Anonymous wrote:This school is amazing. Shorbe so far seems like a gem. Very sincere guy. This place has the best education in the area

The school is absolutely amazing. Please don’t let those pesky little details like high student turnover, faculty and staff quitting every week and misleading information on the website deter you. 😆

Anonymous wrote:This school is amazing. Shorbe so far seems like a gem. Very sincere guy. This place has the best education in the area

Sounds like you sell used cars for a living. So sincere. So much detail.

LOL

Anonymous wrote:This school is amazing. Shorbe so far seems like a gem. Very sincere guy. This place has the best education in the area

I agree. We are very impressed by him and his experience. That said, two staff people quit this week and seem to report directly to the head of operations. That seems to be the constant variable in the issues we have seen since our DC started at the school. Hopefully Mr. Shorbe will be able to do something about that.

This school is amazing. Shorbe so far seems like a gem. Very sincere guy. This place has the best education in the area

When my DC was applying to high schools for 9th, it was the only school that had no information on the website about the courses offered. We had to ask for a course guide and never got one (just a barebones unofficial list in an email). Very bizarre and off putting.

Anonymous wrote:

Enrollment is very low in the HS. Every year a solid majority leaves between 8th and 9th. Used to need +/-12 APs to graduate, now it’s 4. Test scores are good but when you read on the BIM website, you have to get to the fine print to see that the scores and 130 grads are across several schools. Who cares about the number of grads at another school when looking at a school in McLean?? Seems purposefully deceptive on something that is easily uncovered. Bizarre.

At a few of the top-performing Basis charter schools, in order to graduate students must pass a minimum number of AP tests (I think it was a minimum of 4 tests). BUT, at McLean, this requirement has not been in place (I think they might be required to pass 1 AP test).

You are definitely right that the data the school provides on its website is extremely misleading (if not outright lies). It is not data that is specific to Basis McLean students. Rather, it has been cobbled together from selected top-performing schools. Those schools, like Basis Tucson, require that a student pass a minimum number of AP tests in order to graduate -- so everyone who can't pass that minimum number of AP classes eventually has to drop out of Basis and go to a school that doesn't have that graduation requirement. Whatever glowing scores the school presents are highly "cooked."

Again: Basis McLean does not have the same graduation requirements. Their requirements are lower. AND -- administration has asked teachers to change grades in order to pass students and make paying parents happen -- especially when it comes to manipulating the grades on the comprehensive exams worth 50% of the students' grades.

Right now, for the 2021–2022 school year, they are looking for multiple teachers to replace teachers who quit. They are constantly posting new positions for the current school year.

McLean boasts having a low student-teacher ratio, but in most sections there are 25 students! This is actually the goal: to fill each class with 25 students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math is advanced because students start earlier and move through relatively quickly since pretty much everyone is very smart and can handle it. There are various levels but all are advanced compared to public schools. Those that can’t handle it generally leave because they likely can’t handle the rigor in other subject areas either.

Those in the community believe the math teacher left due to the difficult administration. He was professional and didn’t say a lot but it was pretty obvious.

As PPs state there is a lot of turnover including the Physics teacher PhD who walked out a few weeks ago. This puts the AP students in a bad situation. As per other posts there have been several teachers who have quit in the last few months, which is a challenge in the middle of the school year.

The problem is a toxic environment and even if administrators are telling you the truth you can’t rely on anything you hear because you never know who is going to quit tomorrow or what crazy bomb may dropped from the corporate office.

But the above contradicts what someone else wrote upthread about classes only going through AP Calc and no post AP stuff, if so, what math would these early advanced kids take?

Are there enrollment numbers for 9th grade and up? Are there very enough high school kids at the school or do most leave?

Enrollment is very low in the HS. Every year a solid majority leaves between 8th and 9th. Used to need +/-12 APs to graduate, now it’s 4. Test scores are good but when you read on the BIM website, you have to get to the fine print to see that the scores and 130 grads are across several schools. Who cares about the number of grads at another school when looking at a school in McLean?? Seems purposefully deceptive on something that is easily uncovered. Bizarre.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math is advanced because students start earlier and move through relatively quickly since pretty much everyone is very smart and can handle it. There are various levels but all are advanced compared to public schools. Those that can’t handle it generally leave because they likely can’t handle the rigor in other subject areas either.

Those in the community believe the math teacher left due to the difficult administration. He was professional and didn’t say a lot but it was pretty obvious.

As PPs state there is a lot of turnover including the Physics teacher PhD who walked out a few weeks ago. This puts the AP students in a bad situation. As per other posts there have been several teachers who have quit in the last few months, which is a challenge in the middle of the school year.

The problem is a toxic environment and even if administrators are telling you the truth you can’t rely on anything you hear because you never know who is going to quit tomorrow or what crazy bomb may dropped from the corporate office.

But the above contradicts what someone else wrote upthread about classes only going through AP Calc and no post AP stuff, if so, what math would these early advanced kids take?

Are there enrollment numbers for 9th grade and up? Are there very enough high school kids at the school or do most leave?

A few points--
1. A few years ago there were a few exceptional 8th graders who took AP calculus. Every single one of them went to TJ. And they entered the school as 8th graders. So they were already prepared to take calculus in 8th grade before they came to Basis -- i.e., Basis didn't actually get them to that point. They found a school where they could take AP Calc in 8th grade, took it, and then moved on.
2. I don't think they currently have a math instructor who can teach beyond the APs. Happy to be proven wrong. But this is from what faculty have told me.
3. In the past any super advanced math work was done in combined classes or as independent study when possible
4. Basis is fundamentally NOT set up to do much beyond AP math. This is because what they care about the most is AP tests. The AP tests is what guides their curriculum, because it has allowed them to milk the rankings in the charter schools. They do something like "capstones" the senior year, but they also say that the senior year is optional (at least it was before). They don't always offer a math capstone.

That is 200% correct. The manic AP fetish at BIM also hurts their humanities instruction because class time is devoted 98% to teaching to the AP tests. Very little room for creativity, deep dive writing, research, or other skills that kids will need in college. Just cram in the information and watch the BIM kids spit it back out at test time.

BIM is a niche player for narrowminded grinds, parents and students.

Anonymous wrote:The math is advanced because students start earlier and move through relatively quickly since pretty much everyone is very smart and can handle it. There are various levels but all are advanced compared to public schools. Those that can’t handle it generally leave because they likely can’t handle the rigor in other subject areas either.

Those in the community believe the math teacher left due to the difficult administration. He was professional and didn’t say a lot but it was pretty obvious.

As PPs state there is a lot of turnover including the Physics teacher PhD who walked out a few weeks ago. This puts the AP students in a bad situation. As per other posts there have been several teachers who have quit in the last few months, which is a challenge in the middle of the school year.

The problem is a toxic environment and even if administrators are telling you the truth you can’t rely on anything you hear because you never know who is going to quit tomorrow or what crazy bomb may dropped from the corporate office.

Anyone who works at BIM knows that literally ANYTHING the management promises or implies is subject to a 100% reversal at any time with no notice, reason, or rationale. They specialize in pulling crap on teachers at the last minute.

No wonder many have chosen to move on. There are schools where management does NOT treat staff like that, and teachers know that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math is advanced because students start earlier and move through relatively quickly since pretty much everyone is very smart and can handle it. There are various levels but all are advanced compared to public schools. Those that can’t handle it generally leave because they likely can’t handle the rigor in other subject areas either.

Those in the community believe the math teacher left due to the difficult administration. He was professional and didn’t say a lot but it was pretty obvious.

As PPs state there is a lot of turnover including the Physics teacher PhD who walked out a few weeks ago. This puts the AP students in a bad situation. As per other posts there have been several teachers who have quit in the last few months, which is a challenge in the middle of the school year.

The problem is a toxic environment and even if administrators are telling you the truth you can’t rely on anything you hear because you never know who is going to quit tomorrow or what crazy bomb may dropped from the corporate office.

But the above contradicts what someone else wrote upthread about classes only going through AP Calc and no post AP stuff, if so, what math would these early advanced kids take?

Are there enrollment numbers for 9th grade and up? Are there very enough high school kids at the school or do most leave?

A few points--
1. A few years ago there were a few exceptional 8th graders who took AP calculus. Every single one of them went to TJ. And they entered the school as 8th graders. So they were already prepared to take calculus in 8th grade before they came to Basis -- i.e., Basis didn't actually get them to that point. They found a school where they could take AP Calc in 8th grade, took it, and then moved on.
2. I don't think they currently have a math instructor who can teach beyond the APs. Happy to be proven wrong. But this is from what faculty have told me.
3. In the past any super advanced math work was done in combined classes or as independent study when possible
4. Basis is fundamentally NOT set up to do much beyond AP math. This is because what they care about the most is AP tests. The AP tests is what guides their curriculum, because it has allowed them to milk the rankings in the charter schools. They do something like "capstones" the senior year, but they also say that the senior year is optional (at least it was before). They don't always offer a math capstone.