in the way of real sports teams, a serious music program, a real student government or leadership/ethics/character training.

The school stresses testing and ticking off academic boxes to an absurd degree, meaning there is precious little respect for individual learning styles and preferences. The farther you go, the sillier it all gets, with juniors expected to have completed their AP classes/tests, before essentially goofing off senior year doing "independent research."

^^ Basis also has a TON of kids from Watkins, as well as SWS kids who are IB for S-H. While I know a number of families I-B for SH who turned down Basis, I know many more who chose Basis, including us.

The Watkins kids at Basis do seem to break down along race lines — white kids from Watkins enrolled at Basis in large numbers, at least in the current 5th grade. (A few of those kids may eventually land at S-H, if Basis doesn’t work out.)

Anyway, my 5th grader is a month into Basis and thriving. We love it so far.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are they managing to get in to Basis at such a high rate?

Sibling preference mostly.

I don't think this is really accurate. I think that Basis has a lot of Capitol Hill kids (from Brent, Maury, SWS, and others) primarily because it is so very convenient to the Hill. NW has Deal and Hardy plus Basis is not nearly as convenient - so I don't think as many kids apply/ are willing to make the trek.

BASIS has a lot of Capitol Hill kids, but draws students from across the city. Here's last year's map: https://www.dcpcsb.org/basis-dc-pcs-student-location-map

Anonymous wrote:What does this mean for the kids that stay for 4th and 5th grade? Are there fewer classes? Same number of classes with fewer kids? Does student morale drop? How does it impact teaching and academics?

Few families leave before 4th, and there are only a handful of OOB spots for that grade. 5th grade is just one class, down from several from K on up, but with two or even three full-time teachers. It's an adjustment for 5th graders who stay when most of their friends have left, but they adapt. Teaching and academics in 5th seem to have improved a lot in the years since Principal L came (she arrived in fall of 2017). 5th graders seem to thrive at Brent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are more Brent 4th graders from last year at BASIS this year than at Brent. This has been the case for 5 or 6 years. BASIS has basically become Brent's 5th grade.

Does this break down along racial lines?

Not really. Plenty of AA Brent families go for BASIS, and some white parents are set on sending their children to attend JA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does this mean for the kids that stay for 4th and 5th grade? Are there fewer classes? Same number of classes with fewer kids? Does student morale drop? How does it impact teaching and academics?

Most everyone stays for 4th - so that is the same as all the earlier grades. 5th is where you see the drop off from 60 kids to 12 (plus they add in about 8ish new kids coming in just for 5th grade). So the current 5th grade class is about 20 or so (with two teachers! Like a private school! seems wonderful to me, other than the anxiety about where to send your kid for 6th).

I have a coworker who came in for 5th. She did it to secure access to Brent for her two younger kids. Jefferson was a step up from their IB EOTR. I thought it was a solid plan for an orange line family.

Anonymous wrote:What does this mean for the kids that stay for 4th and 5th grade? Are there fewer classes? Same number of classes with fewer kids? Does student morale drop? How does it impact teaching and academics?

Most everyone stays for 4th - so that is the same as all the earlier grades. 5th is where you see the drop off from 60 kids to 12 (plus they add in about 8ish new kids coming in just for 5th grade). So the current 5th grade class is about 20 or so (with two teachers! Like a private school! seems wonderful to me, other than the anxiety about where to send your kid for 6th).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are they managing to get in to Basis at such a high rate?

Sibling preference mostly.

I don't think this is really accurate. I think that Basis has a lot of Capitol Hill kids (from Brent, Maury, SWS, and others) primarily because it is so very convenient to the Hill. NW has Deal and Hardy plus Basis is not nearly as convenient - so I don't think as many kids apply/ are willing to make the trek.

What does this mean for the kids that stay for 4th and 5th grade? Are there fewer classes? Same number of classes with fewer kids? Does student morale drop? How does it impact teaching and academics?

Anonymous wrote:How are they managing to get in to Basis at such a high rate?

Sibling preference mostly.

How are they managing to get in to Basis at such a high rate?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are more Brent 4th graders from last year at BASIS this year than at Brent. This has been the case for 5 or 6 years. BASIS has basically become Brent's 5th grade.

Does this break down along racial lines?

No, because through fourth grade the vast majority of the (inbounds) kids are white (a few Asian, a few mixed race). Twenty or so of the 60 4th graders from last year went to Basis for 5th this year; 12ish stayed at Brent. (maybe ten or so to Latin, a few to privates)

Anonymous wrote:There are more Brent 4th graders from last year at BASIS this year than at Brent. This has been the case for 5 or 6 years. BASIS has basically become Brent's 5th grade.

Does this break down along racial lines?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you've got the basics. Tour at Latin and Basis, with the understanding that Latin is truly a lottery (about 1 in 10 chance of getting in) and there are also kids who did not get in to Basis last year (I think 70-80 still on the waitlist). I don't think Stuart Hobson let in any out of bounds kids this year (and that would include proximity preference). You might want to also take a look at Two Rivers for 5th grade/middle school. And, there are a (very) few Brent kids who have gone on to Jefferson and seem to be happy/doing well there. My kid is at Basis now and enjoying it, for the most part.

Thanks so much for your response! Do people have better luck with Two Rivers in fifth versus sixth grade?

I am actually wondering if it would make sense for my kid to go to Basis for 5th and then Jefferson for 6th, if she decides Basis isn't for her. I feel like it would give her a better transition year. Or maybe she'll prefer to stay. In general, how much of the decision was yours versus your child's?

OP, whatever you decide regarding how much weight to give to your child's opinion, please don't factor in whether or not her friends are going to a particular school. I've seen so many parents talk up our charter feeder MS/HS then play the lottery every year in hopes of going somewhere else. Just be prepared for kids not showing up there even if they talk a good game about wanting to go there. Then suddenly we heard oh, we're going to Latin/Basis/Private/Moving.

Also, friends generally change in middle school. Just pick the school that seems best for your kid. Everyone else will be doing the same.

Parents try to be polite to the boosters. They don't want to pick fights with optimistic and well-meaning longtime neighbors. Some of the boosters seem a bit clueless about how rough those big SW and SE housing projects zoned for JA actually are. They prefer to talk about strong leadership, rising test scores and "levelled" classes and homerooms than than to ruminate on what it's like to be part of a school community with a big cohort of kids who grew up in some of the City's worst housing projects.