My son was very nervous about switching to BASIS because everyone made a face and said "why would you do that to yourself" when he told them he'd gotten it. He is now so happy, much happier than at his high-performing ES. Aside from the building being atrocious, the rest is just gossip and many regular kids like it and are very happy there.

Anonymous wrote:OP FWIW, we faced a similar situation as you and were at a SH feeder. The playground chatter had completely poisoned the well against BASIS for DC to the point that they responded very poorly when they lotteried in. We made a deal with DC that at the end of 5th grade it would be their choice whether to join friends at SH (which we like) or go to BASIS. After the year, they enthusiastically chose to stay at BASIS.

(This is not to say we are blind to the limits the BASIS experience, especially at the HS level. I'm just not gonna engage with that on here given the level of distortion by the detractors)

I know this is the plan of one of my kid's friends' families if their daughter gets into BASIS. Their kid and ours are similar, though their kid is a little bit more math-inclined than ours. It strikes me as a pretty good plan and if my daughter enthusiastically embraced BASIS like your kid afterwards, I'd be excited.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP FWIW, we faced a similar situation as you and were at a SH feeder. The playground chatter had completely poisoned the well against BASIS for DC to the point that they responded very poorly when they lotteried in. We made a deal with DC that at the end of 5th grade it would be their choice whether to join friends at SH (which we like) or go to BASIS. After the year, they enthusiastically chose to stay at BASIS.

(This is not to say we are blind to the limits the BASIS experience, especially at the HS level. I'm just not gonna engage with that on here given the level of distortion by the detractors)

As an EH mom I think that’s great! The amount of projection and accusations and assumptions by people who have no experience in the schools is really ridiculous. And of course all kids are different. In our case I wish the scuttlebutt about Basis hadn’t been so negative because as it turns out I think my kid could have handled it. OTOH EH has been good for my kid on many, many levels I couldn’t have anticipated.

I'm deeply glad I didn't let the scuttlebutt deter me, my son is so happy at BASIS and is finally getting the challenging work he was ready for. Hopefully similar parents won't let the naysayers stop them and will make their own decisions!

Anonymous wrote:OP FWIW, we faced a similar situation as you and were at a SH feeder. The playground chatter had completely poisoned the well against BASIS for DC to the point that they responded very poorly when they lotteried in. We made a deal with DC that at the end of 5th grade it would be their choice whether to join friends at SH (which we like) or go to BASIS. After the year, they enthusiastically chose to stay at BASIS.

(This is not to say we are blind to the limits the BASIS experience, especially at the HS level. I'm just not gonna engage with that on here given the level of distortion by the detractors)

As an EH mom I think that’s great! The amount of projection and accusations and assumptions by people who have no experience in the schools is really ridiculous. And of course all kids are different. In our case I wish the scuttlebutt about Basis hadn’t been so negative because as it turns out I think my kid could have handled it. OTOH EH has been good for my kid on many, many levels I couldn’t have anticipated.

OP FWIW, we faced a similar situation as you and were at a SH feeder. The playground chatter had completely poisoned the well against BASIS for DC to the point that they responded very poorly when they lotteried in. We made a deal with DC that at the end of 5th grade it would be their choice whether to join friends at SH (which we like) or go to BASIS. After the year, they enthusiastically chose to stay at BASIS.

(This is not to say we are blind to the limits the BASIS experience, especially at the HS level. I'm just not gonna engage with that on here given the level of distortion by the detractors)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no really great middle school option in this area. Read some of the posts about Basis. It has a for-profit parent company, high teacher turnover rate, and a not so great facility. It also self-selects for a smart and motivated peer group which makes it the overall best option for some students but being self-motivated and willing to do a large volume of homework is important and a lot of kids are not developmentally going to be ready for or happy at that type of middle school program.

Never fails that a BASIS hater comes out of the blue. You probably don't even have a kid at BASIS/

OP- BASIS is fine, great even. Convenient location, likeminded peers, sports, a Spring musical. Yes, the building sucks, but it goes through 12th grade, so you don't need to deal with the HS application process. If your child is smart and likes to learn, I don't see why you wouldn't at least apply.

Why not apply? No outdoor space, uninspired leadership, high teacher turnover, essentially no performing arts, weak sports/no playing fields, essentially no recognition of kids' talents outside a narrowly academic sphere, no languages taught before 8th grade (then just for beginners). Need I go on? The truth is that SH offers most of what BASIS is lacking outside serious academics. If only there was a way to meld BASIS academics and SH enrichment with a stable faculty and a good Head in this obnoxious DC political climate. I'd sign up for that in-boundary middle school fast.

Ridiculous.

You are comparing a school where most of the students are below grade level to Basis, the top public school in the city?

No, BASIS isn't the top public school in the city. Walls, JR top tier and possible Banneker are. Look at their college admissions successes for their upper echelon. They beat BASIS. Weak high school ECs, cramming four years of HS academics into three and too much math acceleration for average students hurt most BASIS students.

A good many SH students end up at Walls and Banneker. I know of 10 kids from my boy's cohort at a DCPS ES who applied to Walls, 3 from SH, 3 from BASIS, 4 from Latin. All 3 from SH were admitted along with 1 from Latin. That's it. Sure, this evidence of preferential treatment in Walls admissions from SH is anecdotal but it's still interesting.

I think if your kid falls into the right group (and you'll learn which group that is by talking to current parents), your kid will have a decent experience. Lots of kids go on to Walls or other application schools afterwards. I've heard anecdotally that some of these kids have a little bit of a rude awakening when they leave in terms of academic load, but they seem to catch up and manage fine.

I think another poster had a great point - you know what the school is like. You know its strengths and weaknesses. The question is, are you OK with those?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no really great middle school option in this area. Read some of the posts about Basis. It has a for-profit parent company, high teacher turnover rate, and a not so great facility. It also self-selects for a smart and motivated peer group which makes it the overall best option for some students but being self-motivated and willing to do a large volume of homework is important and a lot of kids are not developmentally going to be ready for or happy at that type of middle school program.

Never fails that a BASIS hater comes out of the blue. You probably don't even have a kid at BASIS/

OP- BASIS is fine, great even. Convenient location, likeminded peers, sports, a Spring musical. Yes, the building sucks, but it goes through 12th grade, so you don't need to deal with the HS application process. If your child is smart and likes to learn, I don't see why you wouldn't at least apply.

Why not apply? No outdoor space, uninspired leadership, high teacher turnover, essentially no performing arts, weak sports/no playing fields, essentially no recognition of kids' talents outside a narrowly academic sphere, no languages taught before 8th grade (then just for beginners). Need I go on? The truth is that SH offers most of what BASIS is lacking outside serious academics. If only there was a way to meld BASIS academics and SH enrichment with a stable faculty and a good Head in this obnoxious DC political climate. I'd sign up for that in-boundary middle school fast.

Yes. Same. I guess this is why these middle school threads tend to all end with "pay for private or move to the burbs," since they offer that.

(one small quibble is that BASIS actually does have sports and performing arts -- the middle school girls soccer team beat latin last week! the auditions for "Anything Goes" are in early December! -- and it helps me understand why BASIS families feel compelled to weigh in. many factually incorrect misconceptions about the school are spread on this forum. The building is horrible -- that one is true.)

I would sign up for that school too! We did find it, but are paying for it (private).

Anonymous wrote:This. Good post. No point in pretending that BASIS offers a halfway decent arts program. No point in writing SH off as a crappy school either.

I'm someone who wrote off some other DCPS middle schools but would send my kids to Hardy or Deal. Kid is currently at BASIS and it's a good fit.

Because SH has Geometry, National History Day, the robust musical, and because it seems to be building in popularity, I really feel like it's not a clear answer. I'm sure there are very academically inclined kids who can go to SH, have a very happy and interesting middle school experience, and then go on to a good high school. They might not be as prepared for the workload as kids from other middle schools, but maybe they can catch up.

OP, can you talk to parents of high schoolers who have kids who went to SH to see how their kids are doing? Not just that they made it into Walls or private, but try to find out how they are managing the work load.

This. Good post. No point in pretending that BASIS offers a halfway decent arts program. No point in writing SH off as a crappy school either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no really great middle school option in this area. Read some of the posts about Basis. It has a for-profit parent company, high teacher turnover rate, and a not so great facility. It also self-selects for a smart and motivated peer group which makes it the overall best option for some students but being self-motivated and willing to do a large volume of homework is important and a lot of kids are not developmentally going to be ready for or happy at that type of middle school program.

Never fails that a BASIS hater comes out of the blue. You probably don't even have a kid at BASIS/

OP- BASIS is fine, great even. Convenient location, likeminded peers, sports, a Spring musical. Yes, the building sucks, but it goes through 12th grade, so you don't need to deal with the HS application process. If your child is smart and likes to learn, I don't see why you wouldn't at least apply.

Why not apply? No outdoor space, uninspired leadership, high teacher turnover, essentially no performing arts, weak sports/no playing fields, essentially no recognition of kids' talents outside a narrowly academic sphere, no languages taught before 8th grade (then just for beginners). Need I go on? The truth is that SH offers most of what BASIS is lacking outside serious academics. If only there was a way to meld BASIS academics and SH enrichment with a stable faculty and a good Head in this obnoxious DC political climate. I'd sign up for that in-boundary middle school fast.

Yes. Same. I guess this is why these middle school threads tend to all end with "pay for private or move to the burbs," since they offer that.

(one small quibble is that BASIS actually does have sports and performing arts -- the middle school girls soccer team beat latin last week! the auditions for "Anything Goes" are in early December! -- and it helps me understand why BASIS families feel compelled to weigh in. many factually incorrect misconceptions about the school are spread on this forum. The building is horrible -- that one is true.)

What I find on these threads is that any legit criticism of BASIS invariably meets with a defensive post rooted in embarrassment, or perhaps parental guilt, shouting "misconception!" or "troll!" I say this as a parent who worked at BASIS DC for a school year but couldn't stomach sending my 5th grader, a good student, later on.

Right, BASIS stages the odd school play. Factually correct. The fact remains that their drama program is bottom of the barrel, without a stage, auditorium or even a decent sound system let alone an instrumental music program supporting a drama program (go to a suburban school musical where a decent school orchestra plays the score and weep). It's all a bit hopeless. Sure, the not-so-great BASIS MS girls soccer team beat the even worse Latin team last week.

You'd be much better off singing BASIS' praises for what they do well, like teaching middle school science, unlike SH.

Huh? Basis has a drama program. They do as much regarding drama as SH.

Stop parroting falsehoods.

It's not a falsehood. I have a now-high school kid at BASIS who was involved in the spring musical in the past and we have also been to many, many SH drama productions. There is no comparison. None. BASIS "productions" are in the mini-cafeteria, students forget their lines (or whole scenes), there is no sound or stage equipment. The school forgets to advertise the musical until the week before. Parental involvement is actively discouraged. The drama teacher is newer and energetic and I think is trying to get something more robust going -- I can't speak to that but perhaps others have insight into her plans -- but it will never be like SH which has a longstanding established program where dozens of students and families are involved in every aspect of the process -- sets, sound, lights, costumes, dancing, music, acting. BASIS is the right fit for my kid, but it's not because of the drama program. OP, if that aspect of the school experience is important to your kid, SH has it in spades. There are plenty of other challenges but the drama program is excellent.

I will also add that I know many very bright and academically advanced kids who have quite recently gone through SH and then gone on to Walls or various private schools. As others have said, the academic experience is mixed, but it is not an automatic recipe for disaster.

OP, I would recommend finding a teacher at SH and asking them to give you an honest recommendation on what to do. We aren't at an SH feeder, but another middling middle school, and when we were faced with a choice between a charter and that DCPS, that conversation was by far the most useful factor in deciding. (She told me to take the charter for an academically inclined kid, and she had a bunch of very specific reasons.) More useful than DCUM, more useful than talking to booster parents.

SH may very well be on the track to offering more challenge... I think National History Day, for example, can serve as a way to differentiate social studies, because it's a year long research project. If you go, make sure your kid takes advantage. And find out what else is available.

What is wrong with you? Pretending that DC charters offer serious sports programs is ridiculous. SH sports seem more robust, but then OP doesn't sound interested in sports.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no really great middle school option in this area. Read some of the posts about Basis. It has a for-profit parent company, high teacher turnover rate, and a not so great facility. It also self-selects for a smart and motivated peer group which makes it the overall best option for some students but being self-motivated and willing to do a large volume of homework is important and a lot of kids are not developmentally going to be ready for or happy at that type of middle school program.

Never fails that a BASIS hater comes out of the blue. You probably don't even have a kid at BASIS/

OP- BASIS is fine, great even. Convenient location, likeminded peers, sports, a Spring musical. Yes, the building sucks, but it goes through 12th grade, so you don't need to deal with the HS application process. If your child is smart and likes to learn, I don't see why you wouldn't at least apply.

Why not apply? No outdoor space, uninspired leadership, high teacher turnover, essentially no performing arts, weak sports/no playing fields, essentially no recognition of kids' talents outside a narrowly academic sphere, no languages taught before 8th grade (then just for beginners). Need I go on? The truth is that SH offers most of what BASIS is lacking outside serious academics. If only there was a way to meld BASIS academics and SH enrichment with a stable faculty and a good Head in this obnoxious DC political climate. I'd sign up for that in-boundary middle school fast.

Yes. Same. I guess this is why these middle school threads tend to all end with "pay for private or move to the burbs," since they offer that.

(one small quibble is that BASIS actually does have sports and performing arts -- the middle school girls soccer team beat latin last week! the auditions for "Anything Goes" are in early December! -- and it helps me understand why BASIS families feel compelled to weigh in. many factually incorrect misconceptions about the school are spread on this forum. The building is horrible -- that one is true.)

What I find on these threads is that any legit criticism of BASIS invariably meets with a defensive post rooted in embarrassment, or perhaps parental guilt, shouting "misconception!" or "troll!" I say this as a parent who worked at BASIS DC for a school year but couldn't stomach sending my 5th grader, a good student, later on.

Right, BASIS stages the odd school play. Factually correct. The fact remains that their drama program is bottom of the barrel, without a stage, auditorium or even a decent sound system let alone an instrumental music program supporting a drama program (go to a suburban school musical where a decent school orchestra plays the score and weep). It's all a bit hopeless. Sure, the not-so-great BASIS MS girls soccer team beat the even worse Latin team last week.

You'd be much better off singing BASIS' praises for what they do well, like teaching middle school science, unlike SH.

Disparaging the girls soccer teams at Basis and Latin?

What is wrong with you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no really great middle school option in this area. Read some of the posts about Basis. It has a for-profit parent company, high teacher turnover rate, and a not so great facility. It also self-selects for a smart and motivated peer group which makes it the overall best option for some students but being self-motivated and willing to do a large volume of homework is important and a lot of kids are not developmentally going to be ready for or happy at that type of middle school program.

Never fails that a BASIS hater comes out of the blue. You probably don't even have a kid at BASIS/

OP- BASIS is fine, great even. Convenient location, likeminded peers, sports, a Spring musical. Yes, the building sucks, but it goes through 12th grade, so you don't need to deal with the HS application process. If your child is smart and likes to learn, I don't see why you wouldn't at least apply.

Why not apply? No outdoor space, uninspired leadership, high teacher turnover, essentially no performing arts, weak sports/no playing fields, essentially no recognition of kids' talents outside a narrowly academic sphere, no languages taught before 8th grade (then just for beginners). Need I go on? The truth is that SH offers most of what BASIS is lacking outside serious academics. If only there was a way to meld BASIS academics and SH enrichment with a stable faculty and a good Head in this obnoxious DC political climate. I'd sign up for that in-boundary middle school fast.

Yes. Same. I guess this is why these middle school threads tend to all end with "pay for private or move to the burbs," since they offer that.

(one small quibble is that BASIS actually does have sports and performing arts -- the middle school girls soccer team beat latin last week! the auditions for "Anything Goes" are in early December! -- and it helps me understand why BASIS families feel compelled to weigh in. many factually incorrect misconceptions about the school are spread on this forum. The building is horrible -- that one is true.)

What I find on these threads is that any legit criticism of BASIS invariably meets with a defensive post rooted in embarrassment, or perhaps parental guilt, shouting "misconception!" or "troll!" I say this as a parent who worked at BASIS DC for a school year but couldn't stomach sending my 5th grader, a good student, later on.

Right, BASIS stages the odd school play. Factually correct. The fact remains that their drama program is bottom of the barrel, without a stage, auditorium or even a decent sound system let alone an instrumental music program supporting a drama program (go to a suburban school musical where a decent school orchestra plays the score and weep). It's all a bit hopeless. Sure, the not-so-great BASIS MS girls soccer team beat the even worse Latin team last week.

You'd be much better off singing BASIS' praises for what they do well, like teaching middle school science, unlike SH.

Huh? Basis has a drama program. They do as much regarding drama as SH.

Stop parroting falsehoods.