Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

You again? Another dumb word-salad post.

You again, out of arguments?

Actually, "[w]hat constitutes an excellent education" is not "highly subjective" at all.

On the one hand, we have your rambling, incoherent thoughts about BASIS that apparently your kid attended years ago before washing out. On the other hand, we have data that shows that BASIS DC offers an excellent education.

You want arguments? Here you go: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia.

Different PP. The critique that BASIS provides first-rate AP test prep vs. a world-class education has been around as long as the franchise has existed.

The AZ newspapers of record, like the Republic, East Valley Tribune, Daily Star, have slammed BASIS for its narrow test prep focus since the 90s.

You jump on every BASIS thread to post the same link, although the scandal plagued USNWR rankings aren't taken all that seriously anymore. Give it up already. Why not just post about sports if you have something to add?

I have never posted the link before.

Lots of people rely on USNWR rankings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

You again? Another dumb word-salad post.

You again, out of arguments?

Actually, "[w]hat constitutes an excellent education" is not "highly subjective" at all.

On the one hand, we have your rambling, incoherent thoughts about BASIS that apparently your kid attended years ago before washing out. On the other hand, we have data that shows that BASIS DC offers an excellent education.

You want arguments? Here you go: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia.

Different PP. The critique that BASIS provides first-rate AP test prep vs. a world-class education has been around as long as the franchise has existed.

The AZ newspapers of record, like the Republic, East Valley Tribune, Daily Star, have slammed BASIS for its narrow test prep focus since the 90s.

You jump on every BASIS thread to post the same link, although the scandal plagued USNWR rankings aren't taken all that seriously anymore. Give it up already. Why not just post about sports if you have something to add?

Rankings guy, Banneker and Walls crushed BASIS in the 2022 bizjournal rankings. Gosh, your kid could have gone to a much better DC public school. Let us guess, these rankings are...too subjective for you.

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/1...ools-2022-ranking-us-news.html

Top 10:
1. TJ
2. Banneker
3. SWW
4. Whitman
5. Langley
6. McLean
7. Wooten
8. Marshall
9. Poolsville
10. BASIS DC

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cash strapped BASIS just doesn't have the resources for serious...

sports - can't attract great coaches to a program w/out athletic facilities, can't afford to pay coaching talent
research - can't afford the tech or labs
instruction - if you've made it through the hs years you will have observed that the best teachers have a tendency to leave for much better paying jobs in the burbs or at Walls

math - cheap to teach, BASIS is hard to beat in teaching math

I'm not commenting on the rest right now, but I can't let the first statement stand without adding a caveat: Coach McNinch is truly amazing. What she does for the kids is incredible, and I know that all of the runners (most of whom probably would not run if not for her) really enjoy and appreciate running on the Mall everyday.

Good for Coach McNinch.

I'm not sure about that, but I do know that it is good for the kids. She is a treasure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cash strapped BASIS just doesn't have the resources for serious...

sports - can't attract great coaches to a program w/out athletic facilities, can't afford to pay coaching talent
research - can't afford the tech or labs
instruction - if you've made it through the hs years you will have observed that the best teachers have a tendency to leave for much better paying jobs in the burbs or at Walls

math - cheap to teach, BASIS is hard to beat in teaching math

I'm not commenting on the rest right now, but I can't let the first statement stand without adding a caveat: Coach McNinch is truly amazing. What she does for the kids is incredible, and I know that all of the runners (most of whom probably would not run if not for her) really enjoy and appreciate running on the Mall everyday.

Good for Coach McNinch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

You again? Another dumb word-salad post.

You again, out of arguments?

Actually, "[w]hat constitutes an excellent education" is not "highly subjective" at all.

On the one hand, we have your rambling, incoherent thoughts about BASIS that apparently your kid attended years ago before washing out. On the other hand, we have data that shows that BASIS DC offers an excellent education.

You want arguments? Here you go: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia.

Different PP. The critique that BASIS provides first-rate AP test prep vs. a world-class education has been around as long as the franchise has existed.

The AZ newspapers of record, like the Republic, East Valley Tribune, Daily Star, have slammed BASIS for its narrow test prep focus since the 90s.

You jump on every BASIS thread to post the same link, although the scandal plagued USNWR rankings aren't taken all that seriously anymore. Give it up already. Why not just post about sports if you have something to add?

Anonymous wrote:Cash strapped BASIS just doesn't have the resources for serious...

sports - can't attract great coaches to a program w/out athletic facilities, can't afford to pay coaching talent
research - can't afford the tech or labs
instruction - if you've made it through the hs years you will have observed that the best teachers have a tendency to leave for much better paying jobs in the burbs or at Walls

math - cheap to teach, BASIS is hard to beat in teaching math

I'm not commenting on the rest right now, but I can't let the first statement stand without adding a caveat: Coach McNinch is truly amazing. What she does for the kids is incredible, and I know that all of the runners (most of whom probably would not run if not for her) really enjoy and appreciate running on the Mall everyday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

You again? Another dumb word-salad post.

You again, out of arguments?

Actually, "[w]hat constitutes an excellent education" is not "highly subjective" at all.

On the one hand, we have your rambling, incoherent thoughts about BASIS that apparently your kid attended years ago before washing out. On the other hand, we have data that shows that BASIS DC offers an excellent education.

You want arguments? Here you go: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

You again? Another dumb word-salad post.

You again, out of arguments?

I understand that the DC public school system remains deeply troubled.

DCPS continues to lavish resources on Taj Mahal renovations of buildings housing dramatically under-subscribed middle schools and high schools (e.g. Dunbar still more than half empty a decade after a 125 million $ renovation).

Meanwhile, the most popular charters like BASIS still can't offer their teachers competitive salaries for this Metro region, or afford basic school facilities and staff supporting serious sports, performing arts, STEM research and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

You again? Another dumb word-salad post.

Anonymous wrote:Cash strapped BASIS just doesn't have the resources for serious...

sports - can't attract great coaches to a program w/out athletic facilities, can't afford to pay coaching talent
research - can't afford the tech or labs
instruction - if you've made it through the hs years you will have observed that the best teachers have a tendency to leave for much better paying jobs in the burbs or at Walls

math - cheap to teach, BASIS is hard to beat in teaching math

.

Cash-strapped compared to what, private schools?

Do you understand how public and charter schools are funded?

Cash strapped BASIS just doesn't have the resources for serious...

sports - can't attract great coaches to a program w/out athletic facilities, can't afford to pay coaching talent
research - can't afford the tech or labs
instruction - if you've made it through the hs years you will have observed that the best teachers have a tendency to leave for much better paying jobs in the burbs or at Walls

math - cheap to teach, BASIS is hard to beat in teaching math

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents who grumble on charter threads just don't get it.

BASIS has a waiting list that it doesn't clear. So nobody in charge cares if your kid keeps up their fluent Spanish. Nobody cares that DCI doesn't offer rigor or that you can't lottery into a spot for Spanish there. Nobody cares if the sports BASIS offers aren't too serious. Bowser and the city council members don't give a hoot if you, UMC parent, leave DC over schools. Nobody even cares that, overall, DC public students lost more ground during the pandemic academically than students in 49 states (all but Delaware).

If you want good schools where you're valued as a stakeholder, you need to pay for private or move. You're just not going to find what you're looking for in DC.

Perhaps if you’re concerned about education then you should try to become numerate. Comparing DC to US states on any measure is ridiculous. DC is a city and should be compared to other cities.

Far from ridiculous. Several states support smaller populations than DC while only Delaware saw more learning loss during the pandemic than the District. Sure compared DC to other big cities. In LA, an excellent summer school program in 2021 and 2022 has virtually erased pandemic learning loss. This New Yorker, who attended GT programs from 2nd grade through 12th while living in public housing, isn't buying it.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not hearing any critique of academics by PP with child who got into an ivy but not HYP . . . and isn't that what most of us at BASIS are after - an excellent education? Also - my understanding is last year was an extremely tough year for college admittances since colleges went test optional (turning HYP slots into essentially a lottery for all the 4.0 students across the US).

Believe what you want, but BASIS' factory approach to education isn't for all the families of top performers. The franchise's obsession with scoring high on APs and 4.0 GPAs doesn't work for all the kids with a decent shot of cracking highly competitive colleges. Worth remembering that the founders, Olga and Michael Block, weren't educators. What constitutes an excellent education is of course highly subjective.

We found an adequate education at BASIS that we had the resources to build on in pursuit of an excellent education. The teachers our children had at Johns Hopkins CTY summer camps (just $3000 a pop for day camp in MoCo) were in a league of their own. Don't kid yourselves that an extremely tough year for college admissions was what kept most of their top students out of Ivies. Some of these kids would probably have cleared the bar if they'd been encouraged to aim higher learning what they loved all along, and were supported in doing so (rather than being hemmed in at every turn by an overly rigid curriculum). This is particularly true where sports, fluency in modern languages, hands-on learning, and research were concerned. The reality is that a 5 on AP Spanish amounts to little in the Ivy League admissions game here in 2022.

Anonymous wrote:Parents who grumble on charter threads just don't get it.

BASIS has a waiting list that it doesn't clear. So nobody in charge cares if your kid keeps up their fluent Spanish. Nobody cares that DCI doesn't offer rigor or that you can't lottery into a spot for Spanish there. Nobody cares if the sports BASIS offers aren't too serious. Bowser and the city council members don't give a hoot if you, UMC parent, leave DC over schools. Nobody even cares that, overall, DC public students lost more ground during the pandemic academically than students in 49 states (all but Delaware).

If you want good schools where you're valued as a stakeholder, you need to pay for private or move. You're just not going to find what you're looking for in DC.

Perhaps if you’re concerned about education then you should try to become numerate. Comparing DC to US states on any measure is ridiculous. DC is a city and should be compared to other cities.