Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to an Ivy from Walls just last year and didn't find the environment highly competitive. Didn't take algebra (at another charter) until 8th grade. Took no APs until 10th. Took just 6 APs in all. Good point about lackluster AP Physics at BASIS. We passed on BASIS because of their weak ECs, language instruction, facilities and reports of bullying leadership from friends at the high school. Think twice about BASIS for an academic star if you have a viable alternative.

Well, our alternative is Cardozo, and I have a kid for whom very accelerated math and science will be exciting and engaging, and the focus on executive functioning and independence and planning and no screens is all very appealing to me. so we are going to try it for middle school. Definitely open toswitching for high school, if we have options. But it doesn't seem like a bad place to spend the dreaded middle school years

Generally true, but not always. Some academic high fliers become miserable in the BASIS middle school.

Middle school science is much more serious at BASIS than in any other DC public school all the way from 5th to 8th grades. That said, some of what you get at BASIS is luck of the draw. There are weak middle school science teachers, generally right out of grad school, who only last a year or two (if that, MS sci teachers have been known to leave mid year after crying in front of classes). There are also rowdy kids in middle school science classes who can't handle the curriculum who can be disruptive - you need some luck on the element your kid lands in. You also need luck in having the kid adapt well to a building without outdoor space or enough natural light or recess time. Some kids don't thrive in the bad building, no matter what BASIS is trying to teach them.

Can any current basis families share more thoughts on the middle school science curriculum? I have a kiddo for whom advanced science is the main draw.

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to an Ivy from Walls just last year and didn't find the environment highly competitive. Didn't take algebra (at another charter) until 8th grade. Took no APs until 10th. Took just 6 APs in all. Good point about lackluster AP Physics at BASIS. We passed on BASIS because of their weak ECs, language instruction, facilities and reports of bullying leadership from friends at the high school. Think twice about BASIS for an academic star if you have a viable alternative.

Well, our alternative is Cardozo, and I have a kid for whom very accelerated math and science will be exciting and engaging, and the focus on executive functioning and independence and planning and no screens is all very appealing to me. so we are going to try it for middle school. Definitely open toswitching for high school, if we have options. But it doesn't seem like a bad place to spend the dreaded middle school years

My kid went to an Ivy from Walls just last year and didn't find the environment highly competitive. Didn't take algebra (at another charter) until 8th grade. Took no APs until 10th. Took just 6 APs in all. Good point about lackluster AP Physics at BASIS. We passed on BASIS because of their weak ECs, language instruction, facilities and reports of bullying leadership from friends at the high school. Think twice about BASIS for an academic star if you have a viable alternative.

Anonymous wrote:OK but I didn't come under crazy academic pressure like BASIS students do, taking algebra in 6th or 7th grades and multiple AP exams from 9th grade.

Come to think of it, neither did my eldest (Walls grad).

We went to Ivies anyway.

Maybe it's been a while since you've been at Walls but those kids are in a far more competitive environment than BASIS kids which I think means the academic pressure is greater at Walls. By the end of senior year, Walls kids are taking more AP tests with a good number taking more than BASIS kids even by the end of junior year.

BASIS middle school is definitely more rigorous than other middle schools. The same cannot be said about the high school. They only offer one type of Physics AP - the easiest one.

Anonymous wrote:OK but I didn't come under crazy academic pressure like BASIS students do, taking algebra in 6th or 7th grades and multiple AP exams from 9th grade.

Come to think of it, neither did my eldest (Walls grad).

We went to Ivies anyway.

My kid is at BASIS HS now, and has never felt any academic pressure. If he did, and if it felt crazy, I would have moved him out.

My goal with my kid isn't any particular college. I think they'll be able to handle the math. If they're not, we'll leave. But I'm not annoyed that there exists a school providing this option. There are a lot of schools in DC that aren't going to be right for any particular kid, and that's ok.

UPenn, Columbia and a great deal of fun at school en route.

Anonymous wrote:OK but I didn't come under crazy academic pressure like BASIS students do, taking algebra in 6th or 7th grades and multiple AP exams from 9th grade.

Come to think of it, neither did my eldest (Walls grad).

We went to Ivies anyway.

Cornell Hospitality Management School?

OK but I didn't come under crazy academic pressure like BASIS students do, taking algebra in 6th or 7th grades and multiple AP exams from 9th grade.

Come to think of it, neither did my eldest (Walls grad).

We went to Ivies anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

OK, so top 25 schools are now "meh"?

I feel for your children, and for you, when they inevitably disappoint you.

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Anonymous wrote:Regarding senior year at BASIS - our family thought it was a good thing.

The first trimester with the capstones and college application class made it so much easier to visit colleges when they were in session, instead of just on breaks. The college class really took the pressure off of the essay writing - it was nice to not cram that on top of APs. And then my student had a great internship for the remainder of the year (plus a part time job) and also did a senior project.

My student is about to graduate from college and is going through job interviews. You know what the interviewers like to ask about besides what they have been doing the last 4 years? The internship and senior project.

Good to hear. Thanks for sharing.

That's such an edge case! I can't imagine many interviewers asking about internships and senior projects completed while still in high school.

Why not? What else are you going to ask a 21 year old undergrad? What books they've written? Companies they have founded?

"Tell me a about a time your entitled, whiny parents refused to just let go the fact that you couldn't hack and continued to troll blogs for years after trying to make themselves feel better."

Some of us have more than one child who have attended are are currently attending BASIS and wanted to help out incoming ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding senior year at BASIS - our family thought it was a good thing.

The first trimester with the capstones and college application class made it so much easier to visit colleges when they were in session, instead of just on breaks. The college class really took the pressure off of the essay writing - it was nice to not cram that on top of APs. And then my student had a great internship for the remainder of the year (plus a part time job) and also did a senior project.

My student is about to graduate from college and is going through job interviews. You know what the interviewers like to ask about besides what they have been doing the last 4 years? The internship and senior project.

Good to hear. Thanks for sharing.

That's such an edge case! I can't imagine many interviewers asking about internships and senior projects completed while still in high school.

Why not? What else are you going to ask a 21 year old undergrad? What books they've written? Companies they have founded?

"Tell me a about a time your entitled, whiny parents refused to just let go the fact that you couldn't hack and continued to troll blogs for years after trying to make themselves feel better."

Nice try! Keep on trolling and telling parents with high achieving kids at BASIS their kids couldn’t hack it.

Anonymous wrote:Regarding senior year at BASIS - our family thought it was a good thing.

The first trimester with the capstones and college application class made it so much easier to visit colleges when they were in session, instead of just on breaks. The college class really took the pressure off of the essay writing - it was nice to not cram that on top of APs. And then my student had a great internship for the remainder of the year (plus a part time job) and also did a senior project.

My student is about to graduate from college and is going through job interviews. You know what the interviewers like to ask about besides what they have been doing the last 4 years? The internship and senior project.

This is a nice story! Thank you. Parent of a incoming 5th grader here. Hoping for the best.

The senior project thing seems like something that is very much "what you make of it." Slackers can slack and those who are motivated can do whatever they want? That seems totally fine to me.