Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

I'm not. I fully recognize that Basis isn't a good fit for many kids for many reasons. I also think school rankings are silly. And it's silly to praise standardized test scores without the full demographic context of a school. Basis boosters who incessantly bring up the rankings or scores are exhausting, and I say this as a generally satisfied Basis parent.

On this thread, at least, the majority of the people bashing Basis have no experience there at all. I'm absolutely going to write off anyone who only did a school tour or read threads like this one, created some imaginary universe where their kid attended Basis and had a bad experience, and then felt the need to post about their bad experiences in their fictional universe.

I'm perplexed as to why people who've never attended Basis are seeking out Basis threads and commenting on the rigor, environment, ECs, etc. when they have no idea what they're talking about. I don't make a point of finding threads for schools my kids have never attended, jumping to a bunch of assumptions, and then heavily criticizing the school. It's truly weird behavior.

Sorry but did you even read the OP remarks, who started this thread??? Basis booster of why the school is so great., blah, blah, blah.

Families at no other school would even start a boosting thread

The majority of people posts a question, they don’t start a post about well our school is so great… Just don’t start these tiring threads, one of many….

Anonymous wrote:The long EC list above sounds fantastic, and is certainly much more robust than just a few years ago. But mist of the items on the list aren’t serious activities, particularly for HS. Take “musicals,” on a scale of 1-10 they’re about a 1, 1.5 at best. If this observation makes me a BASIS hater, OK. As an UMC family with no illusions about the competition, we paid close to 5 figures per kid per year in the BASIS HS for bona fide highly competitive college worthy ECs.

I'm sorry that you had to fill in the gaps that way!

The ECs and sports have gotten much broader in the last few years.

The musical, too -- they changed it from a spring-only activity to a full-year activity, and the set design club is also year long and it's own thing. True that they don't have a stage, which is too bad. It doesn't compare to a SH type of musical, which I think is a daily class? but like everything, it's slowly improving.

The long EC list above sounds fantastic, and is certainly much more robust than just a few years ago. But mist of the items on the list aren’t serious activities, particularly for HS. Take “musicals,” on a scale of 1-10 they’re about a 1, 1.5 at best. If this observation makes me a BASIS hater, OK. As an UMC family with no illusions about the competition, we paid close to 5 figures per kid per year in the BASIS HS for bona fide highly competitive college worthy ECs.

Anonymous wrote:Basis boosters want you to believe that unless you rip your happy and active 10 year old away from the playground and lock them in an office building for eight years, their academic potential will be wasted.

It’s not true.

Not at all. BASIS parents on this thread have said over and over that BASIS is a good fit for some kids, but definitely not all kids (and not all "academic" kids, either).

Basis boosters want you to believe that unless you rip your happy and active 10 year old away from the playground and lock them in an office building for eight years, their academic potential will be wasted.

It’s not true.

OP was spot on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

Pfft. These threads are 95 percent parents who hate BASIS, despite not have any first hand experience with the school. For some reason, DCUM loves to hate BASIS. I think it's jealousy of BASIS's outcomes.

This is a good example of what I mean. Also, it's not even really responding to my question. You're just complaining about jealous Basis "haters."

Your suggestion that this thread is fully of BASIS parents defending the school is plainly wrong. 90 percent of what's written here is by people who clearly have no connection to the school, but hate it anyway for an ever-shifting and often contradictory number of reasons. I'm curious what it is about this tiny school for nerds that inspires so much venom. It seems highly likely that if BASIS was sending their kids to crappy universities no one would care about it. We don't have 40 pages threads about why Roosevelt High School is so bad. And no, I'm not a BASIS parent.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

I'm not. I fully recognize that Basis isn't a good fit for many kids for many reasons. I also think school rankings are silly. And it's silly to praise standardized test scores without the full demographic context of a school. Basis boosters who incessantly bring up the rankings or scores are exhausting, and I say this as a generally satisfied Basis parent.

On this thread, at least, the majority of the people bashing Basis have no experience there at all. I'm absolutely going to write off anyone who only did a school tour or read threads like this one, created some imaginary universe where their kid attended Basis and had a bad experience, and then felt the need to post about their bad experiences in their fictional universe.

I'm perplexed as to why people who've never attended Basis are seeking out Basis threads and commenting on the rigor, environment, ECs, etc. when they have no idea what they're talking about. I don't make a point of finding threads for schools my kids have never attended, jumping to a bunch of assumptions, and then heavily criticizing the school. It's truly weird behavior.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

For me, it's because this silly forum almost convinced me to dismiss the school. My question was is this school a huge opportunity or would it be a terrible mistake?

Luckily, I had a few IRL conversations (with happy kids, BASIS teachers, and teachers at our neighborhood school) and every single actual conversation pushed us to take the spot.

And now that we are in, I can see there are so many misconceptions and falsehoods about it repeated here, so I feel compelled to counter the falsehoods for the sake of prospective parents. Because for kids who are inclined towards math and science, it really is a huge opportunity.

I agree with this and had a very similar experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

Pfft. These threads are 95 percent parents who hate BASIS, despite not have any first hand experience with the school. For some reason, DCUM loves to hate BASIS. I think it's jealousy of BASIS's outcomes.

This is a good example of what I mean. Also, it's not even really responding to my question. You're just complaining about jealous Basis "haters."

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

For me, it's because this silly forum almost convinced me to dismiss the school. My question was is this school a huge opportunity or would it be a terrible mistake?

Luckily, I had a few IRL conversations (with happy kids, BASIS teachers, and teachers at our neighborhood school) and every single actual conversation pushed us to take the spot.

And now that we are in, I can see there are so many misconceptions and falsehoods about it repeated here, so I feel compelled to counter the falsehoods for the sake of prospective parents. Because for kids who are inclined towards math and science, it really is a huge opportunity.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

Pfft. These threads are 95 percent parents who hate BASIS, despite not have any first hand experience with the school. For some reason, DCUM loves to hate BASIS. I think it's jealousy of BASIS's outcomes.

As a parent who is reading DCUM lately to research middle school options for the lottery in the spring, these posts are exhausting. The Basis parents seem strangely attached to the fact that the school worked out for their kid. Are you just relieved you don't have to worry about middle school or high school despite living in DC? Why are you so quick to write off the people who have bad experiences there? It's not coming off great. I am still considering Basis for my kid next year but this view into the kinds of parents I might encounter if my kid goes there is giving me pause.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My comment on these retention numbers is that there is a very high chance your kid will be wanting to leave if they go to Basis.

So be prepared to continue playing the lottery and no guarantee of getting in anywhere.

Guess your kid can stay at Basis and be miserable. Last option is move.

It just seems like such a crapshoot about whether any particular kid will like the school. When we started looking into lottery schools we started with the assumption that getting into Basis was a ticket to high school, that if our kid got in we'd be set, and we could stay in our EOTP house. But we have since talked to so many people who ended up having to scramble to find other middle schools or high schools, including some who moved. Most of the time, the kids who didn't like it fit mold of the kids we're all told will like Basis -- the bright, hardworking kids who take school seriously. It has made us very cautious about the school. We'll probably send our math-oriented kid there if he gets in but we'd be sending him with our eyes wide open and have some backup plans. If he gets into either Latin, we're sending him there instead.

This is going to invite a lot of anger, but the kids I know who like it all have 98th or 99th percentile math scores.

This is something parents know about their kids in late elementary.

I have a kid that fits the math profile above. We looked at Basis and declined. Did not even list Basis in the lottery. We also knew a family that did list Basis and got in. They decided to turn down the offer after some thought because did not think it would be a good fit.

We knew our kid could handle Basis but that doesn’t mean kid will be happy. There is much more to school than being a high performer. It is not a race but a marathon and you need to look at the long haul. You need to know your kid.

Luckily, kid needed up somewhere where he could be challenged and having a more happier, well rounded experience. If middle school did not work out, we would have moved to the burbs.

But how do you know that your kid wouldn't have been challenged, happy, and well rounded at Basis, given that your kid didn't attend? One of the reasons the Basis threads are so toxic is that so many people like you have strong opinions about Basis without any firsthand experience.

Are you seriously questioning what I know about my own kid? We did the whole tour and talked with HOS, looked at the curriculum, etc…

Because my kid needs more than just challenging academics to be happy.

He needs open spaces and to burn off energy which he gets with 1/2 hour play at lunch and PE and fields.

He is very social and clubs and sports are important to him. Tons of that at his school where he does it 4 days a week and we don’t have to drive him anywhere.

He has other interests outside of academics and the large selection of electives offered at the school meets this need. In fact, so many great electives that it was hard to choose 6 for the year.

We have been in the Basis building with no light, cramped classrooms and hallways especially. It is damn depressing.

That’s why. You don’t have to be an actual student at the school to know what the deficits are as a family. Tour the building, talk to admin with your questions, and look at the limited curriculum. It is all there.

You are still missing that PPs point. You actually can't know. Because you never experienced it. So your repeated "feedback" on the school will never be accurate. You can speak about your current school, which sounds great.

And please drop this one. BASIS has so many clubs and sports. Many, many clubs take place after school at the school, and this fall, xcountry, soccer and flag football practice on the national mall. Parents do have to occasionally pick up their kids from games elsewhere?

I know both programs have grown and were much smaller a few years ago.

Why don’t you list the actual sports and actual clubs offered last year then? And how competitive your teams are and what division championships they have won in their league? Who here can say that their kid does all their clubs and sports and EC interests at the school?

Because what is stated in the brochure is far from what is actually offered at the school.

Despite being a small school (only 600 students at the middle school and high school combined), BASIS has a lot of clubs and extracurriculars and the list is constantly growing. The BASIS academic clubs are particularly strong (winning DC competitions and going to nationals, etc). These extracurriculars all meet at school and work closely with BASIS teachers. My kids really enjoy doing BASIS school sports and clubs.

Here are some of the extracurriculars that BASIS currently offers:

COMPETITIVE ACADEMIC CLUBS:
Science Olympiad
Debate
Junior Classical League/Certamen
Model UN
Mathcounts/Math Club
National Art Honor Society
Ethics Bowl

NON-COMPETITIVE CLUBS:
Newspaper
Yearbook
Student Government
Band
Musicals
Art & Set Design
Film & Media Club
Black Student Union
Volunteering/Community Service Club
Chinese Culture Club
Creative Writing Club
French Club
Future Business Leaders of America
Gaming
Gay Straight Alliance
Cheerleading
Kente Weaving
Knitting
Minecraft
Mock Trial
Morning News
Pickleball
Programming
Rocketry
Taekwondo
Volleyball

And as another poster wrote earlier, here are the sports that BASIS currently offers (and this list has been growing every year):

MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS
Cross Country
Flag Football
Soccer
Basketball
Chess
Baseball
Track & Field

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Cross Country
Soccer
Flag Football
Basketball
Chess
Indoor Track
Swimming
Ultimate Frisbee
Track & Field

(Also, BASIS has club sports like Taekwondo, Volleyball, Pickleball, and Cheerleading.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird to me that people view Basis as revolutionary in any way. It's essentially what schools were before they were hijacked by watered down grades, social promotion, overuse of screens, and the educational fad of the week. What my kids are receiving at Basis is very similar to the schooling I had in the late 80s. They're learning grammar, reading books, taking notes by hand in a notebook, doing homework, studying, taking tests, and not just receiving As for showing up. If a kid hasn't learned what they need to access the next grade level curriculum, they don't move on to the next grade. It's not a new or fringe approach. It's old-school schooling.

+1. BASIS is very similar to the public program I grew up in. It lacks the quality arts/phys ed program I also had, but I don't think those programs exist in public schools the same way anymore even where I grew up. But as for the academics, it's essentially what I learned at the same time. It's what drew me to the school.

If it’s not that special, the comps are not that hard, and many more kids are capable of the work than are allowed to enroll in upper grades, why does Basis claim to need a test in order to backfill?

They need it because social promotion and watered down standards at almost every other school have led to a bunch of kids performing below grade level. Kids entering Basis who are below grade level would be set up for failure. The test every single other Basis uses for backfilling isn't something elaborate. If a kid wants to enter in 7th grade, they simply need to pass (earn a 60%) on the 6th grade math and language arts comp exams. If they can't meet that bar, they would be unlikely to handle the Basis 7th grade curriculum. DC basis would love to use a similar system, but the DC charter school law doesn't allow them to do so.