Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

I agree with this 100%. The "biology, chemistry and physics in 6th grade!" is a marketing schtick by BASIS. It's a couple times a week for each class, and they're not doing anything advanced. It's a shallow dive, the way a normal 6th grade science class would touch on these various topics. Then they do the same thing again in 7th. For example, the 6th and 7th grade physics comps covered almost identical material.

I don't know about the actual comps tests, but that's not true of the materials used to prep for them.
Spiraling approach, with more depth in 7th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

I agree with this 100%. The "biology, chemistry and physics in 6th grade!" is a marketing schtick by BASIS. It's a couple times a week for each class, and they're not doing anything advanced. It's a shallow dive, the way a normal 6th grade science class would touch on these various topics. Then they do the same thing again in 7th. For example, the 6th and 7th grade physics comps covered almost identical material.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

I agree with this 100%. The "biology, chemistry and physics in 6th grade!" is a marketing schtick by BASIS. It's a couple times a week for each class, and they're not doing anything advanced. It's a shallow dive, the way a normal 6th grade science class would touch on these various topics. Then they do the same thing again in 7th. For example, the 6th and 7th grade physics comps covered almost identical material.

BASIS doesn't have the money to do anything serious with science. They can't afford the well-trained science teachers, science fairs and excursions, good STEM labs. They prep the kids for tests en route to science APs, maybe support a halfway decent high school STEM internship around the National Mall or two, that's about it. Their approach isn't bad, it's OK, but far from great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

I agree with this 100%. The "biology, chemistry and physics in 6th grade!" is a marketing schtick by BASIS. It's a couple times a week for each class, and they're not doing anything advanced. It's a shallow dive, the way a normal 6th grade science class would touch on these various topics. Then they do the same thing again in 7th. For example, the 6th and 7th grade physics comps covered almost identical material.

Anonymous wrote:You have a student in the BASIS middle school? I have science degrees, BA and MA from MIT. The science at BASIS repeats without much thought, promoting mind-numbing boredom on the part of kids who started out with real enthusiasm. There isn't nearly enough hands-on instruction or good teaching to keep the kids engaged.

We even tried the high school but left for a private after 9th. Before anybody jumps in applauding how we "washed out," I note that my kid scored high on AB Calc in 9th. Relieved to be gone, to a school that teaches all 4 AP Physics courses. BASIS teaches 1.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

Okay, this made me laugh out loud, because I graduated from one of our highly-rated suburban high schools in FCPS and we also were not blessed with greenhouses or kites or a robotics lab. We theoretically had a chem lab, but I took AP chem there and we used those tables to write on, not to do bench chemistry. I expect that I'll pay through the nose for my kid to be a college student somewhere with these facilities, but I have more modest expectations for publicly-funded middle schools. Meanwhile, we fly drones and model rockets (although not in DC airspace, sigh) and do our own gardening and chemistry experiments.

My rising fifth-grader is looking forward to BASIS because he's brilliant at math. He would rather scrub bathrooms than perform on stage or play football, and he hates the language learning he's done already. He rises to clearly-defined expectations and wants to know all the science things. Is there probably a more perfect school for him somewhere in this country? Sure. Is BASIS the best choice for us, given what we know right now? Yes. Any school experience anywhere can be changed by bad administrators or a particularly difficult cohort of students, so that's not really a deciding factor. We would rather have a better building. We'll see how the homework and comps shake out. It's a school, not a prison, and we're open to changing course as needed.

Maybe we could all take a deep breath? BASIS isn't the best school since Harvard, and it's not child abuse. It's just a school.

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking more of science labs, school gardens and a greenhouse used by science glasses along with a rocket launch pad on the grounds. Labs get abundant natural light, much bigger and better equipped than BASIS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want to gather good info, listen to parents of top performers who left BASIS 3, 4 or 5 years in. All ears? Be open to moving to NoVa if you can't afford private school.

Doesn't this mean that it's the best public option in DC?

Not necessarily. We switched from BASIS to SH after 5th. Kid is on his way to Walls in the fall, while his elementary school pals at BASIS who tried for Walls weren't offered spots. We supplemented in various ways at SH, especially for science and social studies, but that worked better for us than BASIS, which we disliked.

This is a word to the wise who are iffy on BASIS for hs. No question that DCPS favors its own in Walls admission.

Anonymous wrote:We switched to Arlington after 7th grade at BASIS. We found that we liked the APS 8th grade Intensified science class--mix of bio, chem, physics, earth science--better than BASIS science. The VA classes were better taught and the facilities were superior. Arlington offers geometry, algebra II and trig to 8th graders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want to gather good info, listen to parents of top performers who left BASIS 3, 4 or 5 years in. All ears? Be open to moving to NoVa if you can't afford private school.

Doesn't this mean that it's the best public option in DC?

Not necessarily. We switched from BASIS to SH after 5th. Kid is on his way to Walls in the fall, while his elementary school pals at BASIS who tried for Walls weren't offered spots. We supplemented in various ways at SH, especially for science and social studies, but that worked better for us than BASIS, which we disliked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids don't really "start taking physics, chemistry and biology in 6th grade." BASIS just claims they do. What they take is the regular middle school science kids get at good suburban middle schools around the country on a campus without the facilities for hands-on science learning, like a greenhouse or space to fly kites, test DIY rockets or drones or a real robotics lab. They also take what amounts to the same science over and over for years until they're bored silly with it. The curriculum is narrow primarily because electives are so weak, largely a function of the hopeless facilities, and because BASIS won't let kids study languages before 8th grade (much too little, too late here in the 21st century). A lot of these posts aren't in fact sour grapes. They're simply brutally factual. You don't really know what you're in for at BASIS, because you don't know what kind of admins or teachers your kids will get, or what sort of element (middle school cohorts) they'll land in either. There are decent admins and awful ones, there are well-behaved cohorts and rowdy ones. There are woefully inexperienced and overwhelmed teachers who quit mid-year and experienced teachers who don't.

Okay, this made me laugh out loud, because I graduated from one of our highly-rated suburban high schools in FCPS and we also were not blessed with greenhouses or kites or a robotics lab. We theoretically had a chem lab, but I took AP chem there and we used those tables to write on, not to do bench chemistry. I expect that I'll pay through the nose for my kid to be a college student somewhere with these facilities, but I have more modest expectations for publicly-funded middle schools. Meanwhile, we fly drones and model rockets (although not in DC airspace, sigh) and do our own gardening and chemistry experiments.

My rising fifth-grader is looking forward to BASIS because he's brilliant at math. He would rather scrub bathrooms than perform on stage or play football, and he hates the language learning he's done already. He rises to clearly-defined expectations and wants to know all the science things. Is there probably a more perfect school for him somewhere in this country? Sure. Is BASIS the best choice for us, given what we know right now? Yes. Any school experience anywhere can be changed by bad administrators or a particularly difficult cohort of students, so that's not really a deciding factor. We would rather have a better building. We'll see how the homework and comps shake out. It's a school, not a prison, and we're open to changing course as needed.

Maybe we could all take a deep breath? BASIS isn't the best school since Harvard, and it's not child abuse. It's just a school.