<p>@rsatcc, I don’t know where you live, but in our area the Catholic high school is only 30 percent Catholic. The Catholic elem/middle my sons attended was 55 percent Catholic, the highest percentage of any Catholic school in our area, but this five years ago. And yes, it is fine to learn about Christianity in seventh grade social studies class. But Catholic school is by, for and about Catholics, even though many of us are priced out of our own schools nowadays. They exist to pass our beliefs, traditions and customs on to the next generation, and that includes regular Mass attendance and Catholic-centered religion class. My sons’ school welcomes children of all backgrounds. Some were there for the religious atmosphere, even though it wasn’t their specific faith. Some were there for the small classes, academics and discipline. And some were there because it was the “in” thing among their parents’ crowd at the local country club. But they were all expected to do everything the Catholic children were and parents who complained about it were set straight. Some of them were quite disrespectful. I was appalled when one of the parents of S2’s classmate sat in a pew drinking coffee and reading the newspaper during Mass one day when their class was leading it.The Catholic church makes no secret of its beliefs and opinions. If you can’t go along with that, don’t send your child to Catholic school. </p>
<p>"Main reason I want to change school is: last year they introduced common core curriculum. " In your original post you said it was to get her into a higher level math class. </p>
<p>How much impact has common core actually had at the high school she would attend? Many high school classes are very standard in their content and for the honor students teachers are probably more concerned with preparing them for AP work than any silly standardized tests of minimum competency which they are all going to pass anyway.
In my experience anyhow, once my kids got into real honors classes, the standardized tests just weren’t a big deal in the classroom. It’s when the teachers have kids who are at risk of failing that a lot of teach to the test and drill on the test is going to be stressed.</p>
<p>Have you even talked to the parents of the kids who just completed 8th and 9th grade to see what they think about the transition to common core?</p>
<p>You haven’t said anything about what your daughter wants to do.</p>
<p>How do you feel your family will fit in with a Catholic community? It’s not just a class. It’s values and beliefs, and if your child and your family do not share them, it may be difficult to fit in.</p>
<p>With regard to the three different science classes in 8th grade, that sounds like general science to me. They probably spend one trimester on each field. Will the kids in her science class already have completed algebra1? There really isn’t that far you can get in physics if you don’t know even algebra1. What about the high school? Do you have the school data sheet which shows tests scores, college acceptances, AP offerings, etc? How does it compare to her current school? Many of the public schools in silicon valley are some of the best in the country and it’s hard for me to understand why someone would pay a fortune to bypass them. </p>
<p>One more thought. You said that at the Catholic school, your daughter could attend math class in the high school. Are the middle and high school schedules aligned such that this will be possible or is this going to mean that she misses a lot of instructional time in her middle school classes? Is the transition time between classes sufficient for her to go to another school (building?) and not always be late? What about the next year–will being ahead in math cause all kinds of scheduling conflicts throughout high school? If this is really do-able, they must have students doing this from time to time, have they, and how did it work out for them?</p>
<p>mathyone, our school district is “considered” good. They had differentiated instruction for GATE kids and she was in advance classes until last year. Math and reading materials, she was given last year seems less than what she used to get in 5th grade. She attends some courses with other gifted kids who are home schooled & moving fast, so she asked me many times to home school. This combination of events is making me to look at other options. </p>
<p>I’ve some non-Catholic friends in Catholic high(parents) and they seems happy. Middle school church attendance once/week is mandatory but high school it’s not required. Very few middle school students are attending high school math, but other subjects are not accelerated. </p>
<p>Basis seems to be offering accelerated courses for all subject not just math. it’s just one building. They will be located in old IBM building and it’s still under construction. If they finish their remodelling, it’s will be easier for me to decide. </p>
<p>“Many high school classes are very standard in their content and for the honor students teachers are probably more concerned with preparing them for AP work than any silly standardized tests of minimum competency which they are all going to pass anyway.”
@mathyone, isn’t it difficult for Freshmen or even Juniors to get into AP courses in public H ?</p>
<p>@Bestfriendsgirl, if you think parents were behaving inappropriately, you should ask them to change their behaviour/leave or you should take it with school authority. You sound like a coward to me, no doubt you are frustrated. </p>
<p>S1 applied to some elite prep schools when he was in 8th grade. One of them was a Catholic school. I asked about some of the Catholic nature and was told ‘We are a Catholic school, not a school for Catholics’. Not really sure how that makes sense to my Catholic sensibilities, but c’est la vie. (we chose the more honest public school that does not even pretend to be Catholic)</p>
<p>In the elementary system, your place on the waiting list goes parishioners 1st, other Catholics 2nd, siblings, and then everyone else. So in those cases, it is harder to get a Catholic school full of non-Catholics. Of course, in many places money drives the bus and Catholic families get priced out of their own schools. I think that speaks to poor leadership at the parish/diocese level, but that is a whole different thread.</p>
<p>To the OP, it sounds to me like you have already made up your mind that your child should change schools because of her superlative performance in math. I haven’t seen any compelling information about her other courses.</p>
<p>If math is the only reason you are making the school change, I would strongly urge you to consider your WHOLE child before making this school change.</p>
<p>And you are basing your decision on the remodel of the Basis school building? Really? </p>
<p>What concerns me here is mostly that you don’t seem to know much about any of the options yet. "isn’t it difficult for Freshmen or even Juniors to get into AP courses in public H ? " That depends on the school and is something you should know the answer to. Talk to parents of students who are comparable to your own child at the schools you are considering and see what they say. Also get the basic information such as AP course availability, college admissions, test scores, etc. from counselors. Have you asked the public school about taking a class at the high school? How far away is it? Depending how far away the school is and how well the schedules are aligned, this may or may not work out. Our middle school routinely buses a few kids to the high school every year. What did the counselor suggest? What have other kids like her done in the past? </p>
<p>To answer your question, my just-graduated child took 2 APs freshman year (including calculus AB), 2 APs sophomore year, and most of her courses in junior and senior year were either AP or post-AP work. She was never told that she could not enroll in an AP class (even ones that technically were for older students, so you do need to ask, not just assume that a recommended grade level is an ironclad rule). But some schools do have restrictive policies. </p>
<p>
Thank you, @Mathyone. Catholic school (and church) is a community and if one wants one’s child to share in the benefits, I feel they should at least be willing to respect and tolerate the beliefs.</p>
<p>Regarding the Saxon math, I don’t feel it’s well-designed for strong math students, and I dislike it. The whole premise of the program appears to be that kids cannot remember anything and need constant, and I mean constant, review. It may work well for some kids, especially those who dislike math and aren’t willing to put much mental effort into it, but it’s not a good teaching method for kids who prefer to focus deeply on what they are learning, really master it, and be bored and annoyed by the distraction of having to do repetitious problems about topics they already learned when they are trying to focus on mastering the next thing. I can’t speak to any precalculus book they might have, but this was my observation at lower levels of Saxon math. </p>
<p>@thumper1, I’m not thinking just about Math. If it was just one subject you can always do after school course to supplement. </p>
<p>Our elementary school was excellent and they’d differentiated instruction and many after school activities(if you pay for it). There is limited after school activities in middle S. It was more easier to approach teachers in elementary but in middle they’ve “I don’t care” kind of attitude. The parent-teacher conference is also organized only for kids who aren’t doing well. Some teachers don’t respond back if you email or call them. When I wanted to meet one teacher, she didn’t respond but later she lied that she responded.</p>
<p>Common core require teachers to use/teach technology in some classes. The teacher who is teaching it knows nothing and she is learning while teaching. Public schools will rather move tenured teachers to teach fields they don’t know than hiring new teacher as they can’t fire them. May be about 20% of teachers are dedicated but rest are just counting days until retirement and collecting paycheck. </p>
<p>I didn’t want to start a thread with bashing public school, so I didn’t complain. My observation is public schools aren’t preparing kids for STEM fields. Kids can’t progress without after school tutoring or partial home schooling. </p>
<p>Oh poppycock. My DD has two degrees…bioengineering and biology. And she graduated from a rural public high school.</p>
<p>Well, if your daughter wants to take a very tough schedule and be in a super-competitive environment, then Basis might be a good choice for her. As far as the actual education they are delivering, I didn’t find their AP scores that impressive, especially considering the level of student self-selection and attrition and the emphasis placed by the school upon AP classes.</p>
<p>I also think it’s pretty commonly true that middle schools are the weak link. For reasons I don’t really understand, expectations can be quite low. That’s why I think you should investigate what is happening at the high school she is headed to. If you don’t like that either, then you will feel more confident about making a move. But if it’s only a matter of 8th grade, it may be a lot less disruptive to keep your daughter in her current program and just find another math option.</p>
<p>Another thing you might like to learn is the number of National merit semifinalists from each school. Because they serve everyone, it’s likely the public school has the lowest average test scores, but the kids getting the lower scores may never be in the same academic classes as your child, so what may be more relevant is the size of the academically high-achieving group. It may be harder to get the info, but I’d try to find out about student achievement in other areas as well–particularly anything your child expects to be involved in. For example, does the school have an active math club that participates in competitions and does well? Or is that something no one wants to participate in? </p>
<p>I don’t want my daughter to be in super competitive environment but in some place which foster intellectual curiosity. Small class size, Arts, Music, developmental sports, etc will be plus.
I’m not sure how many parents trust public education for all their need. Many sign up for various prep and tutoring courses. Students teacher ratio is 1:30(+) in middle. Number of counselor 1:900(+) kids. Probably, this will be worse in high. </p>
<p>My public H also sends some kids to prestigious U but one parent told me her daughter wasn’t completely prepared. If your kids have ability to do it now, why make them catch up latter ?</p>
<p>Our school allocate ZERO $ for GATE program. I was part of H&S club and I know, school spends lot more for competitive sports than for competitive math or science. On the other hand their is no developmental sports for kids. If your kid can run faster, I don’t see them telling them to slow down or run at average speed. Contrary, they set their bar lower so everyone can proceed at average speed academically. </p>
<p>I just ruled my public school out as it’s quite opposite of what I’m looking for. Majority Private schools are still providing non-competitive sports and competitive academic education for Middle school students. </p>
<p>I have been reading this and other BASIS strings for a couple of months, and for the most part, find them amusing. Amusing in the fact that some of the comments are in no way representative of what actually goes on at a BASIS school. As a parent of 3 kids (triplets) who attend BASIS Scottsdale, I am probably biased. My kids have attended BASIS since they were in 5th grade and they are entering their senior year this fall. </p>
<p>I will be the first to say BASIS is not for every student. But they do NOT cherry pick the best kids to attend their schools. The student has to want to be there and be willing to put in the effort. I worried that one or more of my kids would not be able to keep up - for sure. But they wanted to be there. In their experience, the teachers are very engaging with the students and this keeps the students interested. The teachers have a vested interest in the students and want them to succeed. </p>
<p>A typical High School math curriculum will include Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and then a choice of Linear Algebra, Category Matching or Multivariate Calculus.</p>
<p>Science(s) can take different tracks. All students take Honors classes of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. And Of those 3, the student also takes AP levels of 2 of the 3 sciences. One of my kids took LEAP (Advanced) Chemistry in 8th grade, and took AP Chem in 9th grade. </p>
<p>By the end of 11th grade, all students have enough credits to graduate. </p>
<p>In 12th grade, all students are enrolled in a College Counseling class, taught by a College Counselor. This is unique in that the college counselor gets to know the student and can therefore write a personal letter of recommendation. The purpose of this class is to prepare and engage the student in the college application process. Aside from this class, students take mostly Capstone and AP classes. Classes end in February and the student then has the option to participate in a Senior Research Project. The SRP enables the student to find a project to pursue additional knowledge in a field of interest.</p>
<p>With regards to the statements that there are many of hours of homework a night. From my personal experience in keeping a close eye on my kids over the years, I would say that I haven’t seen that to be the case every single night. There are definitely times when the load is heavy - end of trimester, AP time, etc. </p>
<p>I would say it Scottsdale, the music program is pretty robust. And there are many academic clubs that compete regionally and nationally. There are some sports teams, but definitely nothing like you would find at a large public or private school. That isn’t the schools focus.</p>
<p>All this being said - I just wanted to set the record straight on some myths about BASIS. I am not trying to convince anyone that they should go to BASIS at all - perspective parents/students really should take the tours and look at the curriculum.</p>
<p>I know the Head of Schools at the SV school, and she is a wonderful administrator as well as teacher.</p>
<p>You are still apparently making assumptions rather than finding out facts. For instance, you say “Students teacher ratio is 1:30(+) in middle. Number of counselor 1:900(+) kids. Probably, this will be worse in high.” Probably? Did you find class sizes in the sort of classes your daughter would be taking? It sounds like you are making a lot of assumptions and have very few facts. </p>
<p>Since the main emphasis at BASIS is on preparing for AP exams, you should ask how do the AP scores for your high school compare with those at BASIS? And at the Catholic school? </p>
<p>Do these places even care about English, languages, and social studies, or are those only refuges for the intellectually weak?</p>