Lot of defensive parents here blaming Basis for their lack of research and bad choices, and their kids’ poor performance.

Wrong conclusion but not on my part. My kid wasn’t taught much at a top DCPS ES in the upper grades. Neither did he get strong humanities instruction in the much lauded BASIS MS. Tutors report no shortage of apptitude or motivation where he’s concerned. They sorted him out. He now earns top grades across the board.

Anonymous wrote:We thought we were doing “just fine” staying for upper grades at a top CH DCPS ES. The kids got all 4s on report cards yet needed intensive remediation with tutors to cope at BASIS. After leaving BASIS they needed even more remediation to do well in humanities classes at a private. Believe what you want.

I think you’re drawing the wrong conclusion. Our kid got mostly 3s on report cards the entire time at an excellent DCPS ES and is now excelling at BASIS. I think the more likely conclusion is that DCPS ES grades are not particularly informative or if anything they are instructive to show growth but not aptitude.

Anonymous wrote:This post crystallizes a major problem that I see with Basis and its school culture. If ANY child struggles in any respect, it is ALWAYS claimed to be predominantly the child’s fault (or the child’s family for failing to appreciate or overlooking that the school might be a poor fit). In some other contexts, that would be called gaslighting.

It also crystalizes toxic BASIS exceptionalism.

Shock! My kid also requiring tutoring, for writing and a foreign language, after we went on to a parochial high school. This happened despite his high BASIS GPA for 5th-8th. The middle school writing instruction he'd had at BASIS wasn't up to the standards of his new school, not even close. His language skills weren't nearly good enough either, since his new classmates had started studying the language no later than 6th grade.

Declaring BASIS to be the most fantastic and highest ranked DC high school ad nauseam on these threads in DC only goes so far in papering over the cracks.

Anonymous wrote:This post crystallizes a major problem that I see with Basis and its school culture. If ANY child struggles in any respect, it is ALWAYS claimed to be predominantly the child’s fault (or the child’s family for failing to appreciate or overlooking that the school might be a poor fit). In some other contexts, that would be called gaslighting.

Pot calls the kettle black.

This post crystallizes a major problem that I see with Basis and its school culture. If ANY child struggles in any respect, it is ALWAYS claimed to be predominantly the child’s fault (or the child’s family for failing to appreciate or overlooking that the school might be a poor fit). In some other contexts, that would be called gaslighting.

Anonymous wrote:We thought we were doing “just fine” staying for upper grades at a top CH DCPS ES. The kids got all 4s on report cards yet needed intensive remediation with tutors to cope at BASIS. After leaving BASIS they needed even more remediation to do well in humanities classes at a private. Believe what you want.

That isn’t our experience at Basis and no one we know, at least in high school.

Sounds like the school wasn’t a good fit for your kid.

There is no shame in it. Just own the failure and move on.

We thought we were doing “just fine” staying for upper grades at a top CH DCPS ES. The kids got all 4s on report cards yet needed intensive remediation with tutors to cope at BASIS. After leaving BASIS they needed even more remediation to do well in humanities classes at a private. Believe what you want.

Who really cares. BASIS is what it is, bad building, narrow AP exam prep focus et al. The status quo re BASIS won’t change as a result of petty posts on DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:Disagree that many more CH parents will head to JA, EH and SH if most BASIS spits are pinned down by K-4 families. More like more will move or go private. BASIS has been the Hill’s most popular MS for more than a decade now for a reason.

Just wanted to pop on to offer a quick counter point. There are a lot more families in the various Capitol Hill elementary schools than people realize and all of the schools, if not most of them have increasing enrollment (This is in contrast to the city as a whole which the largest growing population is high school students.)

As someone who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and had kids in public schools for the past 10 years, you cannot project the future based on past trends.

The edscape site has been referenced here on this forum many times, they will be releasing updated data soon. In addition to that website the 'books' with data on every public, middle school and high school on this website are also really informative
https://enrolldcps.dc.gov/node/46

Also, the data on that site is from the school year before last. So for example the MacArthur page talks about all the programs but doesn't have actual data because when the book was printed the school hadn't opened yet. The new version that includes last years data is also going to be posted on that site shortly.

I mentioned those two sites because people on this forum get upset when people talk about anecdotal stories and both of those sites have a lot of hard data to show that while Basis and Latin continue to be popular, families are enrolling in other options as well. At EH for example, last years 6th grade was bigger than projected by maybe 25-30 kids, this year the 6th grade is 20-30 students bigger. And there are some children who are returning to public schools after trying out other options. Will some kids move if they don't get into a specific school? Yes, but those who are staying are doing just fine too.

In the end of the day, it is a good thing to have options, different kids and families have different priorities, but everyone benefits when all the schools start growing and having more course offerings, club offerings, teams etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No kid loves BASIS. Kids love fresh air, light, fun school electives supported by serious resources, a strong school community, fine performing arts programs, strong school sports programs, strong instrumental music programs, a chance to run around during the school day, a chance to go on interesting field trips on a regular basis, Parents love avoiding crappy DCPS middle schools while continuing to enjoy their hip row house lifestyle. I say this as a parent who used to proudly proclaim that my kids loved BASIS. The thing is, they didn't and neither did their friends. By 9th grade, almost the entire friend group, a dozen kids, had voted with their feet.

Ooh, found the "shame on your selfish rowhouse lifestyle" poster. You been on vacation? You're usually chiming in a little earlier on these threads.

Anyway, yeah, you got me. I secretly hate my kids and prioritize my hipness over their education. That's definitely why my kid is at BASIS rather than FCPS. Thank God people like you are posting on every single BASIS thread to show the rest of us the error of our ways.

I'm a little surprised you're not also going after those hip rowhouse parents who send their kids to Latin or DCI instead of doing the loving thing and moving to the suburbs. Or is it only selfish when our kids go to a school your child didn't like?

+1. I always chuckle when I see BASIS parents accused of living “hip rowhouse lifestyles.” I don’t think “hip” means what that poster thinks it means.

And valid point that this screed only seems to be aimed at BASIS parents, not any of the other parents who send their kids to public middle or high schools outside of Ward 3.

spots

Disagree that many more CH parents will head to JA, EH and SH if most BASIS spits are pinned down by K-4 families. More like more will move or go private. BASIS has been the Hill’s most popular MS for more than a decade now for a reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No kid loves BASIS. Kids love fresh air, light, fun school electives supported by serious resources, a strong school community, fine performing arts programs, strong school sports programs, strong instrumental music programs, a chance to run around during the school day, a chance to go on interesting field trips on a regular basis, Parents love avoiding crappy DCPS middle schools while continuing to enjoy their hip row house lifestyle. I say this as a parent who used to proudly proclaim that my kids loved BASIS. The thing is, they didn't and neither did their friends. By 9th grade, almost the entire friend group, a dozen kids, had voted with their feet.

Ooh, found the "shame on your selfish rowhouse lifestyle" poster. You been on vacation? You're usually chiming in a little earlier on these threads.

Anyway, yeah, you got me. I secretly hate my kids and prioritize my hipness over their education. That's definitely why my kid is at BASIS rather than FCPS. Thank God people like you are posting on every single BASIS thread to show the rest of us the error of our ways.

I'm a little surprised you're not also going after those hip rowhouse parents who send their kids to Latin or DCI instead of doing the loving thing and moving to the suburbs. Or is it only selfish when our kids go to a school your child didn't like?

NP. Nobody's arguing the above but you, PP. This take is extreme and silly.

I'm in the camp of those who believe that a BASIS K-4 would roll back progress for Ward 6 elementary school in an untenable way. Sounds like good news that BASIS has hit a major snag with the rollout.

I'm keeping my fingers cross that they concede defeat.

It's dumb but for some reason this row house thing shows up in every BASIS thread.

I actually think an expansion to K-4 would
reduce BASIS's impact on Ward 6 middle schools. As things are, BASIS pulls some kids who are legitimately well-served by its academic philosophy and a lot of kids for whom it's the best of bad options. But I can't imagine that second group of parents would opt for BASIS for a kindergartener when there are lots of good elementary schools available. They'll go with their local schools and play the lottery.

The BASIS elementary school seats will go to kids whose families really are sold on the educational philosophy, and by fourth grade, the kids still at the BASIS elementary would be in it for the long haul. I think BASIS currently pulls disproportionately from Ward 6, and an elementary option might bring a little more balance.

So by fourth grade, you'll have Ward 6 parents putting their kids in the lottery, but instead of having 135 seats, BASIS will have maybe 20 seats. With fewer middle-school exits to the charter world, more kids will end up at SH, EH and Jefferson, and that would put pressure on those schools to improve and expand the cohort of kids at or above grade level.

This. And there's no reason to assume BASIS elementary would pull disproportionately from the Hill, even though sibling preference skews access they might not uptake. Depending on location there are lots of other, worse elementary schools nearby and those parents might be even more motivated to apply to BASIS. With 75 kids per grade there's only so many kids from any one elementary school that would get in. It's easy to think of 10 DCPS elementaries that are pretty close to current BASIS, and then you have all the charters... I really don't see any one school sending more than a handful of kids per grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No kid loves BASIS. Kids love fresh air, light, fun school electives supported by serious resources, a strong school community, fine performing arts programs, strong school sports programs, strong instrumental music programs, a chance to run around during the school day, a chance to go on interesting field trips on a regular basis, Parents love avoiding crappy DCPS middle schools while continuing to enjoy their hip row house lifestyle. I say this as a parent who used to proudly proclaim that my kids loved BASIS. The thing is, they didn't and neither did their friends. By 9th grade, almost the entire friend group, a dozen kids, had voted with their feet.

Ooh, found the "shame on your selfish rowhouse lifestyle" poster. You been on vacation? You're usually chiming in a little earlier on these threads.

Anyway, yeah, you got me. I secretly hate my kids and prioritize my hipness over their education. That's definitely why my kid is at BASIS rather than FCPS. Thank God people like you are posting on every single BASIS thread to show the rest of us the error of our ways.

I'm a little surprised you're not also going after those hip rowhouse parents who send their kids to Latin or DCI instead of doing the loving thing and moving to the suburbs. Or is it only selfish when our kids go to a school your child didn't like?

NP. Nobody's arguing the above but you, PP. This take is extreme and silly.

I'm in the camp of those who believe that a BASIS K-4 would roll back progress for Ward 6 elementary school in an untenable way. Sounds like good news that BASIS has hit a major snag with the rollout.

I'm keeping my fingers cross that they concede defeat.

It's dumb but for some reason this row house thing shows up in every BASIS thread.

I actually think an expansion to K-4 would
reduce BASIS's impact on Ward 6 middle schools. As things are, BASIS pulls some kids who are legitimately well-served by its academic philosophy and a lot of kids for whom it's the best of bad options. But I can't imagine that second group of parents would opt for BASIS for a kindergartener when there are lots of good elementary schools available. They'll go with their local schools and play the lottery.

The BASIS elementary school seats will go to kids whose families really are sold on the educational philosophy, and by fourth grade, the kids still at the BASIS elementary would be in it for the long haul. I think BASIS currently pulls disproportionately from Ward 6, and an elementary option might bring a little more balance.

So by fourth grade, you'll have Ward 6 parents putting their kids in the lottery, but instead of having 135 seats, BASIS will have maybe 20 seats. With fewer middle-school exits to the charter world, more kids will end up at SH, EH and Jefferson, and that would put pressure on those schools to improve and expand the cohort of kids at or above grade level.