Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.

Depends on the school. Most IB Brent families can afford private ($$ real estate, little low cost housing) plus a sizable chunk of L-T, Maury & Watkins IB families. Obviously not all families will go private for a variety of reasons with financials as a heavy component, but I do think if BASIS middle school spots dry up, at least a third of families that would have gone there will move or go private instead.

You sent a kid to Brent? We sent several, over a decade. Most Brent families can't afford privates easily. I'm guessing that at least three quarters of my children's 4th grade cohorts at Brent stayed in public schools (but not necessarily DC public schools).

Privates aren’t just Sidwell charging more than most colleges. Based on the income data, very clearly most Brent parents could afford at least Catholic school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that lot of people go in planning to probably just use the middle school. But then you are probably looking at applying out for 9th without much if any administrative support in doing so. That has some potential to be rather stressful.

What support do you need, and why would you expect them to spend time supporting people who want to leave?

You don't sound like you've had a kid apply to private schools in the DMV. When a private offers spots in the single digits for your kid's next grade and draws more than 100 applicants from well-qualified applicants, it really helps if your the middle school sends along certified transcripts in a timely fashion, strong recommendations and so forth. BASIS didn't do that for us, so we turned to outside recommenders and sent in the latest report card ourselves. Buyer with privates in mind beware.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.

Depends on the school. Most IB Brent families can afford private ($$ real estate, little low cost housing) plus a sizable chunk of L-T, Maury & Watkins IB families. Obviously not all families will go private for a variety of reasons with financials as a heavy component, but I do think if BASIS middle school spots dry up, at least a third of families that would have gone there will move or go private instead.

You sent a kid to Brent? We sent several, over a decade. Most Brent families can't afford privates easily. I'm guessing that at least three quarters of my children's 4th grade cohorts at Brent stayed in public schools (but not necessarily DC public schools).

Anonymous wrote:The reality is that you can do all the research there is to do on BASIS without knowing how your kid(s) will react to their middle school experience there, or the prospect of staying for HS. You also can’t plan for who will be in charge at BASIS year to year, since the leadership can change. When my eldest realized that none of her close friends would be returning for 9th grade, she staunchly refused to stay, despite her high GPA and strong STEM interests. Apparently, her friend group was what had made BASIS bearable for her. As for what makes applying to private high schools challenging w/out support from BASIS, talk to parents whose middle schools actively market their 8th graders to high schools. I would include the best DCPS middle schools in this category of school.

BASIS is strange, more of an AP tutoring program than a full-fledged school. Right, parents of middle schoolers aren't in a position to know if kids will be willing to stay for high school, even if they're top students. If the elementary school launches, there are also going to be kids who will refuse to stay for middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids flame out at Basis.

Definitely avoid unless you have an academically advanced kid who can handle the rigor.

+100

. Never mind the truth that few kids actually do flame out of BASIS. I’d wager not even 20%. Most leave for other reasons. If the ES launches, same deal.

The reality is that you can do all the research there is to do on BASIS without knowing how your kid(s) will react to their middle school experience there, or the prospect of staying for HS. You also can’t plan for who will be in charge at BASIS year to year, since the leadership can change. When my eldest realized that none of her close friends would be returning for 9th grade, she staunchly refused to stay, despite her high GPA and strong STEM interests. Apparently, her friend group was what had made BASIS bearable for her. As for what makes applying to private high schools challenging w/out support from BASIS, talk to parents whose middle schools actively market their 8th graders to high schools. I would include the best DCPS middle schools in this category of school.

Anonymous wrote:Stressful is right. We applied to privates and Walls after failing to convince our kid to stay at BASIS for HS despite a high GPA. We moved on with no more than perfunctory support from BASIS. Our kid was admitted to a private that's a 45-min drive for us when the school shuttle isn't an option. Go into BASIS with your eyes open.

Should have done your research first.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids flame out at Basis.

Definitely avoid unless you have an academically advanced kid who can handle the rigor.

+100

Anonymous wrote:Hill families who would have sent their kids to BASIS are, for the most part, not going to go down the Hill middle school path. They care about their kids’ education and are not going to roll the dice with those schools.

In the end this is all conjecture so it doesn't really matter what we think, but I see this point a little differently.
Some parents might be all basis or they move/go private. But I think there is a decent number of families that don't feel confident in other options because they have not seen or heard results or experiences from people that have been to other schools. I am sure basis will continue to do it's thing, but I also think as more families choose different options, some families who today may be 'basis or bust' may consider other options in coming years.
Either way, only time will tell.

Hill families who would have sent their kids to BASIS are, for the most part, not going to go down the Hill middle school path. They care about their kids’ education and are not going to roll the dice with those schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.

Depends on the school. Most IB Brent families can afford private ($$ real estate, little low cost housing) plus a sizable chunk of L-T, Maury & Watkins IB families. Obviously not all families will go private for a variety of reasons with financials as a heavy component, but I do think if BASIS middle school spots dry up, at least a third of families that would have gone there will move or go private instead.

As somebody who follows education/school data pretty closely, as well as population/demographic data, I see a slightly different way the next 5-10 years plays out. Yes, some will go to private for various reasons. But the number of families with middle and high school aged children in DC has been increasing (and is likely to continue). Schools that were in disrepair/poor physical condition are one by one being renovated, resulting in schools kids, families and teachers want to spend time in. Enrollment is increasing at many middle and high schools, which is leading to additional course offerings, clubs, and teams. Unfortunately with the way our school funding works, it is a bit of a chicken or the egg situation -- if the schools don't have programs/courses/teams/clubs then kids look elsewhere. So these increases in enrollment are huge with regards to allowing for more teachers to offer a larger variety of courses.
As has been discussed ad nauseum on this and other threads, the novelty/shine of some schools is starting to wear and parents are realizing there is more than one 'good' option, so you are seeing some kids returning back to their former school after trying a new school for a couple of years. All this to say, I think looking at historical trends doesn't really apply in the landscape today, and that the raw number of families not choosing to go to private or move will continue to increase.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.

Depends on the school. Most IB Brent families can afford private ($$ real estate, little low cost housing) plus a sizable chunk of L-T, Maury & Watkins IB families. Obviously not all families will go private for a variety of reasons with financials as a heavy component, but I do think if BASIS middle school spots dry up, at least a third of families that would have gone there will move or go private instead.

Anonymous wrote:I understand that lot of people go in planning to probably just use the middle school. But then you are probably looking at applying out for 9th without much if any administrative support in doing so. That has some potential to be rather stressful.

What support do you need, and why would you expect them to spend time supporting people who want to leave?

Anonymous wrote:No, what’s happening here is that a few parents are challenging the widely held assumption that BASIS is a sure bet for the academically advanced. It’s not. In our experience, teaching quality is far too uneven, and curricular choices are far too limited, for BASIS to be anything but a default option for those EotP who can’t afford privates and don’t want to move. As for Cornell, J-R and Walls students crack Ivies more often than BASIS seniors. Look it up.

Why are you always posting about BASIS high school when your kids didn't even go to BASIS for high school?

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.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.