<p>My daughter received admission in Basis SV. This is the one of the newest school in Basis school chain. This is a private school and the tuition is comparable to regional Catholic schools. I see a thread comparing basis to other public schools. I wanted to see if anyone did any research on how Basis schools compare to regional catholic schools in all fields Academic, sports, leadership, music, etc ?
I only have few more days to accept or reject my approval.</p>
<p>Do you believe in Jesus or Math?</p>
<p>Sorry, couldn’t resist.</p>
<p>Is this it: <a href=“http://www.basisindependentsiliconvalley.com/”>http://www.basisindependentsiliconvalley.com/</a></p>
<p>Brand new private school in San Jose?</p>
<p>My gut reaction is that you can’t decide without visiting the school(s) and talking with some parents, but Catholic schools tend to have good communication with parents and be welcoming - but their sports and academic goals and opportunities for students varies widely so can’t really generalize. </p>
<p>And there are plenty of cities where the top HS Math programs are at a Catholic school so you can have both :)</p>
<p>@Lizardly: The answer to that question involves two fish and five loaves of bread, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>There was a long thread about BASIS schools not that long ago: <a href=“BASIS Silicon Valley: should I send my son to this private school? - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1638740-basis-silicon-valley-should-i-send-my-son-to-this-private-school-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Note that the least advanced math sequence offered at BASIS is two grade levels ahead of the normal sequence in the US (algebra 1 in 7th grade, algebra 2 in 9th grade, etc.). So the school is only suitable for students who are very good at math.</p>
<p>Catholic schools are not all the same in terms of academic reputation and price.</p>
<p>I’m considering Basis and Catholic School only because they offer advance Math courses. My daughter completed Algebra II in summer and will be starting 8th grade in fall. She can also take advanced high school Math course in the Catholic middle school as it’s linked to a Catholic high school. </p>
<p>Talking about advance Math, Basis does Pre-Calc after Algebra II vs Catholic school does Trigonometry. Basis only has name of the course on website not any syllabus. Is Trigonometry part of another course in Basis ? </p>
<p>Which Science curriculum does Basis follows ? Do they do advance science courses in 8th grade ? </p>
<p>Do Basis have orchestra ? They promise lot of things but I wanted to hear from parents in other Basis location. </p>
<p>We aren’t religious, so I was leaning towards Basis SV until I saw that they have one year contract. Catholic School didn’t ask me to sign any contract. I’m feeling uncomfortable to think we’ll have to pay fees for a year if we don’t like their quality. </p>
<p>Thank you all for responding. I went through the other thread but it didn’t answer my concerns. </p>
<p>Trigonometry is usually part of a year long precalculus course. If you want more information, ask the school itself.</p>
<p>Curriculum information for the BASIS school is on its web site: <a href=“http://www.basisindependentsiliconvalley.com/curriculum”>http://www.basisindependentsiliconvalley.com/curriculum</a></p>
<p>My dh has worked for Basis for a while (charter, not private - the private thing is new, and most of the other Basis programs are free).</p>
<p>For advanced students, all classes are completed by the end of junior year. They triple up on science in the earlier grades, and the math sequence is advanced.</p>
<p>That said, there is a transition period in New schools, so the curriculum is deliberately slowed down at newly opened campuses. </p>
<p>At the charter schools, they have gradually introduced extracurriculars. Everything (and I mean everything) costs extra. (The schools were founded by economists, after all.) I’d you want a balanced education, Basis may not be your school. They are strictly academic focus, and extracurricular are extra. They are also dependent on teacher interest.</p>
<p>There are some great people who work for Basis, and they do have “smart” teachers, but intelligence is prized over teaching ability. (Many are not teachers at all, but rather “subject experts”. This can be either good or bad, depending on the individual and your philosophy.)</p>
<p>And speaking of individual philosophy, if all you want is the advanced math and would just hold your nose about the Catholic aspects of a school, choose Basis. Our local Catholic high school is the only non-evangelical alternative to the public schools, and it’s full of kids whose parents like the snob appeal of a private school - especially as we have an excellent academic public high school and a county-wide open transfer policy - but do nothing but whine when their children have to have anything to do with Catholicism, such as attend Mass or take religion classes (which have been watered down and replaced by non-denominational “theology” classes to accommodate them.) My own (Catholic) children were unfortunately priced out of it but even if we could have afforded it, we wouldn’t have gotten what we were paying for. </p>
<p>Check with your Basis school about orchestra. My understanding is these schools are very lean on the arts. But that may not be universal to all basis schools.</p>
<p>I’d rethink this if I were you. “I’m considering Basis and Catholic School only because they offer advance Math courses. My daughter completed Algebra II in summer and will be starting 8th grade in fall.” So, for one single year of one math class, you are going to pull your daughter our of her current school, away from her friends, and pay how much?? You’d put her in a school you don’t otherwise like–only because of the math–where she will be required to take religion classes that (I assume since you don’t list this as a positive) don’t conform to your family’s beliefs? </p>
<p>Will her current public(?) school allow her to take the class at the high school? If not, why not just enroll online or hire a tutor for this one class this one year? It would be way less expensive and disruptive to her overall education.</p>
<p>I live in San Jose and am very familiar with the Catholic high schools. I do know that at our S’s school students are able to take classes at Santa Clara University if they are that advanced in Math. They have outstanding robotics, science clubs and activities that are very well established. Remember that all of the Catholic schools here have been around for a long time (many since the 1800’s) and have long and well-respected reputations with colleges around the country. I would not trade my S’s experience at his Catholic prep. school for any new start-up school, despite it’s reputation.</p>
<p>Some public schools in the region have middle-college programs where high school students take a substantial part of their schedules at a local community college, to allow them to take more advanced and varied course work than would be available at a high school (e.g. if they used up all of the offerings in a subject at the high school).</p>
<p>There are also other non-Catholic (including non-religious) private schools in the area. Like Catholic schools, some are academically elite, while others are academically ordinary. But many of them (including some of the academically elite ones) do have some semblance of “normal high school extracurricular activities”.</p>
<p>I’m told that most of their teachers are coming from other location(AZ) and are experienced. Is the teacher turnover ratio high ?
I would also like to know their teacher/student ration ?</p>
<p>@Sakacar3, I know what you mean. Seems all Basis teachers hold either Masters or PhD degree in their field. Do you’ve any idea about their turnover ratio ? </p>
<p>@mathyone, the benefit of Catholic/Basis School is they’ve Middle and High in the same campus so your kid can take advance classes. Public school is in different campuses. </p>
<p>Main reason I want to change school is: last year they introduced common core curriculum. Some teachers are still teaching their old syllabus which I think it’s good but others have no idea what they are doing. School district didn’t buy books for new curriculum as they think price of books is more expensive than wasting 1 year of several thousands of kids. They are pushing common core without proper training/books and have the attitude “learn while you teach” which I know isn’t working. May be this year it will be different or may be not. </p>
<p>I’d to enrol my D outside the school in various advanced courses last year. If you consider enrolling in advance program outside the school and commuting around, it doesn’t make any economic sense in comparison to Catholic middle school. Basis high school and Catholic high school are similarly priced but Catholic middle school is less than 1/2 of Basis middle school. </p>
<p>@FabulousWu, I’ve not yet ruled out the Catholic School option. Catholic Schools seems quite well rounded. </p>
<p>@ucbalumnus, they say they are STEM focused school but don’t list individual departments program. I’ve asked the director this question and he told that they have their own curriculum which they wouldn’t list on their web-site. I came to know they use Saxon Math just reading through different forums.<br>
I’m told they’ll have Physics, Chemistry and Biology, 3 different science courses in 8th grade. I can find if the courses are advanced if I look at book or know what they will cover in these courses. </p>
<p>@Bestfriendsgirl, Catholic school has 90+% of Catholic students in Elem/middle school and 75+% in high school. I wonder, how less than 10-25% others can create unfortunate situation ?
I feel, it’s fine to learn about Christianity than some non-preferable religion which kids have to learn in 7th grade in social studies. In our area, Catholic high schools are becoming more liberal because they want to attract others. Attending mass once/week is part of the program in middle school. </p>