Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not be surprised to discover that there is not a single family in DC in this situation, but I imagine if there is, they might be reluctant to post here because they would be instantly recognizable to peopel who know their family!

I have one at Latin middle and one at BASIS in middle. We make it work. The schools are very different; different kids may thrive in different places.

You are the unicorn!

Could you share your thoughts on the main differences?

+1000

So few people have first hand experience with both schools. I'd love to hear the compare/contrast.

Basis is very, very intense and the class sizes are pretty large in the early middle grades. Highly motivated and driven kids tend to do well, but it is definitely not a school for all kids, despite what they say. The lack of more sports teams is a problem. It’s not clear to me if the school is compliant with PE requirements (or even subject to them). My kid does sports outside of school fortunately.

Latin has a completely different vibe. Very small classes and love of learning, get to know your teachers well etc. But definitely not the same level of rigor at all (don’t come at me on this point — I really don’t have a serious issue with either school!). The two schools are very different IMHO so it is interesting to say the least that these are always the top picks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

There are some creeps on the metro just like everywhere unfortunately (highest office ahem). But I still let my 11 and 13 yo middle school daughters take it, and they learn so much about how to be aware of surroundings and street smart as a result. Not to mention the freedom and fun of being able to go to lunch or the mall with best friends.

Yes well, your daughters are together. That's different than sending a 10 or 11 year old alone. I'd have no problem letting my DD ride the metro with an older sibling or a group of kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

There are some creeps on the metro just like everywhere unfortunately (highest office ahem). But I still let my 11 and 13 yo middle school daughters take it, and they learn so much about how to be aware of surroundings and street smart as a result. Not to mention the freedom and fun of being able to go to lunch or the mall with best friends.

Yes well, your daughters are together. That's different than sending a 10 or 11 year old alone. I'd have no problem letting my DD ride the metro with an older sibling or a group of kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

There are some creeps on the metro just like everywhere unfortunately (highest office ahem). But I still let my 11 and 13 yo middle school daughters take it, and they learn so much about how to be aware of surroundings and street smart as a result. Not to mention the freedom and fun of being able to go to lunch or the mall with best friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

There are some creeps on the metro just like everywhere unfortunately (highest office ahem). But I still let my 11 and 13 yo middle school daughters take it, and they learn so much about how to be aware of surroundings and street smart as a result. Not to mention the freedom and fun of being able to go to lunch or the mall with best friends.

Yeah, I also was nervous until we actually started doing it (age 11 and a boy). I was really proud to see him developing situational awareness and also the skill to deal with any problems that come up. (And the metro feels a lot safer as of maybe 2 years ago, since they stopped fare evaders with those walls. Lots of metro security around these days).

Navigating the world on their own does feel like an appropriate developmental stage for middle schoolers. And, BASIS has a huge culture of using transit to get to school, so all these kids see each other during the morning and afternoon rushes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

There are some creeps on the metro just like everywhere unfortunately (highest office ahem). But I still let my 11 and 13 yo middle school daughters take it, and they learn so much about how to be aware of surroundings and street smart as a result. Not to mention the freedom and fun of being able to go to lunch or the mall with best friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

There are some creeps on the metro just like everywhere unfortunately (highest office ahem). But I still let my 11 and 13 yo middle school daughters take it, and they learn so much about how to be aware of surroundings and street smart as a result. Not to mention the freedom and fun of being able to go to lunch or the mall with best friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

By all means, let your 10 year old 5th grade DD take public transportation to and from school by herself. It’s not like there are creeps on the metro. She’ll be fine!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We may face the same situation if our youngest gets into Latin this lottery season, but the logistics would be hard for us. My youngest is a girl and I am not comfortable with her taking public transportation to school by herself anytime soon—and right now we know no one at Latin who lives anywhere near us (and the Latin buses aren’t close enough to make sense). BASIS is much closer and my kids could commute on the metro together. It’ll be a tough call if she gets into Latin.

You decide readiness to travel solo by gender? That's disheartening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not be surprised to discover that there is not a single family in DC in this situation, but I imagine if there is, they might be reluctant to post here because they would be instantly recognizable to peopel who know their family!

I have one at Latin middle and one at BASIS in middle. We make it work. The schools are very different; different kids may thrive in different places.

You are the unicorn!

Could you share your thoughts on the main differences?

+1000

So few people have first hand experience with both schools. I'd love to hear the compare/contrast.

Basis is very, very intense and the class sizes are pretty large in the early middle grades. Highly motivated and driven kids tend to do well, but it is definitely not a school for all kids, despite what they say. The lack of more sports teams is a problem. It’s not clear to me if the school is compliant with PE requirements (or even subject to them). My kid does sports outside of school fortunately.

Latin has a completely different vibe. Very small classes and love of learning, get to know your teachers well etc. But definitely not the same level of rigor at all (don’t come at me on this point — I really don’t have a serious issue with either school!). The two schools are very different IMHO so it is interesting to say the least that these are always the top picks.

What is the math instruction like at Latin middle school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not be surprised to discover that there is not a single family in DC in this situation, but I imagine if there is, they might be reluctant to post here because they would be instantly recognizable to peopel who know their family!

I have one at Latin middle and one at BASIS in middle. We make it work. The schools are very different; different kids may thrive in different places.

You are the unicorn!

Could you share your thoughts on the main differences?

+1000

So few people have first hand experience with both schools. I'd love to hear the compare/contrast.

Basis is very, very intense and the class sizes are pretty large in the early middle grades. Highly motivated and driven kids tend to do well, but it is definitely not a school for all kids, despite what they say. The lack of more sports teams is a problem. It’s not clear to me if the school is compliant with PE requirements (or even subject to them). My kid does sports outside of school fortunately.

Latin has a completely different vibe. Very small classes and love of learning, get to know your teachers well etc. But definitely not the same level of rigor at all (don’t come at me on this point — I really don’t have a serious issue with either school!). The two schools are very different IMHO so it is interesting to say the least that these are always the top picks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not be surprised to discover that there is not a single family in DC in this situation, but I imagine if there is, they might be reluctant to post here because they would be instantly recognizable to peopel who know their family!

I have one at Latin middle and one at BASIS in middle. We make it work. The schools are very different; different kids may thrive in different places.

You are the unicorn!

Could you share your thoughts on the main differences?

+1000

So few people have first hand experience with both schools. I'd love to hear the compare/contrast.

Basis is very, very intense and the class sizes are pretty large in the early middle grades. Highly motivated and driven kids tend to do well, but it is definitely not a school for all kids, despite what they say. The lack of more sports teams is a problem. It’s not clear to me if the school is compliant with PE requirements (or even subject to them). My kid does sports outside of school fortunately.

Latin has a completely different vibe. Very small classes and love of learning, get to know your teachers well etc. But definitely not the same level of rigor at all (don’t come at me on this point — I really don’t have a serious issue with either school!). The two schools are very different IMHO so it is interesting to say the least that these are always the top picks.

While the schools are very different, I think self-motivated, smart, ambitious kids do well at both. And that's not necessarily true at most MS and HS in the city. These are the two charters that both start in 5th about which that can be said, which is why they are hard to lottery into and why people discuss the in tandem. There are definitely kids who are a better fit for one over the other (though it can actually be hard to know that when your kid is in 4th grade) but there are also kids who would do well at both, get a good education, and be well prepared for college.

I’m the PP, and I agree with all of that, including that it’s hard to know in 4th grade where your kid will thrive. So, even if I did not think my kid would thrive at basis, I think in most cases it would be worth trying out 5th. Of course that feeds into the high rate of attrition from that school. I also think it’s probably correct that a larger percentage of kids overall would thrive at Latin than at basis. Not a dig, just a fact.

I honestly don't know why other charters don't try to be the next BASIS or, especially, Latin. There is clearly a lot of unmet demand in this city for more rigorous schools.

I can't find it now, but I once saw a PCSB presentation that showed seats/demand by grade band and geography. Seemed to be a guiding principle for granting new charters. Wonder if the way that shakes out has anything to do with it.