Anonymous
10/27/2025 12:20
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Resentment is a strong word.
It is not because Basis doesn’t backfill that families dislike Basis boosters. It is because you guys tout ad nauseam about your high test scores due to the fact that you are a test in school starting in 6th and don’t backfill. Any school that does that will get similar stats. It is not that Basis is anything special or the teachers. That is where the backfilling discussion always comes into play is when test scores are discussed.
Yet people like you have this inflated sense that everyone is out to get Basis or resent or hate Basis.
Read your post and OP original post and the tone and how the narrative is really misplaced. If you don’t understand why this board does not like these type of Basis posts and hence families, well I don’t know what to say.
There is no dislike of Latin or DCI families on this board like there is of Basis, because these families don’t post such nonsense. They also tend to be much happier at their school and a lot less of them are on here or need to be.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 12:14
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Also it is NOT the one acceptable middle/high school in the city.
Many families don’t even entertain Basis as an option due to above and have absolutely no resentment about the backfilling.
Also add chances are negligible at schools such as Latin and DCI after 5th and 6th. You basically have the best and one chance in the entry grades
Again, no one said BASIS was the one acceptable option.
But also, DCI is a school where people have tons of chances to get into, because there are a number of DCI feeders where it's fairly easy to lottery in after ECE. Also DCI is easier to enter for some language tracks than others, so you can game the system that way if you are coming from outside of a feeder.
Latin is virtually impossible to get into except in 5th, and recently if you didn't also have a sibling already at the school it was especially hard. However Latin has a middle-of-the-road curriculum and doesn't make grand claims about college admissions or scholarship money. I think Latin gets less resentment because they don't crow about themselves. You almost never see Latin parents on here talking about how great it is. The Latin families I know are basically silently relieved to not have to participate in the MS/HS rat race in the city and don't brag and don't try to convince other people Latin is amazing. But also I think they don't view it as "amazing" for the most part, just acceptable. Whereas BASIS parents don't tend to say "yes, it's good enough, not perfect, we're happy enough." They tend to talk it up and get competitive.
Latin families don't brag because they know they won the lottery. No need to rub it in.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 11:56
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
How many of these kids are listing BASIS as their number 1 choice? There's no way to tell, but from what I have heard over the years, if you list it as your number 1, you have a high likelihood of getting in. Most people don't list it as number 1, because it isn't their number 1 choice.
We know how many students are on the waitlist on match day, which means they didn't match with a school they ranked higher than BASIS. We also know how many waitlist offers BASIS made by October; it's unlikely a student would get a waitlist offer at a higher ranked school before they would get an offer at BASIS. So we have a pretty good, not perfect, sense of the chances of getting an offer if you didn't match with a school you ranked higher.
SY21-22: 80% (76% if no preference)
SY22-23: 65% (58%)
SY23-24: 67% (63%)
SY24-25: 63% (60%)
SY25-26: 54% (49%)
Exactly. So about half of students listing BASIS in the lottery get no offer, and even if these families are listing Latin or DCI higher, they aren't getting in there either because it's even less likely.
Listing BASIS as your #1 does not improve your odds of getting a spot there. The only way that your ranking of BASIS would impact your chances of getting in would be if you ranked a school you were more likely to get a spot at higher. So say you ranked Eliot-Hine #1 and BASIS #2. You would very likely get a spot at Eliot-Hine in the lottery, and thus would not even be placed on the waitlist for BASIS. But other than that scenario, your chances of getting into BASIS will be completely dependent on your random lottery draw and whether you have a preference (EA or sibling). That's it. And less than half of kids with no preference who rank BASIS get in either in the lottery or off the waitlist.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 11:49
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
How many of these kids are listing BASIS as their number 1 choice? There's no way to tell, but from what I have heard over the years, if you list it as your number 1, you have a high likelihood of getting in. Most people don't list it as number 1, because it isn't their number 1 choice.
We know how many students are on the waitlist on match day, which means they didn't match with a school they ranked higher than BASIS. We also know how many waitlist offers BASIS made by October; it's unlikely a student would get a waitlist offer at a higher ranked school before they would get an offer at BASIS. So we have a pretty good, not perfect, sense of the chances of getting an offer if you didn't match with a school you ranked higher.
SY21-22: 80% (76% if no preference)
SY22-23: 65% (58%)
SY23-24: 67% (63%)
SY24-25: 63% (60%)
SY25-26: 54% (49%)
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:49
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
How many of these kids are listing BASIS as their number 1 choice? There's no way to tell, but from what I have heard over the years, if you list it as your number 1, you have a high likelihood of getting in. Most people don't list it as number 1, because it isn't their number 1 choice.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:43
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Also it is NOT the one acceptable middle/high school in the city.
Many families don’t even entertain Basis as an option due to above and have absolutely no resentment about the backfilling.
Also add chances are negligible at schools such as Latin and DCI after 5th and 6th. You basically have the best and one chance in the entry grades
Again, no one said BASIS was the one acceptable option.
But also, DCI is a school where people have tons of chances to get into, because there are a number of DCI feeders where it's fairly easy to lottery in after ECE. Also DCI is easier to enter for some language tracks than others, so you can game the system that way if you are coming from outside of a feeder.
Latin is virtually impossible to get into except in 5th, and recently if you didn't also have a sibling already at the school it was especially hard. However Latin has a middle-of-the-road curriculum and doesn't make grand claims about college admissions or scholarship money. I think Latin gets less resentment because they don't crow about themselves. You almost never see Latin parents on here talking about how great it is. The Latin families I know are basically silently relieved to not have to participate in the MS/HS rat race in the city and don't brag and don't try to convince other people Latin is amazing. But also I think they don't view it as "amazing" for the most part, just acceptable. Whereas BASIS parents don't tend to say "yes, it's good enough, not perfect, we're happy enough." They tend to talk it up and get competitive.
I tend to think that less than 3% of Basis or Latin families post on here.
+1. Most Latin families I know think the school is amazing and love it. But they also don't post on here.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:40
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Also it is NOT the one acceptable middle/high school in the city.
Many families don’t even entertain Basis as an option due to above and have absolutely no resentment about the backfilling.
Also add chances are negligible at schools such as Latin and DCI after 5th and 6th. You basically have the best and one chance in the entry grades
Again, no one said BASIS was the one acceptable option.
But also, DCI is a school where people have tons of chances to get into, because there are a number of DCI feeders where it's fairly easy to lottery in after ECE. Also DCI is easier to enter for some language tracks than others, so you can game the system that way if you are coming from outside of a feeder.
Latin is virtually impossible to get into except in 5th, and recently if you didn't also have a sibling already at the school it was especially hard. However Latin has a middle-of-the-road curriculum and doesn't make grand claims about college admissions or scholarship money. I think Latin gets less resentment because they don't crow about themselves. You almost never see Latin parents on here talking about how great it is. The Latin families I know are basically silently relieved to not have to participate in the MS/HS rat race in the city and don't brag and don't try to convince other people Latin is amazing. But also I think they don't view it as "amazing" for the most part, just acceptable. Whereas BASIS parents don't tend to say "yes, it's good enough, not perfect, we're happy enough." They tend to talk it up and get competitive.
I tend to think that less than 3% of Basis or Latin families post on here.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:32
Subject: Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Essentially, Basis is a whipping boy for broader systemic frustrations with the DC education landscape. Even if Basis were to do all that some are requesting of it, hardly anything would change for 90%+ of DC families. Might some be less resentful? I guess so, but that only serves to highlight the pure irrationality of such resentment in the first place. DC needs more UMC-friendly options — a problem that Basis cannot solve to any meaningful degree.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:26
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Those criticisms only emerge because people are resentful about how unavailable BASIS is as an option. It makes BASIS an all or nothing option, which heightens criticism of their approach. If BASIS were an option you could opt into later, when it was clear your kid would do well in their system, people wouldn't be as critical.
The backfilling issue makes BASIS exclusive and out of reach for a lot of families, and that's going to attract negative attention.
But Latin is even more exclusive, even with (sibling) backfilling. This is pure emotion and pathetic.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:24
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Also it is NOT the one acceptable middle/high school in the city.
Many families don’t even entertain Basis as an option due to above and have absolutely no resentment about the backfilling.
Also add chances are negligible at schools such as Latin and DCI after 5th and 6th. You basically have the best and one chance in the entry grades
Again, no one said BASIS was the one acceptable option.
But also, DCI is a school where people have tons of chances to get into, because there are a number of DCI feeders where it's fairly easy to lottery in after ECE. Also DCI is easier to enter for some language tracks than others, so you can game the system that way if you are coming from outside of a feeder.
Latin is virtually impossible to get into except in 5th, and recently if you didn't also have a sibling already at the school it was especially hard. However Latin has a middle-of-the-road curriculum and doesn't make grand claims about college admissions or scholarship money. I think Latin gets less resentment because they don't crow about themselves. You almost never see Latin parents on here talking about how great it is. The Latin families I know are basically silently relieved to not have to participate in the MS/HS rat race in the city and don't brag and don't try to convince other people Latin is amazing. But also I think they don't view it as "amazing" for the most part, just acceptable. Whereas BASIS parents don't tend to say "yes, it's good enough, not perfect, we're happy enough." They tend to talk it up and get competitive.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:23
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Or you can send your child who loves facts and is good at math there, he can make a bunch of sweet, nerdy friends, learn a lot, experience zero bullying, and then end up extremely well prepared for college?
Exactly right.
BASIS kids are laughing as they go to top colleges.
Right, because no other teens in DC public schools go to top colleges.
Signed Parent of BASIS student who left for Walls and went on to an Ivy with sibling who went to DCI and went on to top 5 SLAC. No idea if they went laughing.
This. The justification to send your kids to such a limited and narrow school with the justification to try to get into a decent college is laughable.
And I bet PP’s kid above had a much more enjoyable, enriching, annd well rounded experience.
Most people enter Basis with a healthy wait and see attitude and pivot as necessary without too much drama. One can extract value from a few years at Basis but pursue something else for high school and not be bitter or otherwise emotional about it.
Of course, some families have optionality going in to Basis and don’t need the school to be a silver bullet high school path —- middle school is fine. But this is something families can/should know well before the 5th grade lottery and plan accordingly.
And please realize that plenty of families who couldn’t afford housing in a “good” elementary school zone and didn’t otherwise luck out in the PreK or later lottery, felt frustration and disappointment several years prior and had to make their pivot then.
This is DC - we all know what the game is and how cruel it can be.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:18
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Also it is NOT the one acceptable middle/high school in the city.
Many families don’t even entertain Basis as an option due to above and have absolutely no resentment about the backfilling.
Read again. I never said it was the one acceptable middle/high school in the city. I said it was the one acceptable middle/high school in the city that you have exactly one chance at. You are just reading the half of a sentence the PP chose to bold and missing the point.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:16
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Those criticisms only emerge because people are resentful about how unavailable BASIS is as an option. It makes BASIS an all or nothing option, which heightens criticism of their approach. If BASIS were an option you could opt into later, when it was clear your kid would do well in their system, people wouldn't be as critical.
The backfilling issue makes BASIS exclusive and out of reach for a lot of families, and that's going to attract negative attention.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:15
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Grow up. Don't try to be cute. You know exactly what's going on here. Parents of pre teens and teens enjoy city life, historic architecture, being part of communities in high-density, walkable urban areas. BASIS isn't so awful, at least not compared to other viable options in DC public schools. It's tolerable for many and preferable to moving to the burbs, taking on the bad commutes, all that time in the car, hardly knowing one's neighbors etc.
Anonymous
10/27/2025 10:15
Subject: Re:Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, choose Basis and high chance it will not be a good fit either in middle or high school.
No guarantee of anything and you take your risk, play lottery, try to get into private or move.
Chances of any of the above options gets lower each year. The only sure thing is move.
The end
Is moving really a sure thing?
We know families that moved from Ward 6 to MoCo, or Arlington, or Fairfax mainly for schools and seem to regret it. We also know people who paid through the nose to send their kids to the perfect seeming DC privates only to find that their children were miserable at these schools. We even know people who nervously sent a kid who was deeply average at math in ES to BASIS only to discover that the kid liked the program well enough to stay through high school.
I'm no BASIS fan; we only lasted a couple years. But I no longer believe in sure things where adolescents and their schools go.
So true. Sometimes I think we agonize over school choice because it’s easier than grappling with the real challenges of adolescence.
+1. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Pick the school that is best for your kid! For some that will be BASIS, for some it won’t. For some it will work for only middle school, for some it will work all the way through. Deal with it, because that’s what you chose to deal with when you decided to become a parent.
If only you could simply pick. Not in DC, with the lottery system and schools that are basically closed out after fifth or sixth grade, due to limited seats and, in the case of Basis, no backfilling.
From this thread, most people don't want to send their kid to BASIS anyway, so it should be easy to get a lottery seat if you are one of the few who do.
At least 50% of kids who lottery for BASIS don't get spots. Also, the lack of backfilling compounds this problem because even though some of the kids who DO get spots later decide it's not for them and leave, if you have bad lottery luck the one year you can enter BASIS (5th) then you will never get a spot there again.
The no backfilling is a major reason BASIS attracts a lot of negative attention on these boards. It's important to understand this. And you can defend the no backfilling policy if you want but if you can't understand why it pisses people off, especially given the level of attrition at BASIS and how miserable that 5th grade lottery is for parents thanks to the near impossibility of getting into Latin or DCI, then you don't understand this conversation. Latin and DCI have lower attrition *and* they backfill. All the acceptable DCPS middle and high schools are required to backfill if they have space. Only BASIS doesn't backfill which means it's the one acceptable MS/HS option in the city that you have exactly one chance at. Of course that is going to result in resentment and criticism.
Wait - this is a bit schizophrenic. In this thread, I keep hearing about all the ways that Basis is fundamentally UNacceptable, e.g., lack of flexibility, poor physical plant, sparse extracurriculars, sky high attrition, etc.
If Basis is so awful, who cares about its relatively narrow entry pathway and aversion to backfilling?
Also it is NOT the one acceptable middle/high school in the city.
Many families don’t even entertain Basis as an option due to above and have absolutely no resentment about the backfilling.
Also add chances are negligible at schools such as Latin and DCI after 5th and 6th. You basically have the best and one chance in the entry grades