Anonymous wrote:Leave BASIS to...the rest of us? You have a right to enroll in their non-existent elementary school and lottery admissions 5th-12th grade program? What's your secret? We never got off the waiting list for two kids and now pay for private school.

Everybody who criticizes BASIS for any reason on DCUM, however valid and well-substantiated, is a hater. Got it.

Stop beating a straw person.

Leave BASIS to...the rest of us? You have a right to enroll in their non-existent elementary school and lottery admissions 5th-12th grade program? What's your secret? We never got off the waiting list for two kids and now pay for private school.

Everybody who criticizes BASIS for any reason on DCUM, however valid and well-substantiated, is a hater. Got it.

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Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

No, because at-risk families aren't going to drag their kindergarten kids to wherever basis locates its elementary school. They are not going to switch a kid at k when they enrolled somewhere else for pk. Basis knows this and is happy to design an elementary school that, like its middle and high school, is desirable primarily to wealthier families. I will believe otherwise if they try to locate their new campus at the Eagle academy building in Congress heights.

Basis doesn’t care what you think or believe.

There will be plenty of interest when the new elementary school opens.

Options are always good.

There are 135 charter schools in DC. If you don’t like Basis, go to one or stay at your in-bounds school.

+1 also chiming in to say for every one of the ward 6 parents confident that their voice will get BASIS elementary shut down before it gets off the ground, there are five parents supporting this new school. Don't believe everything you read on DCUM (my post of course included).

+ A million times.

This thread was hijacked by a few pathetic BASIS haters.

Haters, please get therapy for BDS (BASIS Derangement Syndrome) and send your kids to one of the hundreds of schools in the DC area that isn’t BASIS.

Leave BASIS DC to the rest of us.

Above is nonsense. No secret that Ward 6 has half a dozen hard-won decent elementary schools that the new BASIS program would hurt. There definitely aren't five parents supporting this new school. Yea, don't believe everything you read on DCUM, particularly the BS above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

No, because at-risk families aren't going to drag their kindergarten kids to wherever basis locates its elementary school. They are not going to switch a kid at k when they enrolled somewhere else for pk. Basis knows this and is happy to design an elementary school that, like its middle and high school, is desirable primarily to wealthier families. I will believe otherwise if they try to locate their new campus at the Eagle academy building in Congress heights.

Basis doesn’t care what you think or believe.

There will be plenty of interest when the new elementary school opens.

Options are always good.

There are 135 charter schools in DC. If you don’t like Basis, go to one or stay at your in-bounds school.

+1 also chiming in to say for every one of the ward 6 parents confident that their voice will get BASIS elementary shut down before it gets off the ground, there are five parents supporting this new school. Don't believe everything you read on DCUM (my post of course included).

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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).

The vast majority of Brent parents own their homes. Virtually any of those families can afford privates if they want to. They may have other priorities and if their kid gets into BASIS, they're all set. But if BASIS seats dry up? They can afford to move or go private.

Lol no. Most Hill families (especially with multiple kids) don’t have an extra $80k around per year for private school. And private school admissions are selective and many are not accessible to the Hill. Yes they can move - but most of us like the Hill and try to make the schools work as long as we can.

You’re talking about a pretty select group of private schools. There are many private schools more in the $20k/year range — less than what most people in this area spend on daycare. The vast majority of Brent families certainly can afford private school (I offer no opinion as to whether they will prefer it).

$40k/ yr is still a LOT and no there are not that many parochial schools around

The schools are more like 50k+ per year per kid. Also agree with the PP, there are not that many parochial high schools accessible to the Hill.

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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).

The vast majority of Brent parents own their homes. Virtually any of those families can afford privates if they want to. They may have other priorities and if their kid gets into BASIS, they're all set. But if BASIS seats dry up? They can afford to move or go private.

Lol no. Most Hill families (especially with multiple kids) don’t have an extra $80k around per year for private school. And private school admissions are selective and many are not accessible to the Hill. Yes they can move - but most of us like the Hill and try to make the schools work as long as we can.

You’re talking about a pretty select group of private schools. There are many private schools more in the $20k/year range — less than what most people in this area spend on daycare. The vast majority of Brent families certainly can afford private school (I offer no opinion as to whether they will prefer it).

$40k/ yr is still a LOT and no there are not that many parochial schools around

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

No, because at-risk families aren't going to drag their kindergarten kids to wherever basis locates its elementary school. They are not going to switch a kid at k when they enrolled somewhere else for pk. Basis knows this and is happy to design an elementary school that, like its middle and high school, is desirable primarily to wealthier families. I will believe otherwise if they try to locate their new campus at the Eagle academy building in Congress heights.

Basis doesn’t care what you think or believe.

There will be plenty of interest when the new elementary school opens.

Options are always good.

There are 135 charter schools in DC. If you don’t like Basis, go to one or stay at your in-bounds school.

Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

No, because at-risk families aren't going to drag their kindergarten kids to wherever basis locates its elementary school. They are not going to switch a kid at k when they enrolled somewhere else for pk. Basis knows this and is happy to design an elementary school that, like its middle and high school, is desirable primarily to wealthier families. I will believe otherwise if they try to locate their new campus at the Eagle academy building in Congress heights.

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Anonymous wrote:I don't really think anyone would lose sibling preference. In this year's data, only 30 kids matched to BASIS as siblings. So if there's 75 kids per class in BASIS elementary, plus 30 siblings, that's only 105 kids. BASIS tends to offer 150-ish seats (adding regular and EA together here), so it seems like all siblings could easily get in.

Actually, revise that, if BASIS elementary kids can confer preference on older siblings to get into BASIS at 5th, I might feel differently. I suppose it depends. But still, not all siblings will accept.

Yes, I assume this is exactly what BASIS is going for to fill its K-5 initially. I wanted to know if I could enroll my Ker and then bring him back to his IB after a week once we've taken the sibling preference for my 4th grader.

Sibling attending preference: "Please note that at most schools, this preference is meant to allow siblings to attend the same school at the same time. If you withdraw the "attending" student for the following school year, it is possible that your sibling preference, and subsequent enrollment, match or waitlist offer, will be revoked."

Sibling offered preference: "Please note that at most schools, this preference is meant to allow siblings to attend the same school at the same time. If the sibling who was offered a space at the school does not enroll at that school or later enrolls at another school, the “sibling offered” preference may be removed for all siblings that applied to that same school. This may result in the siblings losing their match, or moving down on the waitlist at that school."

I'm pretty sure if enough people did what you're describing, BASIS could and would just revoke enrollment and offer a spot to the next student on the waitlist.

It's untrue that there are many private schools accessible to Ward 6 families in the "20K/year range." My eldest, strong student, applied to half a dozen parochial elementary schools within a 45-min drive of us, near Brent, for both 4th grade admission and 5th. He wasn't admitted to any schools the first time around and just one the second, off the WL. The harsh truth is that most K-12 DC privates offer few spots after K. Things aren't all that much better in admissions for parochial high schools that aren't fed by their own middle schools. Most of his Brent pals from the lower grades are at BASIS. We know for a fact that most of these families have struck out at every vaguely affordable private school they've tried for.

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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).

The vast majority of Brent parents own their homes. Virtually any of those families can afford privates if they want to. They may have other priorities and if their kid gets into BASIS, they're all set. But if BASIS seats dry up? They can afford to move or go private.

Lol no. Most Hill families (especially with multiple kids) don’t have an extra $80k around per year for private school. And private school admissions are selective and many are not accessible to the Hill. Yes they can move - but most of us like the Hill and try to make the schools work as long as we can.

You’re talking about a pretty select group of private schools. There are many private schools more in the $20k/year range — less than what most people in this area spend on daycare. The vast majority of Brent families certainly can afford private school (I offer no opinion as to whether they will prefer it).

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post finally came full circle: if BASIS had an elementary school, at-risk students who would otherwise miss the 5th grade lottery or struggle to catch up would have a better chance at not only getting in but also succeeding. 5th grade is currently a nice way to more gradually acclimate to the demands of middle school. So many students come into the school without good foundations and BASIS has to catch them up. There would be far less catch up in middle school if the students had mostly uniform preparation going into middle school. Certainly some DCPS elementary schools prepare their students but many do not.

Yes!

We need a Basis elementary school.

Hopefully, PCSB didn’t mess everything up.

More like BASIS messed it up by presenting a scenario they were unwilling to carry out.

Messed up? No.

The PCSB approved the Basis expansion. Basis is now just trying to negotiate the details to see if they can add additional grades faster.

+1. PCSB staff recommended approving Basis for K-4 but adding a grade a year so Basis would have a full k-4 in 4 years.

This is normal PCSB caution (in 2012, Basis 5-12 had to start with 5-8 and add one grade from 9-12 each year over the next 4 years; other charters such as DCI have had a similar staggered start). But, still, the approval is there.

I think that Basis is peeved because obviously they have a lot of experience in this area and a great track record. In less than a decade, they created the top-ranked middle school AND high school in Washington, DC. Plus, they now have over 50 other Basis schools (back in 2012, Basis DC was the first Basis charter outside of Arizona), many of which are among the top 100 public schools in the US (Basis also has the #1 ranked public high school in the US).

Given that, it seems kind of insulting for PCSB staff to decline to recommend that Basis be allowed to open up a k-4 elementary school the first year--especially given that they let Basis start in 2012 with 5-8.

Most of charter schools in DC are pretty terrible and, of course, PCSB recently dealt with the Eagle debacle. But lumping Basis in with these other schools and derailing Basis' quite detailed and justified expansion plans to jumpstart a k-4 elementary school is just dumb bureaucratic inertia and thwarts school choice.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I don't really think anyone would lose sibling preference. In this year's data, only 30 kids matched to BASIS as siblings. So if there's 75 kids per class in BASIS elementary, plus 30 siblings, that's only 105 kids. BASIS tends to offer 150-ish seats (adding regular and EA together here), so it seems like all siblings could easily get in.

Actually, revise that, if BASIS elementary kids can confer preference on older siblings to get into BASIS at 5th, I might feel differently. I suppose it depends. But still, not all siblings will accept.

Yes, I assume this is exactly what BASIS is going for to fill its K-5 initially. I wanted to know if I could enroll my Ker and then bring him back to his IB after a week once we've taken the sibling preference for my 4th grader.

Yup. People with acceptable IB elementaries could totally do that. Hard for the little kid, but maybe worth it in the big picture.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really think anyone would lose sibling preference. In this year's data, only 30 kids matched to BASIS as siblings. So if there's 75 kids per class in BASIS elementary, plus 30 siblings, that's only 105 kids. BASIS tends to offer 150-ish seats (adding regular and EA together here), so it seems like all siblings could easily get in.

Actually, revise that, if BASIS elementary kids can confer preference on older siblings to get into BASIS at 5th, I might feel differently. I suppose it depends. But still, not all siblings will accept.

Yes, I assume this is exactly what BASIS is going for to fill its K-5 initially. I wanted to know if I could enroll my Ker and then bring him back to his IB after a week once we've taken the sibling preference for my 4th grader.