Basis Charter School will have a new campus in Chandler. Are you gonna send your kids there? (home, law school)

[ibarrio]

Originally Posted by azaly

Unfortunately Arizona public school standards (as reflected in the AIMS test) are quite low. Schools that are excelling according to the AIMS test are scoring poorly on national tests. To me this is simply a result of low expectations on the part of the schools and many parents. If you are a parent who truly desires for your child to compete for the better jobs in a competitive global economy you need to seek schools with higher expectations. Basis has very high expectations and it is not for everyone. But, if you feel your child has been prepared to excel, and desires it, Basis is a great springboard to higher educational goals. Several of my friends' kids have already filled out the application for the Chandler campus. Every one of them is exceptionally bright and I still expect them to be challenged. However, I feel kids need to be challenged, life is challenging. College and work are challenging. Why not prepare them to succeed?

I would like some data to back up the highlighted part of your statement.

[NiceJohn]

I would like my kids to to to Basis. The key of success is to repeat and repeat. I let them play on the weekend.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by NiceJohn

I would like my kids to to to Basis. The key of success is to repeat and repeat. I let them play on the weekend.

I don't think that's the key to success at all. ANYONE can teach that way, by rote, drilling over and over again. That's neither success nor fostering love of learning and intellectual curiosity. And, if the misinformation others have mentioned about the amount of homework young children are actually expected to do vs the brochures, etc. they put out is true, that alone would be enough for me to keep any kids i cared about away. Try it and see, don't be surprised if it doesn't work out.

[azaly]

Ibarrio, the results of both AIMS and TerraNova (national standards test, now replaced with the Stanford) were published on greatschools.org up until this year. I was lucky in that I was able to go to the site and compare a specific schools scores on AIMS to their national scores before I chose a school for my kids. Now, however, if you really want to know you have to do some searching. Greatschools.org still has AIMS results for each school but you then have to go to Arizona's department of ed site to get the TerraNova and now the Stanford scores. It's a hassle but worth it. Here is an example of 2009/10 scores for Val Vista Lakes Elementary 3rd Grade:
AIMS math - 87
AIMS reading - 88
TerraNova math - 70
TerraNova reading - 61
The AIMS scores are a good deal higher.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by NiceJohn

I would like my kids to to to Basis. The key of success is to repeat and repeat. I let them play on the weekend.

Well do us a favor then and come back and report your findings. I'm happy to be wrong. It's not about being wrong or right. It's about serving our community and informing all of us. I live in Chandler and have young children so I'm interested and hope it provides a wonderful experience.

[azriverfan.]

Again, I'm not opposed to students having a large workload and a challenging curriculum as long as the teachers are providing the same effort and spending a lot of time TEACHING.

However, I don't favor a process in which lazy teachers assign a lot of homework and then allow the weaker students to weed themselves out and drop out. I don't consider that to be a quality education. I hope that's not Basis.

Teaching is an art and I want to send my children to the school with the best teaching not necessarily the school that just dumps a lot of homework and places the teaching responsibility upon the student. The best students are the ones who understand concepts. The worst ones are the ones who rote memorize but don't understand what they are learning.

[Humbug5050]

I went to a meeting in a BASIS school recently: found that only the Head, a booster parent and another lady were there to greet a cafeteria full to capacity with parents and kids. No teachers were present, I was pretty much disappointed, I wanted see them make an effort since I was interested in their school. Only the Head seemed to be answering every ones questions and he looked exhausted, he reminded me of an overbearing car sales man.
The Curriculum did not seem to be solid, he kept on saying if this doesn't work we'll try that and if that doesn't work we'll try this. The only curriculum part that was accelerated was the Math. A lot of our kids do private accelerated Math classes after school anyway, so they are the ones that will fit into the accelerated Math element. All the others from public schools and ones that had been doing Saxon Math will have to endeavor to catch up. The Head said that they have kids with IEPs but there are no aides to help at the school, it will be really difficult for kids with learning difficulties, how will they excel in a 'No. 1 school in the Country?'.
On my tour I noticed that the Classrooms were very crowded, the teachers were poorly dressed, really shabby for "outstanding" teachers, a Teacher needs to be an example to the kids! About 30+ kids to a class. No room for kids outside just a plastic grass area to sit on, perhaps they intend to expand who knows.
This is purely my opinion and if you desire please research and check this school out for yourselves.
The Head kept saying something about BASIS being No.1 in the Country, OK perhaps the one in Tucson.

[phoenix_new]

R u taking tour of other schools too ? please provide your feedback too.

[Humbug5050]

Originally Posted by hts

No offense, but I think you might be exaggerating just a bit. Our (rising) 6th grader has just been accepted to the new Basis in Peoria. We were told to expect approx. 2 hours of homework a night, which we feel is appropriate for his age/level.

We're sending our (rising) 4th grader to a Great Hearts Academy this fall, as we think that it's a better overall fit for him (he's not yet as academically inclined as his older brother).

So you're sending your little one to GHA this Fall because you think that the curriculum is not demanding. Please re-read their Curriculum it is a Highly Demanding School. Homework can hit 3-4 hours a night. LOL
Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by azaly

I totally agree. Also, to expect a child to leap from mediocre schools to college work is unrealistic. When I was in college a third of my freshman class dropped or flunked out. These were bright kids who could not hack it because they were unprepared. I was very glad my High School was tough, it made the transition much easier. Kids need to be kids, but we can't "baby" them too long.

I agree.
You have had to have had a good quality of education all along in order to deal with a challenging curriculum. Otherwise it's like getting a person who has never ran in their life to run a marathon.

Originally Posted by Humbug5050

So you're sending your little one to GHA this Fall because you think that the curriculum is not demanding. Please re-read their Curriculum it is a Highly Demanding School. Homework can hit 3-4 hours a night. LOL
Hope this helps!

In the Higher school.
Example:

English Lit
History
Math
Science
Fine Arts
Latin/Modern Foreign Lang

Everyday there is homework.
More than 40 mins a night per subject and there is homework over the weekend, Unless it is a Rest and Relaxation weekend.
There are also extracurricular activities. This school is so organized, highly advanced teachers in their field. Curriculum is solid. There is no hit or miss but proper direction. You are well anchored and know your kids will get a great education.
This school is not for the feint hearted it is a brilliant school. Hence to get grade A's it is not a pushover. You WORK for your grades.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Humbug5050

I agree.You have had to have had a good quality of education all along in order to deal with a challenging curriculum. Otherwise it's like getting a person who has never ran in their life to run a marathon.

I don't disagree with this but there also has to be a balance. One hour of homework per subject per night is extremely inefficient and suggestive of a lot "busy" work. Good schools have excellent teachers that require homework but don't allow homework to substitute for quality teaching. I attended a top university and to succeed at that level, you have to be able to study intelligently and efficiently. Furthermore, there are many schools in the Valley that prepare people for Ivy League and other universities that don't inundate their students with homework. Sure, they assign homework but more than 3 hours of homework per night (excluding weekends) is a bit extreme. Students also have EC's in addition to preparing for standardized tests like the SAT which is separate from school work.

Everyday there is homework.

More than 40 mins a night per subject and there is homework over the weekend, Unless it is a Rest and Relaxation weekend.There are also extracurricular activities. This school is so organized, highly advanced teachers in their field. Curriculum is solid. There is no hit or miss but proper direction. You are well anchored and know your kids will get a great education.

There are no formal programs in athletics, music, or theatre to name a few. It is purely academic. And I feel this is real drawback to BASIS. Ivy League and top universities require candidates to be well rounded. BASIS students are required to pursue club sports and other activities outside of school to receive this exposure and they have to do this on top of the 4-5 hours of homework per night which is impractical even for a great school. Assigning a lot of work takes zero talent, it is teaching and providing an efficient education that requires skill.

This school is not for the feint hearted it is a brilliant school. Hence to get grade A's it is not a pushover. You WORK for your grades.

If everyone is brilliant and works hard yet A's are given to only the top students then the remaining students will be negatively impacted by that as their GPA will be affected whereas those same students would have achieved A's at other schools. So those are things that parents have to take into consideration when selecting schools. I agree that you don't want to send your child to a weak school but there are other great schools that enable one to achieve an excellent education and receive top grades as well.