Anonymous
Post 01/22/2013 12:37     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote: 10:33 - magnets are of course the exception to the rule, as test-in or vetting does not apply to the majority of MoCo schools - and I'm not sure where you get "country wide" as they have residency requirements. But even there, I've been underwhelmed by magnets. Also, you must mean "county wide" as "country wide" is ineligible as they don't have residency - and in either case you have to follow the school - tradeoffs exist between either buying near the school (and paying a premium) or having a horrendous commute to get there. Great, if you're made of money - which most of us aren't.


Did did mean county wide of course, typo. The horrendous 45-minute commute from elsewhere in MoCo (mainly Rockville) Takoma is taken care of by MCPS - they bus the magnet kids from all over the county. The BASIS commute would have been more of a hassle for us.

If you fail to break into that underwhelming Takoma Park MS magnet, which routinely sends kids on to Blair HS to win INTEL prizes, you still get honors classes in most subjects there, math as advanced as at BASIS (6th grade algebra) and facilities nearly as nice as an established independent. These include a greenhouse, student run radio station, giant playing fields and courts, stage, orchestra, band. I work for a non-profit so made of money, maybe not.

Am I to conclude that DC will never give us what our near neighbors routinely provide at the MS level?
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2013 12:02     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: MoCo schools on the other hand don't have any kind of vetting, no test-in, and no comprehensives to advance.


Tell that to my DCPS 5th grader who recently took the test for the Silver Spring Eastern MS Humanities Magnet AND the Takoma Park MD MS Math/Science Magnet, each program admitting no more than 16% of applicants country-wide (we own in MoCo as well as DC). He will be in a minority of applicants not coming out of one of the MoCo 4th-5th grade test-in HGCs (Centers for the Highly Gifted). We're hoping that several summers at the Johns Hopkins CTY camps will stand him in good stead. The MoCo MS magnets do kick out kids who can't cut it, replacing them with high-performing kids who didn't make the grade on the 5th grade test.

My wife and I passed on BASIS and Deal/Wilson, mainly out of concern that most of the middle-class families at both will indeed bail well before 12th. For the sake of the value of our DC property, we pray that we're wrong. Good luck to all of you at BASIS.


10:33 - magnets are of course the exception to the rule, as test-in or vetting does not apply to the majority of MoCo schools - and I'm not sure where you get "country wide" as they have residency requirements. But even there, I've been underwhelmed by magnets. Also, you must mean "county wide" as "country wide" is ineligible as they don't have residency - and in either case you have to follow the school - tradeoffs exist between either buying near the school (and paying a premium) or having a horrendous commute to get there. Great, if you're made of money - which most of us aren't.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2013 10:33     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote: MoCo schools on the other hand don't have any kind of vetting, no test-in, and no comprehensives to advance.


Tell that to my DCPS 5th grader who recently took the test for the Silver Spring Eastern MS Humanities Magnet AND the Takoma Park MD MS Math/Science Magnet, each program admitting no more than 16% of applicants country-wide (we own in MoCo as well as DC). He will be in a minority of applicants not coming out of one of the MoCo 4th-5th grade test-in HGCs (Centers for the Highly Gifted). We're hoping that several summers at the Johns Hopkins CTY camps will stand him in good stead. The MoCo MS magnets do kick out kids who can't cut it, replacing them with high-performing kids who didn't make the grade on the 5th grade test.

My wife and I passed on BASIS and Deal/Wilson, mainly out of concern that most of the middle-class families at both will indeed bail well before 12th. For the sake of the value of our DC property, we pray that we're wrong. Good luck to all of you at BASIS.





Anonymous
Post 01/21/2013 13:33     Subject: Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:Will BASIS students take the DC CAS?


Yes, starting this school year.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2013 13:26     Subject: Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Will BASIS students take the DC CAS?
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2013 10:50     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:


Learn the demographics of the city. Considering there are very few Asians living in DC proper, liberal whites will suffice.


Liberal whites don't stay much at Wilson (less than a quarter white in a school district that's around three-quarters white) but we are to believe they will stay at BASIS in droves? Hope so but doubt it. The very few Asians living in DC proper are onto something where high schools are concerned - they head to MoCo because they know the whites stay there as much as anything else. Sadly, wishing that the whites will stay at BASIS to 12th proportionate to their 5th grade representation is really unlikely to make it happen without any sort of vetting of applicants at any point of entry. Wish it weren't so.


BASIS students are vetted every year from 6th through to graduation, via comprehensive exams. Also, incoming students higher than 5th grade take placement exams to determine what grade level they should be going into. Once they do get into BASIS, however, they will have extensive supports - STARS tutoring, labs, and other help, along with the opportunity for summer school and retaking comprehensives if they didn't pass them on the first try.

MoCo schools on the other hand don't have any kind of vetting, no test-in, and no comprehensives to advance.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2013 08:29     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:


Learn the demographics of the city. Considering there are very few Asians living in DC proper, liberal whites will suffice.


Liberal whites don't stay much at Wilson (less than a quarter white in a school district that's around three-quarters white) but we are to believe they will stay at BASIS in droves? Hope so but doubt it. The very few Asians living in DC proper are onto something where high schools are concerned - they head to MoCo because they know the whites stay there as much as anything else. Sadly, wishing that the whites will stay at BASIS to 12th proportionate to their 5th grade representation is really unlikely to make it happen without any sort of vetting of applicants at any point of entry. Wish it weren't so.




The 5th grade is diverse and I think it will remain that way since Basis does not do social promotion. Starting in 6th grade all students must pass comprehensive exams at the end of the year in all subjects. If they fail they must repeat the grade or may take summer school and try to pass the comprehensive exams one more time. Also, Basis will primarily only have room for new 5th graders each year. In the case, of an older student, if there is room for older students in a particular year, they will have to take exams to place into their expected grade. If they fail such exams, the student will be placed into a lower grade. I think these policies will help to maintain the rigor and the students at Basis.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 22:26     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?



Learn the demographics of the city. Considering there are very few Asians living in DC proper, liberal whites will suffice.


Liberal whites don't stay much at Wilson (less than a quarter white in a school district that's around three-quarters white) but we are to believe they will stay at BASIS in droves? Hope so but doubt it. The very few Asians living in DC proper are onto something where high schools are concerned - they head to MoCo because they know the whites stay there as much as anything else. Sadly, wishing that the whites will stay at BASIS to 12th proportionate to their 5th grade representation is really unlikely to make it happen without any sort of vetting of applicants at any point of entry. Wish it weren't so.


Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 17:22     Subject: Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Parent of a 7th Grader: he stays at after-school (Late Bird) until 5:30 PM. Rarely has any homework past that.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 14:11     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Whether or not AP credit is accepted at college, I see the value in taking the social science and English AP classes because they teach students skills needed in college - namely how to master material covered over a long period of time and write coherent essay exams. I attended a very not rigorous rural high school and then attended an elite university and it was a struggle to succeed at first. Unlike my friends who had gone to good high schools, I had no idea how to study or manage my study time and that was reflected in my freshman year grades. In my view the only thing that saved me were the skills I picked up in AP US History in 11th grade.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 08:43     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:I'm not concerned about the middle school situation at BASIS. But, like other parents, I am concerned about HS. If the HS isn't majority AA in 7 or 8 years, and the curriculum and standards aren't watered down compared to the Arizona schools, I'll be surprised. The city plays so many political games with demographics as it is, e.g. refusing to allow honors classes at Deal and Stuart Hobson outside math for fear that white and Asian students will fill them, it's tough to believe that BASIS will be all that different. BASIS Parents saying "I'm staying the course through 12th, really" sounds a lot like Hill parents pledging to "stick with this DCPS school until 5th" before they quietly run off to a charter or private much earlier. Liberal whites may stay, but the sort of Asian families who fill MoCo STEM HS programs? Come on!






Learn the demographics of the city. Considering there are very few Asians living in DC proper, liberal whites will suffice.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 08:34     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm not concerned about the middle school situation at BASIS. But, like other parents, I am concerned about HS. If the HS isn't majority AA in 7 or 8 years, and the curriculum and standards aren't watered down compared to the Arizona schools, I'll be surprised. The city plays so many political games with demographics as it is, e.g. refusing to allow honors classes at Deal and Stuart Hobson outside math for fear that white and Asian students will fill them, it's tough to believe that BASIS will be all that different. BASIS Parents saying "I'm staying the course through 12th, really" sounds a lot like Hill parents pledging to "stick with this DCPS school until 5th" before they quietly run off to a charter or private much earlier. Liberal whites may stay, but the sort of Asian families who fill MoCo STEM HS programs? Come on!



Basis is a charter!! As for watering down, Basis DC is dedicated to their vision of a rigorous education. The school founders have a vision and I do not see them wavering in it at all.


+1

If they cater to the whim of every politician, they lose their identity and meaning. I doubt they will go for that.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 07:49     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Anonymous wrote:I'm not concerned about the middle school situation at BASIS. But, like other parents, I am concerned about HS. If the HS isn't majority AA in 7 or 8 years, and the curriculum and standards aren't watered down compared to the Arizona schools, I'll be surprised. The city plays so many political games with demographics as it is, e.g. refusing to allow honors classes at Deal and Stuart Hobson outside math for fear that white and Asian students will fill them, it's tough to believe that BASIS will be all that different. BASIS Parents saying "I'm staying the course through 12th, really" sounds a lot like Hill parents pledging to "stick with this DCPS school until 5th" before they quietly run off to a charter or private much earlier. Liberal whites may stay, but the sort of Asian families who fill MoCo STEM HS programs? Come on!






Basis is a charter!! As for watering down, Basis DC is dedicated to their vision of a rigorous education. The school founders have a vision and I do not see them wavering in it at all.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 06:49     Subject: Re:Is Basis really as hard as people think?
I'm not concerned about the middle school situation at BASIS. But, like other parents, I am concerned about HS. If the HS isn't majority AA in 7 or 8 years, and the curriculum and standards aren't watered down compared to the Arizona schools, I'll be surprised. The city plays so many political games with demographics as it is, e.g. refusing to allow honors classes at Deal and Stuart Hobson outside math for fear that white and Asian students will fill them, it's tough to believe that BASIS will be all that different. BASIS Parents saying "I'm staying the course through 12th, really" sounds a lot like Hill parents pledging to "stick with this DCPS school until 5th" before they quietly run off to a charter or private much earlier. Liberal whites may stay, but the sort of Asian families who fill MoCo STEM HS programs? Come on!




Anonymous
Post 01/20/2013 00:16     Subject: Is Basis really as hard as people think?
Two points: 1.) BASIS, although they have accelerated math and science, is not strictly STEM. They are well rounded and robust in other areas as well. 2.) Even with the few schools that don't give credit for AP, they still look at AP coursework and performance very favorably for admissions.