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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

Honestly, I know two different families whose kids (three in total) didn't make it through (one did) and they were so hurt by the whole thing... they went in as happy, curious pro-school kids, and came out anxious and hating school. For the kids who work, it works and they're happy, but statistically it doesn't work for most kids... and for taxpayer dollars to go and support that kind of record, just to line the pockets of investors... yeah it really pisses me off.

Does DCPS have problems? yeah! big time! is Basis the answer? only for a small number of those who try it!

Look at the test scores. BASIS *trounces* almost every non-private school in the city. You should be pissed off at these schools that churn out graduates who can't even read.

https://www.empowerk12.org/public-dashboards

Look at the number of kids who go into basis and look how many graduate! That fraction of kids who makes it through the whole school would almost certainly be high scoring at any high school.

I don’t like low scores anywhere but siphoning tax dollars into a for profit system that fails the vast majority of students isn’t the solution.

I’m not anti charter school - pitch me some good non dcps ideas and I’ll bite. Basis ain’t it tho.

Eh, sounds like you just hate charters.

Parents send their kids to BASIS because DCPS is synonymous with low standards. Challenging smart kids is literally the last thing DCPS is worried about.

If you're worried about tax dollars (and I'm pretty sure you actually aren't), you should ask yourself how taxpayers can fund DCPS so well that even elementary school gym teachers make six figure salaries and yet DCPS test scores are worse than Mississippi's. Taxpayers spend an awful lot of public schools in this city and get very little in return.

You don't have to be anti-charter to see that the BASIS business model isn't built to support the 'whole child' and to find that deeply problematic when there could be more funds available locally if they weren't going towards BASIS Ed and when the business model presupposes that parents contributed $300,000 through direct contributions or fees for lock-ins/dances in order to pay the teachers.

I don't know what this word salad is supposed to say but BASIS gets a lot fewer tax dollars than public schools and yet gets far better results.

A lot better results for a narrow number of kids - most kids who start there don’t get the good results.

Look, if you have one of the narrow band of kids who excels in that environment, great… but why should my tax dollars pay for it? Finding alternatives to main stream public school is fine with me, since I think we can all agree that dcps version is not working for most kids in the city, but an alternative that only works for a fraction of the kids who try it shouldn’t be the answer. Even if it was a niche learning environment but the vast majority of kids who try it succeed, I could be okay with it. But basis really feels like a way for parents who really want to send their kids to a rigorous private but want someone else to pay.

Publicly financed education is about getting the best results for the most number of kids, dcps doesn’t do that, but neither does basis.

But aren't many of the charters for a niche? Like, DC Prep is for low-income college bound kids who don't want to fall through the cracks at DCPS. KIPP is similar (but not as successful). DCI is for kids who want to focus on language, etc. The only charter I can think of that is really well-rounded is probably Latin, which i guess is why it's waitlist looks the way it does.

it seems like your issue is that you don't want tax dollars to go to charters at all (except Latin), and would rather they entirely fund neighborhood public schools that meet the needs of all kids. That's a different conversation.

Yes, my problem is not basis specific. I don’t want to fund any lousy charters. Maybe basis can be differentiated by saying “a fraction of students thrive” but that still doesn’t seem worth it.

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

LOL! THIS is hilarious. You don’t seem to realize that this thread was purposely started by OP who is dumping on all schools except Basis as if it’s the be all and end all for any high performing kid.

So yea, pot calling kettle much.

I don’t have any skin in this game. But I looked at Basis for my high performing kid and it was a hard no. Too many negatives weighing the positives. And there are many.

Ok. And I'm someone who spends a lot of time on this thread and was almost discouraged from trying BASIS for my kid by posters like you (maybe literally by you), until lottery time came and thank goodness I talked to real families, real BASIS teachers and spent time there with my husband and realized it was an excellent fit for our child (99th percentile PARCCs with a very good memory). It's not stressful for him, but it's appropriately challenging and I can see him getting smarter. It's also one of the only schools that is very low tech.

Now that we are there, I can't believe I almost didn't take this opportunity because of "secondhand information" people like you. There is no other middle school the city where he would be learning as much. Is it appropriate for every kid? Absolutely not. I can see a lot of his classmates are quite stressed. But it's filling a niche in the city for advanced kids. It just is.

It’s good for an advanced, fairly one-dimensional kid. The kid can’t care about there being strong arts, sports, clubs, a school newspaper, etc.

BASIS is only rigorous academics. The brain drain from BASIS because it manages to be only one thing is real.

Ok. It also has a debate team that has won nationals, and their science Olympiad team just took the regional award and will be competing in nationals this year.

Why would you try to discourage kids from this?

It has a dimension -- academics. Yes kids, even kids who felt moderately bright, might feel very very stressed there. But you need to start questioning whether or not your view of the school accurate.

You literally just listed more academics as proof that it’s not one dimensional. Just own it.

It is frustrating when your child loses friends and top kids in their class because they rightfully want more from school and BASIS stands in the way of it.

It’s not just that BASIS isn’t handing students what they want. It’s that they are actively standing in the way of making the school more well rounded. They do not allow a PTA to fundraise to support extracurriculars. They do not allow parents to raise money to support sports teams.

It’s great if you’re smart and all you want is academic challenge. But that’s not most kids. And the kids who are smart and care about more than that are not well served at BASIS.

Bingo! PP above with high performing kid that said it was a hard no.

I’ll also add that the academic challenge is a fairly rigid and narrow curriculum with not much elective offerings at all. Also trying to cram everything so that senior year kids don’t do much helps no one, especially in math. I say this with a kid testing in 98-99th math percentile

BTW, we were also very unimpressed with the HOS and leadership. Not much confidence from a talking salesmen with no substance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BasisDC seems like an excellent option for advanced kids in middle school on way to a more well-rounded experience in a private high school. And in practice, that seems like a common path.

I wish prospective families would ask specific questions about cost of sports and ECs, field trips, dances, contributions to teacher bonus pool. I think most parents assume no/little costs because of their own MS/HS experience and their elementary school experience. If BASIS sees that these things are important to prospective parents, they're more likely to hear it.

They are deaf when it comes to current families raising it. Because they don't backfill, they have no reason to listen to current parents. Prospective parents have the leverage. And if you're like us, you have an inkling but you don't realize that you are expected to pay for everything! $80 for a field trip to SkyZone

BASIS doesn't have ANY reason to listen to any parents, or teachers for that matter, current, former or future. Why listen as long as they have a long waiting list and a few seniors get into Ivies and/or MIT every school year? BASIS Arizona and the DC admins have what amounts to free reign to charge, and do, whatever they want as long as it's legal. As a BASIS parent, you quickly tire of their silly parent surveys, obviously designed not only with ignoring dissent in mind but constructive criticism, too.

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

Honestly, I know two different families whose kids (three in total) didn't make it through (one did) and they were so hurt by the whole thing... they went in as happy, curious pro-school kids, and came out anxious and hating school. For the kids who work, it works and they're happy, but statistically it doesn't work for most kids... and for taxpayer dollars to go and support that kind of record, just to line the pockets of investors... yeah it really pisses me off.

Does DCPS have problems? yeah! big time! is Basis the answer? only for a small number of those who try it!

Look at the test scores. BASIS *trounces* almost every non-private school in the city. You should be pissed off at these schools that churn out graduates who can't even read.

https://www.empowerk12.org/public-dashboards

Look at the number of kids who go into basis and look how many graduate! That fraction of kids who makes it through the whole school would almost certainly be high scoring at any high school.

I don’t like low scores anywhere but siphoning tax dollars into a for profit system that fails the vast majority of students isn’t the solution.

I’m not anti charter school - pitch me some good non dcps ideas and I’ll bite. Basis ain’t it tho.

Eh, sounds like you just hate charters.

Parents send their kids to BASIS because DCPS is synonymous with low standards. Challenging smart kids is literally the last thing DCPS is worried about.

If you're worried about tax dollars (and I'm pretty sure you actually aren't), you should ask yourself how taxpayers can fund DCPS so well that even elementary school gym teachers make six figure salaries and yet DCPS test scores are worse than Mississippi's. Taxpayers spend an awful lot of public schools in this city and get very little in return.

You don't have to be anti-charter to see that the BASIS business model isn't built to support the 'whole child' and to find that deeply problematic when there could be more funds available locally if they weren't going towards BASIS Ed and when the business model presupposes that parents contributed $300,000 through direct contributions or fees for lock-ins/dances in order to pay the teachers.

I don't know what this word salad is supposed to say but BASIS gets a lot fewer tax dollars than public schools and yet gets far better results.

A lot better results for a narrow number of kids - most kids who start there don’t get the good results.

Look, if you have one of the narrow band of kids who excels in that environment, great… but why should my tax dollars pay for it? Finding alternatives to main stream public school is fine with me, since I think we can all agree that dcps version is not working for most kids in the city, but an alternative that only works for a fraction of the kids who try it shouldn’t be the answer. Even if it was a niche learning environment but the vast majority of kids who try it succeed, I could be okay with it. But basis really feels like a way for parents who really want to send their kids to a rigorous private but want someone else to pay.

Publicly financed education is about getting the best results for the most number of kids, dcps doesn’t do that, but neither does basis.

But aren't many of the charters for a niche? Like, DC Prep is for low-income college bound kids who don't want to fall through the cracks at DCPS. KIPP is similar (but not as successful). DCI is for kids who want to focus on language, etc. The only charter I can think of that is really well-rounded is probably Latin, which i guess is why it's waitlist looks the way it does.

it seems like your issue is that you don't want tax dollars to go to charters at all (except Latin), and would rather they entirely fund neighborhood public schools that meet the needs of all kids. That's a different conversation.

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

Honestly, I know two different families whose kids (three in total) didn't make it through (one did) and they were so hurt by the whole thing... they went in as happy, curious pro-school kids, and came out anxious and hating school. For the kids who work, it works and they're happy, but statistically it doesn't work for most kids... and for taxpayer dollars to go and support that kind of record, just to line the pockets of investors... yeah it really pisses me off.

Does DCPS have problems? yeah! big time! is Basis the answer? only for a small number of those who try it!

Look at the test scores. BASIS *trounces* almost every non-private school in the city. You should be pissed off at these schools that churn out graduates who can't even read.

https://www.empowerk12.org/public-dashboards

Look at the number of kids who go into basis and look how many graduate! That fraction of kids who makes it through the whole school would almost certainly be high scoring at any high school.

I don’t like low scores anywhere but siphoning tax dollars into a for profit system that fails the vast majority of students isn’t the solution.

I’m not anti charter school - pitch me some good non dcps ideas and I’ll bite. Basis ain’t it tho.

Eh, sounds like you just hate charters.

Parents send their kids to BASIS because DCPS is synonymous with low standards. Challenging smart kids is literally the last thing DCPS is worried about.

If you're worried about tax dollars (and I'm pretty sure you actually aren't), you should ask yourself how taxpayers can fund DCPS so well that even elementary school gym teachers make six figure salaries and yet DCPS test scores are worse than Mississippi's. Taxpayers spend an awful lot of public schools in this city and get very little in return.

You don't have to be anti-charter to see that the BASIS business model isn't built to support the 'whole child' and to find that deeply problematic when there could be more funds available locally if they weren't going towards BASIS Ed and when the business model presupposes that parents contributed $300,000 through direct contributions or fees for lock-ins/dances in order to pay the teachers.

I don't know what this word salad is supposed to say but BASIS gets a lot fewer tax dollars than public schools and yet gets far better results.

A lot better results for a narrow number of kids - most kids who start there don’t get the good results.

Look, if you have one of the narrow band of kids who excels in that environment, great… but why should my tax dollars pay for it? Finding alternatives to main stream public school is fine with me, since I think we can all agree that dcps version is not working for most kids in the city, but an alternative that only works for a fraction of the kids who try it shouldn’t be the answer. Even if it was a niche learning environment but the vast majority of kids who try it succeed, I could be okay with it. But basis really feels like a way for parents who really want to send their kids to a rigorous private but want someone else to pay.

Publicly financed education is about getting the best results for the most number of kids, dcps doesn’t do that, but neither does basis.

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

Honestly, I know two different families whose kids (three in total) didn't make it through (one did) and they were so hurt by the whole thing... they went in as happy, curious pro-school kids, and came out anxious and hating school. For the kids who work, it works and they're happy, but statistically it doesn't work for most kids... and for taxpayer dollars to go and support that kind of record, just to line the pockets of investors... yeah it really pisses me off.

Does DCPS have problems? yeah! big time! is Basis the answer? only for a small number of those who try it!

Look at the test scores. BASIS *trounces* almost every non-private school in the city. You should be pissed off at these schools that churn out graduates who can't even read.

https://www.empowerk12.org/public-dashboards

Look at the number of kids who go into basis and look how many graduate! That fraction of kids who makes it through the whole school would almost certainly be high scoring at any high school.

I don’t like low scores anywhere but siphoning tax dollars into a for profit system that fails the vast majority of students isn’t the solution.

I’m not anti charter school - pitch me some good non dcps ideas and I’ll bite. Basis ain’t it tho.

Eh, sounds like you just hate charters.

Parents send their kids to BASIS because DCPS is synonymous with low standards. Challenging smart kids is literally the last thing DCPS is worried about.

If you're worried about tax dollars (and I'm pretty sure you actually aren't), you should ask yourself how taxpayers can fund DCPS so well that even elementary school gym teachers make six figure salaries and yet DCPS test scores are worse than Mississippi's. Taxpayers spend an awful lot of public schools in this city and get very little in return.

You don't have to be anti-charter to see that the BASIS business model isn't built to support the 'whole child' and to find that deeply problematic when there could be more funds available locally if they weren't going towards BASIS Ed and when the business model presupposes that parents contributed $300,000 through direct contributions or fees for lock-ins/dances in order to pay the teachers.

I don't know what this word salad is supposed to say but BASIS gets a lot fewer tax dollars than public schools and yet gets far better results.

Anonymous wrote:I have always found highly educated DC parents to be remarkably blasé about the lack of tracking and differentiation in DCPS. It is a pretty outrageous system that does not come close to meeting the needs of advanced students.

Our Capitol Hill MS has advanced math tracks, but puts all the kids together in every other subject. It is absurd, and it’s not good for the advanced learners to be in class with kids who can’t keep up, nor for kids who need a slower pace or more help to have to share teacher’s time with kids who are way ahead.

Unfortunately, we lost the lotto.

Tracking is a good thing, not a bad thing. It's like not the kids don't know who's smart. When I was their age, all the kids knew who was the smartest kid in class and who was the dumbest and who was pretty smart but would outwork anyone and who was smart but incredibly lazy and who was perfectly average. It's no secret to the students which kids belong where. It's the parent's feelings and political leanings that are the problem.

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

Honestly, I know two different families whose kids (three in total) didn't make it through (one did) and they were so hurt by the whole thing... they went in as happy, curious pro-school kids, and came out anxious and hating school. For the kids who work, it works and they're happy, but statistically it doesn't work for most kids... and for taxpayer dollars to go and support that kind of record, just to line the pockets of investors... yeah it really pisses me off.

Does DCPS have problems? yeah! big time! is Basis the answer? only for a small number of those who try it!

Look at the test scores. BASIS *trounces* almost every non-private school in the city. You should be pissed off at these schools that churn out graduates who can't even read.

https://www.empowerk12.org/public-dashboards

Look at the number of kids who go into basis and look how many graduate! That fraction of kids who makes it through the whole school would almost certainly be high scoring at any high school.

I don’t like low scores anywhere but siphoning tax dollars into a for profit system that fails the vast majority of students isn’t the solution.

I’m not anti charter school - pitch me some good non dcps ideas and I’ll bite. Basis ain’t it tho.

Eh, sounds like you just hate charters.

Parents send their kids to BASIS because DCPS is synonymous with low standards. Challenging smart kids is literally the last thing DCPS is worried about.

If you're worried about tax dollars (and I'm pretty sure you actually aren't), you should ask yourself how taxpayers can fund DCPS so well that even elementary school gym teachers make six figure salaries and yet DCPS test scores are worse than Mississippi's. Taxpayers spend an awful lot of public schools in this city and get very little in return.

You don't have to be anti-charter to see that the BASIS business model isn't built to support the 'whole child' and to find that deeply problematic when there could be more funds available locally if they weren't going towards BASIS Ed and when the business model presupposes that parents contributed $300,000 through direct contributions or fees for lock-ins/dances in order to pay the teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BasisDC seems like an excellent option for advanced kids in middle school on way to a more well-rounded experience in a private high school. And in practice, that seems like a common path.

I wish prospective families would ask specific questions about cost of sports and ECs, field trips, dances, contributions to teacher bonus pool. I think most parents assume no/little costs because of their own MS/HS experience and their elementary school experience. If BASIS sees that these things are important to prospective parents, they're more likely to hear it.

They are deaf when it comes to current families raising it. Because they don't backfill, they have no reason to listen to current parents. Prospective parents have the leverage. And if you're like us, you have an inkling but you don't realize that you are expected to pay for everything! $80 for a field trip to SkyZone

Prospective parents don't have leverage because of precisely the issue OP is identifying -- prospective families are desperate for an academically rigorous MS option, and there will always be enough families willing to accept BASIS's limitations in other areas in order to get a spot there. They had 560 applications for 150 seats this year (adding regular and EA lottery results), and that doesn't even include the many families who looked at BASIS and opted out of putting it on the their lottery list precisely because they want a more well-rounded experience for their kid, which is the population of prospective parents most likely to band together and demand something more. Those families instead lotteries for Latin, decided to make do with their DCPS options, or went private. Which is what BASIS wanted them to do.

BTW, a field trip to SkyZone is a weird thing to cite as something you are "expected to pay for." Of course you have to pay for that! When people say they want a more well-rounded program, they aren't talking about field trips to SkyZone. They are talking about strong foreign language programs, maybe with travel exchanges and other immersion opportunities. A strong music program with options for performance in orchestra, ensembles, and marching band. After school athletics supported by school booster programs and access to facilities. Theater and art programs that combine elective classes with after school opportunities for more enrichments and advancement. And so on. Who cares about SkyZone? I want my kid to be able to take AP Calc and be on a school swim team and be able to take jazz ensemble as a for-credit class and have the chance to do a two week trip in Spain with her AP Spanish class.

Which is why we are leaving DC because that doesn't exist here unless you go private and we can't afford the private schools that offer what we want.

I have always found highly educated DC parents to be remarkably blasé about the lack of tracking and differentiation in DCPS. It is a pretty outrageous system that does not come close to meeting the needs of advanced students.

Our Capitol Hill MS has advanced math tracks, but puts all the kids together in every other subject. It is absurd, and it’s not good for the advanced learners to be in class with kids who can’t keep up, nor for kids who need a slower pace or more help to have to share teacher’s time with kids who are way ahead.

Unfortunately, we lost the lotto.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

Honestly, I know two different families whose kids (three in total) didn't make it through (one did) and they were so hurt by the whole thing... they went in as happy, curious pro-school kids, and came out anxious and hating school. For the kids who work, it works and they're happy, but statistically it doesn't work for most kids... and for taxpayer dollars to go and support that kind of record, just to line the pockets of investors... yeah it really pisses me off.

Does DCPS have problems? yeah! big time! is Basis the answer? only for a small number of those who try it!

Look at the test scores. BASIS *trounces* almost every non-private school in the city. You should be pissed off at these schools that churn out graduates who can't even read.

https://www.empowerk12.org/public-dashboards

Look at the number of kids who go into basis and look how many graduate! That fraction of kids who makes it through the whole school would almost certainly be high scoring at any high school.

I don’t like low scores anywhere but siphoning tax dollars into a for profit system that fails the vast majority of students isn’t the solution.

I’m not anti charter school - pitch me some good non dcps ideas and I’ll bite. Basis ain’t it tho.

Eh, sounds like you just hate charters.

Parents send their kids to BASIS because DCPS is synonymous with low standards. Challenging smart kids is literally the last thing DCPS is worried about.

If you're worried about tax dollars (and I'm pretty sure you actually aren't), you should ask yourself how taxpayers can fund DCPS so well that even elementary school gym teachers make six figure salaries and yet DCPS test scores are worse than Mississippi's. Taxpayers spend an awful lot of public schools in this city and get very little in return.

Anonymous wrote:BasisDC seems like an excellent option for advanced kids in middle school on way to a more well-rounded experience in a private high school. And in practice, that seems like a common path.

Yes. It's an excellent option for the 90ish kids who make it to the end of middle school. Half of those kids, often those who do want a more well-rounded experience, then go off to private school or Walls or JR.

And there there are those kids who actually don't mind the limitations of what will become a very small school. for the 40-60 who choose to remain for high school, they often get a lighter, happier, still rigorous but more creative academic experience than they had in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:BasisDC seems like an excellent option for advanced kids in middle school on way to a more well-rounded experience in a private high school. And in practice, that seems like a common path.

I wish prospective families would ask specific questions about cost of sports and ECs, field trips, dances, contributions to teacher bonus pool. I think most parents assume no/little costs because of their own MS/HS experience and their elementary school experience. If BASIS sees that these things are important to prospective parents, they're more likely to hear it.

They are deaf when it comes to current families raising it. Because they don't backfill, they have no reason to listen to current parents. Prospective parents have the leverage. And if you're like us, you have an inkling but you don't realize that you are expected to pay for everything! $80 for a field trip to SkyZone

BasisDC seems like an excellent option for advanced kids in middle school on way to a more well-rounded experience in a private high school. And in practice, that seems like a common path.

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Anonymous wrote:It's always so interesting how these BASIS threads go. Every thread brings out a cohort of posters who cannot stop themselves from maligning the school. Some people have legit complaints based on actual experiences and facts (and you can tell who they are) but many have no idea what they're talking about and simply accuse others of being boosters when they get called out. Of all the problems this city has with education, it's unbelievable how much energy people seem to spend dumping on this school.

LOL! THIS is hilarious. You don’t seem to realize that this thread was purposely started by OP who is dumping on all schools except Basis as if it’s the be all and end all for any high performing kid.

So yea, pot calling kettle much.

I don’t have any skin in this game. But I looked at Basis for my high performing kid and it was a hard no. Too many negatives weighing the positives. And there are many.

Ok. And I'm someone who spends a lot of time on this thread and was almost discouraged from trying BASIS for my kid by posters like you (maybe literally by you), until lottery time came and thank goodness I talked to real families, real BASIS teachers and spent time there with my husband and realized it was an excellent fit for our child (99th percentile PARCCs with a very good memory). It's not stressful for him, but it's appropriately challenging and I can see him getting smarter. It's also one of the only schools that is very low tech.

Now that we are there, I can't believe I almost didn't take this opportunity because of "secondhand information" people like you. There is no other middle school the city where he would be learning as much. Is it appropriate for every kid? Absolutely not. I can see a lot of his classmates are quite stressed. But it's filling a niche in the city for advanced kids. It just is.

It’s good for an advanced, fairly one-dimensional kid. The kid can’t care about there being strong arts, sports, clubs, a school newspaper, etc.

BASIS is only rigorous academics. The brain drain from BASIS because it manages to be only one thing is real.

Ok. It also has a debate team that has won nationals, and their science Olympiad team just took the regional award and will be competing in nationals this year.

Why would you try to discourage kids from this?

It has a dimension -- academics. Yes kids, even kids who felt moderately bright, might feel very very stressed there. But you need to start questioning whether or not your view of the school accurate.

You literally just listed more academics as proof that it’s not one dimensional. Just own it.

It is frustrating when your child loses friends and top kids in their class because they rightfully want more from school and BASIS stands in the way of it.

It’s not just that BASIS isn’t handing students what they want. It’s that they are actively standing in the way of making the school more well rounded. They do not allow a PTA to fundraise to support extracurriculars. They do not allow parents to raise money to support sports teams.

It’s great if you’re smart and all you want is academic challenge. But that’s not most kids. And the kids who are smart and care about more than that are not well served at BASIS.

That's exactly the point of this thread. If there was another public middle school in DC where my kid could learn that much and compete on a highly competent science Olympiad and debate team, I would send them there in a second, because we loved our DCPS elementary. But there isn't. And that's why we are at BASIS, for all its flaws. I'm never going to make a school decision based around sports or extracurriculars.