BASIS Silicon Valley: should I send my son to this private school?

Parents Forum
121

<p>First post here at CC. S is junior in HS so appreciate the many points of view represented on this site. I would like to share our experience at BASIS Scottsdale. My S is very smart and motivated, but he is also a sports fanatic with a great sense of humor. He attended BASIS for 5-8th grade and liked it despite the fact that each year students (some of them his friends) would leave. By 8th grade there were days when he would have 5-6 hours of homework, but this was not the norm. I would say in 8th grade 2-3 hours is the norm.</p>

<p>We spent many hours trying to decide where to send him to high school. The teachers at BASIS really put pressure on him to stay there. He was one of the few sporty Caucasians left in his class. He decided to go to an excellent private prep school. The teachers he asked to write letters of recommendation for him gave him a hard time, but they did eventually write them. The Saxon math system they use prior to calculus will put your child at a disadvantage when taking math placement tests at another school. Saxon simply does not cover geometry and trigonometry adequately. I had been told this, so I had my son go through geo & trig texts before his placement tests. Also, my son was placed in all upper-level classes with Juniors and Seniors which made him feel a little weird.</p>

<p>My son has been a straight A student and will graduate with 11 AP classes. He also has scored extremely high on his SATs and ACT test. He said that the grammar he was taught at BASIS came in handy. My son has LOVED his traditional HS experience including football games, dances, being a member of a sports team, and all the extracurricular clubs and organizations. He is still good friends with students at BASIS & they have gone with him to some of his school events. He recently attended a birthday party for one of his BASIS friends and he came home and told me that the kids are happy that they received a great education but said they had absolutely no fun. Forgive me, but I think having a little fun as a teenager is not such a bad thing.</p>

<p>Parents who send their children to BASIS thinking the school will make them smart are wrong. The child must be extremely bright to succeed there. Also, any electives are very limited. In 8th grade my son was one of three students to choose gym as an elective. He did not have any art or music classes. Even though it is public charter school, every week I was buying something like books, supplies, and lunches.</p>

<p>I liked the fact that at BASIS he was surrounded by incredibly motivated students. In the lower grades, when a teacher asks a question, every hand shoots up. Also, recognition must be earned by being the best. There are no participation trophies at BASIS. They also have a REAL zero tolerance policy about bullying. No matter how quirky your child is, he or she will not be harassed. On the down side, the majority of students and parents are waaaay too intense. It is a fabulous school for brainiacs who want to join quiz bowl and the chess team as their extracurriculars.</p>

122

<p>Thanks for the info. My kids are too old for BASIS, but I am curious since the program is moving in here. </p>

<p>Those of you in AZ, what is the highest level of math offered? Is it offered on the high school campus? By a live teacher or online? I like the idea of MVC or some higher math being offered to high school kids, but I wonder if the teachers are out there to staff those classes. </p>

<p>I like the capstone project idea. Has the idea been executed well? And I agree it is not all about AP. A well executed capstone project could be much more valuable. </p>

<p>Having said all that, my kids were able to take 11 plus APs at their big, pretty good but not great public high school. Many of those classes were in the sciences. There is a capstone project opportunity here as well. Our high school is not the only one that offers these programs in our area. I do wish there had been the opportunity to take higher levels of math than BC Calculus, however. </p>

123

<p>@lizardly–In response to your question about math: my 8th grade daughter is taking AP Calculus AB this year, AP Calculus BC next year. As a 10th grader, she can take AP Statistics, or she can take a different Post-AP math course: Finite mathematics, linear algebra, complex analysis, category theory, etc. All of these classes are taught at the school, on the same campus as everyone else, by teachers with either an MA in Math (x2) or a PhD in geophysics. There is no such thing as online teaching at BASIS or kids being shipped to a different location to learn. It is all done right there.</p>

124

<p>@Sunny77–BASIS is not Brophy, PCDS, or any of the other “excellent private prep schools” in Phoenix. That is kind of the point: kids can get a world class education at BASIS for free. To suggest that the 500 bucks or so you spent on school supplies and books approaches the 25 grand a year (plus the amounts that you are harangued into donating for “capital projects”) is silly. </p>

<p>BASIS is a charter. It does not charge tuition of any kind. As a charter, it does not get taxpayer funded physical plants like traditional district schools, and they don’t get billionaire alumni building new gyms like “excellent private prep schools.” Instead, they do everything they are doing in a converted medical office building. Also, it may be that your son did not want to take art or music, but to say he “did not have many” is disingenuous. None of the district schools offer chorus, band, strings, piano, 2 dimensional art studio, 3 dimensional art studio, and drama to students as 5 day per week electives, but BASIS does. </p>

<p>(As a side note, those “excellent private prep schools” are not required to disclose their test scores, while BASIS is. I wonder why those “excellent private prep schools” don’t advertise the fact that they had their 11th graders score an average of over 2150 on the SAT–like BASIS had last year?)</p>

<p>BASIS is definitely not a haven for team sports. There is no denying that. So, if your kid needs to be a football/baseball/softball star, then BASIS is not the place for him/her.</p>

125

<p>

</p>

<p>Better for the student to take post-AP math at a local college in order to avoid having transfer credit and placement issues when the student eventually attends college full time.</p>

126

<p>Interesting point. Are there placement tests that cover post BC Calculus? Kids here could take more advanced math at local colleges and CCs I suppose, but no one does it. I don’t know if it is geography, bureaucracy, or just a lack of imagination. </p>

127

<p>Lizardly, it must be geography. My son and his friend (1 class younger) took their math at local U. Son also took Latin, some science, & econ 2 at there.I know there were others who dual-enrolled.</p>

128

<p>My oldest, in ninth grade, is taking Calc BC. He was just told that he would have to take AP Statistics next year rather than Differential Equations; he is underwhelmed to say the least. I know that they will only form a class if there are 5 interested students but I wonder if it has something to do with the school being judged by how many AP’s they score highly on. I know that there are two other ninth graders in his Calc class.</p>

129

<p>Another Az Anecdote. I am not a BASIS parent but did explore it for my highly gifted middle-schooler who does well in math but really excells in more verbal/spacial. In reaching out to an Asian mom friend, very educated, very bright, very diligent (you wonder when she sleeps type) with two amazing and talented kids of the same ilk she said (1) the kids need not be “gifted” to get in but in the end those who stay essentially are, (2) they work their asses off, and (3) it was even “too tiger mom” for her. Scared me as I need Khan Academy to help with her math now. (smile)</p>

130

<p>I agree that some families can be a bit intense. I can’t speak to the gifted part because that is so hard to qualify but I will say that it is the very motivated that end up staying. What is interesting is that these students would be that motivated in ANY school. It just appears that for some they are more comfortable at BASIS. Others take that motivation to a District school or one of the excellent private schools here in AZ and do just as well. We have a choice and for that I am thankful.</p>

131

<p>

</p>

<p>Some colleges (or divisions or departments within colleges) do placement by exam or other means when the student does not have college or AP credit. However, these policies vary, and are not as reliable as having actual college credit (at least for fairly standard math courses like sophomore level multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations). The most lenient departments for advanced placement with no college or AP credit would be foreign language departments, who presumably encounter plenty of native or heritage speakers.</p>

<p>In terms of whether high school students can easily take courses at local colleges, there could be both geographical/commuting and administrative limits (at the high school and/or college), so some high school students can much more easily use this option than others.</p>

132

<p>I would not send my child here. 1. It’s too expensive 2. It has way too much homework 3. It does not offer anything that a good public school does not offer. Even if the public school does not offer enough AP courses,then your application to college does not get hurt 4. It does not even rank in the top 25 schools in the nation(top SAT score schools list)</p>

133

<p>@bhavanadhowan–1. Too expensive compared to other private schools? 2. How on earth would you know? And too much compared to what? 3. This assertion is, perhaps, the most misinformed assertion in your post. “Good public school[s]” offer teachers that have teaching certificates. BASIS hires teachers with expertise in their area of teaching. Do a lot of “good public schools” in your area have entire classes of 8th graders in AP Calculus AB or AP World History? How many “good public schools” in your area have 9th graders that score a perfect score on the AP Calculus test (like BASIS)? I am sure you have on the tip of your tongue a host of “good public schools” that had 148 AP Scholars, 95 Scholars with Honor, 263 Scholars with Distinction, and 78 National AP Scholars (that’s what among BASIS students did last year). Also, could you tell me the “good public school” in your area that had 57% of its applicants (4 out of 7) get admitted to Stanford this year, or 78% of its applicants get admitted to Berkeley (7 of 9), or 75% of its applicants (6 out of 8) get admitted to UCLA? Because that is what a single BASIS school with a graduating class of 36 accomplished this year (along with acceptances to Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, and even the Paris College of Art). 4. This is the first year of the school’s existence (which is why there is a razor thin margin between the fatuousness of this item and # 3), so it is hardly surprising that the school is not “in the top 25” with respect to SAT scores. Heck, it is not yet in the top 25,000 schools. Of course, not a single student from that school has yet taken an SAT test, but why let facts and logic get in the way of a firmly stated position?</p>

134

<p>Hey neurotic,
How about a link to the Basis school profile ?
Seeing information about where graduates have been accepted, how many AP scholars there are in this graduating class, etc, etc , or similar data , in print from the source , will give Basis a lot more “credibility” on CC . </p>

135

<p>@menloparkmom: Hopefully, this cut and paste from BASIS Scottsdale’s Website works the site has graphs, which will not import). If not, the link (I hope linking is not prohibited on this forum) is <a href=“http://www.basisscottsdale.org”>www.basisscottsdale.org</a>. Although, if its “credibility” was at issue, don’t you have Google? Anyway, here is the info right from their site on AP Results:</p>

<p>Advanced Placement Scholar Awards </p>

<p>BASIS students earn AP Scholar® distinctions at a higher rate than any other school in the state of Arizona. In 2013, there were 148 AP Scholars, 95 Scholars with Honor, 263 Scholars with Distinction, and 78 National AP Scholars among BASIS students. </p>

<p>In addition, BASIS Tucson North senior Kirk Hendricks earned the esteemed distinction of AP State Scholar in 2013. Each year, one male and one female high school student in each of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia is named as an AP State Scholar®. The state scholars must earn scores of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP exams, and then the highest average score (at least 3.5) on all AP Exams taken. Kirk took nineteen AP exams, with an average score of 4.68. </p>

<p>AP Scholar
Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams.</p>

<p>AP Scholar with Honor
Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.</p>

<p>Scholar with Distinction
Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.</p>

<p>National AP Scholar
Granted to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k–12/awards/ap-scholar”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k–12/awards/ap-scholar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>AP® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, the BASIS Schools website.</p>

136

<p>Here’s one:
<a href=“http://basistucsonnorth.com/basis-tucson-north-basis-tucson-north-2013-school-profile”>http://basistucsonnorth.com/basis-tucson-north-basis-tucson-north-2013-school-profile&lt;/a&gt;
It’s an odd document–more than anyone wanted to know about kids winning awards for taking x number of AP exams, but no mention I could find of how many seniors they actually graduate. Link to printable version is broken, not very professional.</p>

<p>Personally, I don’t think it’s appropriate to be pushing kids whose SAT scores are below 600 through 8+ AP classes in high school.</p>

<p>List of college acceptances is for two classes; the only school I’ve seen which does that.</p>

137

<p>@menlopark–And here is the info right from the same site on their National Merit Scholar Results (again, graph did not import):</p>

<p>National Merit Scholarship Program® </p>

<p>Approximately 1.5 million students participate in the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Roughly one percent of high school seniors nationwide receive recognition as a National Merit Finalist; in 2013, more than 10 percent of BASIS seniors earned that same recognition.</p>

<p>BASIS Scholarship Money Awarded: In 2013, BASIS graduates applied more than $2,600,000 in merit scholarships to the colleges they chose to attend. Additionally, 2013 BASIS grads each earned an average of $138,572 in merit aid, combining for a total of $14,392,656 in earned scholarship money.</p>

<p>PSAT/NMSQT® is a registered trademark of the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product.</p>

138

<p>@menlopark: And here is info right from the source on AIMS (Arizona’s standardized test) scholarship (again, no graph):</p>

<p>College Scholarships </p>

<p>Students who earn the High Honors Tuition Scholarship qualify for a full scholarship to the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, or Northern Arizona University through the High Honors Tuition Scholarship program. In 2012, fewer than 10 percent of high school seniors statewide qualified for the scholarship; 67.3 percent of BASIS 2012 seniors qualified.</p>

<p>To qualify for the High Honors Tuition Scholarship, students must:
•Complete all 16 core competency courses (4 units in English, 4 units in math, 3 units of lab science, 2 units of social science, 2 units of foreign language, and 1 unit of fine arts) with a grade of B or higher or receive an acceptable score (a 3 or 4 depending on the subject test) on the Advanced Placement (AP) test or a 4 on the International Baccalaureate (IB) test for that subject area;
•Earn a core GPA of 3.50 or higher in the core competency courses on a 4.0 scale or graduate in the top 5 percent of the graduating class; and
•Exceed standards on the reading, writing and math AIMS tests by the end of junior year or exceed standards on two AIMS tests, meet standards on one AIMS test, and receive a minimum score of 3 on at least two AP exams.</p>

139

<p>@menloparkmom: Finally, here is a sample of the colleges and universities that granted acceptances (still, right from the site):</p>

<p>Harvard University
Princeton University
Yale University
California Institute of Technology
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Chicago
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Northwestern University
Johns Hopkins University
Washington University, St. Louis
Cornell University
Brown University
University of Notre Dame
University of California, Berkeley
Georgetown University
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Southern California (Honors Program)
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Virginia
Tufts University
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Boston College (Honors Program)
Brandeis University
New York University
University of California, San Diego
University of Rochester
University of Miami
University of California, Davis
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Texas, Austin
University of Illinois
Tulane University
Purdue University
University of Florida
University of Pittsburgh
University of Denver
Drexel University
University of Colorado, Boulder
The University of Oklahoma
University of Arizona (Honors College)
Hofstra University
Arizona State University (Barrett Honors College)
San Diego State University
Williams College
Amherst College
Swarthmore College
Middlebury College
Pomona College
Carleton College
Wesleyan University
Grinnell College
Colgate University
Oberlin College
Mount Holyoke College
Kenyon College
Occidental College
Bard College
Pitzer College
Reed College
Wheaton College
Willamette University
Lewis and Clark College
University of Puget Sound
Hampshire College
Westminster College
Morehouse College
Rochester Institute of Technology
University of Redlands
Emerson College
Brigham Young University, Idaho
Warner Pacific College
Evergreen State College
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Suffolk University
McGill University
Queens University
University of Toronto
University of British Columbia
University of Waterloo (Honours Program)</p>

140

<p>@mathyone: they had 34 12 graders, with 34 graduates, with 100% (that’s 34) college acceptance. By the way, you did see that they only require “6 AP® exams in order to graduate,” right? And, I am not sure kids win awards by “taking x number of AP Exams.” They win awards for doing extremely well on AP exams. Lastly, you did see that the range for the “middle 50%” of SAT takers ranged from 590 to 760 (M), 620 to 720 (V), 540-690 (W), didn’t you? Or did you just ignore those things because they did not fit your narrative? </p>