10:04 - No matter what others say, I'm glad you posted. I am a high SES AA parent that is considering Basis for my DC. Frankly, the posters had about scared me off, especially those coming from other AA parents that express the opinion that they MUST have certain percentages of white students in the class in order for the school to be credible. The post from white/Asian parents do not concern me as much because I expect them and have also been preparing my DC for:

"Another point is some of the sneaky passive aggressive students are getting other kids in trouble by harassing some of the children and when the harassed child retalliates, THAT child is the one getting in trouble!"

Thank God I have an extremely well-behaved DC so this behavior has been a valuable learning tool for us. I use it to point out that no matter what the other child does; it will be my DC's behavior that is noticed and corrected. He even had a child in 3rd grade lie on him to get him in trouble but while they were waiting in the principal's office he remembered my words of advice that he could only control his actions and not the actions of others and so he apologized to the other kid for HIS behavior. The other child then told the principal the truth when they were called in; most children at that age have not internalized truly deceitful behavior and will lean towards being fair when they have time to be thoughtful. He has experienced multiple instances of mistaken identity which white students were eager to report "just because" which because of his age and my husband's propensity to drop him off 5 minutes before school starts were easily refuted. His confusion as to "why are they trying to get me trouble Mommy?" pulls at my heart but I view it as learning life's lessons as to how this country operates.

That said, I view the behavior in quotes above as a godsend. When my son is an adolescent or young adult and he is suspicious or knows of bad behavior by others or any race or SES; I am more confident that he will exit the situation or get as far away from it as possible and will report it under certain conditions. He has learned early that when he is with white kids; it is his behavior that is remembered and commented on. I love it! It is preparation that I could not pay for and I feel comfortable that as soon as a police officer pulls him over for walking or driving while black; his response will automatically be "Yes Sir" and he will be unfailingly polite no matter the treatment. I will be able to rest easy when he is not home.

I hope if we decide to apply and attend that we will meet other families like yours. I want my child to befriend low SES AA moral hard working kids. When I grew up in Washington, high SES and low SES AA parents seemed to have more contact. My low SES friends went to Church regularly; I didn't. They worked harder in school rather than breeze by because of their foundation which I and my high SES friends were prone to do. They recognized and constantly sought out opportunities to better themselves. Even today, I have friends whose high SES High School Senior boys talk about wanting a part-time job where their low SES friends have pestered Ward 3 retail establishments to death for over a year until they were offered a position. These qualities don't disappear.

I know that my child's low SES AA friends will be successful at Basis because it is in "our" interest that they are so and I will do everything in my power to ensure that success. I truly appreciate the qualities and insights that are their strengths which aren't easily duplicated in high SES families unless you are like the Koch's or Ted Turner's parents.

Bottom line- don't be discouraged. Keep your child focused on "his" agenda and don't let him be distracted by other agendas. Remind your child to stay on that yellow brick road and try and free himself from the distractions to pull him off no matter where they come from. Keep your eye on the prize. It's not where you start; it's where you finish. You also need to develop teflon to free yourself from these distractions. You don't have the time or energy to keep your DC motivated and achieving in spite of if you are using your energy trying to make things right. Life isn't fair; you have to accept it and keep moving forward.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ I meant EXACTLY what I wrote about black on white bullying (my word, btw, not DC's). It is not horseplay when a student repeatedly threatens to harm a much smaller classmate. I'm so tired of the "horseplay" claim by the parents who allow their children to consume too much violent media -- in the adult world, this would not be considered horseplay, it would be a form of assault or harrassment.

SOME white people totally amaze me. SOME of you assume a whole lot! smh

What else should I assume that is more realistic/kind? That these kids learn this in church? That they learn it directly from their family? I was giving the community a pass by hoping that it's from too much tv/movies/videogames.

Anonymous wrote:^^ I meant EXACTLY what I wrote about black on white bullying (my word, btw, not DC's). It is not horseplay when a student repeatedly threatens to harm a much smaller classmate. I'm so tired of the "horseplay" claim by the parents who allow their children to consume too much violent media -- in the adult world, this would not be considered horseplay, it would be a form of assault or harrassment.

SOME white people totally amaze me. SOME of you assume a whole lot! smh

Anonymous wrote:
4. With regards to again "status", I'm really concerned with what's going on in some of you white/high/SES homes because some of your children attending are exhibiting very homosexual behavior and being agressive with some of the students I hear!

it's hard to know where to start with these last few responses, but first: What is "very homosexual behavior," exactly?

^^ I meant EXACTLY what I wrote about black on white bullying (my word, btw, not DC's). It is not horseplay when a student repeatedly threatens to harm a much smaller classmate. I'm so tired of the "horseplay" claim by the parents who allow their children to consume too much violent media -- in the adult world, this would not be considered horseplay, it would be a form of assault or harrassment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For once and for all: there is much more to life than Ivy League. Puuuulleeeeease. A great education and a full and successful life is possible without a college degree, let alone an Ivy League. Get over yourselves.

One thing I really like about the classical curriculum is that there is a moral and ethical grounding to it. As in, what does it mean to be a citizen of our society? What are our responsibilities to ourselves and to others? What are the roots of our society and from whence come our privileges?

Appears from comments on these boards that some of you ivy leaguers and PhDs could have used more of that kind of education.

Sure, if your sights are no higher than pumping gas, stocking shelves, busing tables, flipping burgers. Nothing wrong with that, and the market certainly needs people like that - and most of them don't pay terribly great money. But, we happen to live in a very unique environment, filled with government jobs dealing with major national programs and national policy, IT and tech companies, think tanks, NGOs, analysts, and so on - many excellent opportunities at $100k and up abound - and virtually ALL of those require a degree.

Lol, no all of those career titles DON'T require a degree. As a matter of fact, during this past reccession, many of my friends with their "degrees" and a few with ivy league degrees have had to resort to moving in with their parents and giving up their properties to adjust and if we really want to "keep it real", you move up more so based on who you know and not what you know or what degree you hold. That "go to school and get good grades and go to college so you can get a goo job" concept myth has been busted over the past few years from successful people actually coming to reveal how they got where they got. The only real reason going to an "Ivy League" school is truly valuable is because you have more of a chance to meet and become friends with student that come from families who are well off and well connected so you can get that good "hook up" to get that good $100k plus job and all it did was cost you a few hundred thousand dollars of debt! As a human being you have the choice of choosing your poison.

Anonymous wrote:+1 On almost all points, particularly the part about freedom, which has plusses and minuses, but are generally good.

However, i am a high-SES parent and my child was on the honor roll this past grading period and also has witnessed bullying of white kids by black kids (not sure what SES), so please don't think that only white kids can be a$$holes. . .

I'm not saying who is and who's is not an a##hole and also I am giving my personal account from stories my child also tells me. I'm also told of the black kids that are misbehaving as well however I am more so responding to the many blogs from parents reguarding "status". In reguards to "bulling"....that word has been thrown around too loosely at Basis and I'm just speaking g from my experience. That term is reserved for a child or group of children that constantly verbally and or physically picks on another child or group of children to the point of mental and or physical anguish! So come on......I think the kids are really horse playing and sadly some of the actions of the white kids on the black kids go ignored like they do in the work place or life and if you are a black parent, i dare you to say you have never had this conversation with your black co-workers, friends or famies. We have to stop being enablers and stop blaming the victims! I just don't think there is a real concern for bullying going on at Basis. Not that it doesn't exist, I just don't see it being as bad as everyone is saying. The kids just are hearing it so much that THEY are now saying it or is it really the parents saying it for them.

What difference does it make if the graduating class is mostly AA at Basis if the numbers of the test scores, scholarships, and grades speak for themselves. Basis's sole purpose is to prove that all children (besides those with mental developmental issues) are capable of being GT if the bar was raised and excellence was the expectation. At Basis, you have no choice but to do well or choose another school no matter class, race or status! My children have been in private, public and charter and sometimes kids tend to only do as well as their peers even if they can do better to avoid ridicule. You can never say what your child doesn't do while out of your sight even though we would like to think we can. I chose this school for my children because I wanted them to be the best amongst the best not the best of the worst and sad to say that is what we have come to accept in this country with reguards to education period.
At many other schools, they do offer GT programs but have any of you ever thought that maybe some of your kids opt to purposely NOT do well enought to get into those classes just to avoid the harder more difficult work load? Basis has mixed 5th grades with prospective high school kids. There is a lot of hormones raging, mixed feelings, kids "finding" themselves, some kids that now have 2 moms and 2 dads, 1 mom, no dad, both parents that work to much to acknowledge them, nannies raising them instead of parents, biracial families, alcoholic parents, abusive households high/low/SES etc! Point is these are children and out of the situations I described, which one would you prefer? Lets just allow Basis to try and do what they strive to do which is raise the bar on the education level in DC because at the end of the day, the ones pointing the most fingers usually are the one who we need to be looking at as a red flag. Sure there are some general concerns but it hasent even been a whole good year for anyone to make a solid opinion. To those saying "if I ran the school" ..... Well you don't run the school but the good news is that you CAN run you OWN school by simply homeschooling your children which is (by law) your right as a parent to do and I'm sure those of high/SES can afford to do since they are so economically stable. Simply hire 1-2 tutors and just keep up with the homework as you do when they are in school. I homeschooled my children and they have done well and have managed to compete and get the same if not better grades than many of the high/SES students and I am low/SES. I can rate their comparison based on their classes and elements that they were put into. If we want to build a community at Basis, how can we if we have sites like this one where parents can secretly vent their bias, snooty opinions on such a public site knowing that other parents can read? Do you honestly think that the parents of low/SES would want anything to do with the high/SES parents knowing they may be harboring hidden negative thoughts behind their fake smiles? Rather than mingle or get involved, we would just decide to read, be made aware and keep it moving. No need to smooze with people that already think we aren't equal which was also evident on the parent/teacher meeting earlier on in the year when many of the white parents would simply interrupt a conversation had by a teacher and a black parent to introduce themselves as is no one was standing there talking at all! If we want to address the problems, lets ADDRESS the REAL problems and start form there instead of throwing up smoke to distract form the real issues. Lets also let Basis do what it came here to do!

As a Basis parent, I find that reading most of these negative opinions to be very shallow written by parents that probably skin and grin but would NEVER have the guts to speak there mind anywhere other than with their "social class" of friends and from behind the computer screen. Here are some major point coming from an AA low/SES
1. I too am a bit annoyed with the misbehaviors of some of the students at Basis but please be aware that many behaviors that go untold are sometimes swept under the rug to be kept "in house" UNTIL count day
2. Since when did "status" depict intelligence? You can tell a lot about some of the kids that attend based on their parents prejudices. I'm sure the apple doesn't fall far from those trees and remember our children attend school with these children and children tend to be more forth coming with their opinions especially when they know they are being backed up at home!
3. Every child attending Basis has parents that are WELL aware of how Basis was supposed to be ran, it's educational status, the fact that the founders can care less about color or class because they are economist and only care about the numbers and what those kids look like on paper!
4. With regards to again "status", I'm really concerned with what's going on in some of you white/high/SES homes because some of your children attending are exhibiting very homosexual behavior and being agressive with some of the students I hear! Parents, you better be questioning your children more !!!! That may be some of the reasons for some of the aggression. Another point is some of the sneaky passive aggressive students are getting other kids in trouble by harassing some of the children and when the harassed child retalliates, THAT child is the one getting in trouble!
5. Demographically and socially different rules apply and I will just be again politically incorrect on this one but honest.
In a black/low/SES environment, there is something called "snitches get stitches" meaning, children are raised to not run and tell EVERY single thing that happens or is done to them. In a white/high/SES you tell everything even if you were the one causing the reaction or if you have NOTHING to do with a situation going on. With those two different upbringings, you can see how it would seem as if the BLACKS are the ones causing all the trouble when in deed its not entirely true!
Now, you can read this and think what you want but be careful when you reply. My child comes home many times telling stories of how many if the kids that are misbehaving and or being sneaky don't get punishes simply because they are almost ALWAYS the first ones to tell and that is also the culture that the school is enforcing (read you handbook). It's frustrating because all that does is re-enforce the bad behavior that goes undetected and continue to add the spotlight to many of the kids that are just trying to find there way in this environment that is new to all of the students there! Now I do admit, there are some students there that are flat out disrespectful and disruptive and they do need to leave regardless of their race or SES but those other silent, destructive menaces need to go too and trust me we know their names VERY well because our children tell us!!! Parents, starts questioning your children and don't take it lightly when they tell you of the many disturbing things going on and remember, there are NO video cameras in those classrooms so the only word you have to go by is your child and the teachers. Food for thought

They aren't strictly nut free but they do make accomodations for food allergies. DC is allergic to peanuts and treenuts and BASIS has been good about working with us on it.

whaaat?

Do they allow nuts?

The way to do a directory is opt out rather than than opt in. You include the form with all the printed info on it in the packet and ask people to check what info they don't want the directory. You can even say "parents are encouraged to include a cell phone and email address." Then parents have to really do something to opt out; most will just move along and directory will have more participation.

Anonymous wrote:In these days of rampant identity theft, spam and other information abuses, a lot of people value their privacy and are only willing to share personal information on their own terms and in a controlled manner.

Nothing wrong with that - it has nothing to do with the school.

+1

DC charters are certainly underfunded (though the gap between standard public school per capita funding and charters is narrower in DC than in almost every state where charters operate) and do lack the facilities to compete with the better suburban middle schools, which doen't seem to bother the boosters.

Good to see Latin move to a location where it can offer a lot more. DCPS needs to free up more buildings for charter use.

Basis as the new normal is indeed odd.