BASIS DC

410 8th Street Northwest

Washington, DC 20004

School District

Basis Dc Pcs
Grade

5-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

charter

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by student on December 10, 2024

This school is very fast paced and most of the time you have to teach your self. the teachers are all horrible except a select few, and we have no time for anything out side of studying and homework. The school is very tight and crammed and cold. the expectations of us are ridiculous, and only focuses on math and science. because of this i have no media literacy and am extremely behind on my academic writing. I'm constantly tired of all the new teachers who can barely teach. i'm pretty behind in most of my classes due to mental health which the school has no recourses for. this school lowkey made me want to kill myself and everything is a competition to see who can get the best grades. sure this school is great if you can keep all the academics under control but if you get behind it gets horrible pretty quickly. please don't send your kid here if you care about their mental health. also i am very pale from the lack of windows. However, apart from the harder subjects, the rest are pretty enjoyable. i enjoyed learning biology and chemistry. also i heard you get extra support for finding colleges, and you don't have the added stress of studying for AP exams when your also looking for colleges. Too long, didn't read: Very fast paced, stressful, and challenging. benefits are reaped in the long run. Teachers aren't always the best. wide range of subjects.
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2024

Unfortunately I would not recommend this school. While the curriculum is rigorous, the support system is not set up to actually support the students and the administration is terrible with communication. Having a child who spent their school career in this building , I feel overall it is not worth it.
Submitted by student on February 02, 2024

Quick summary if you don't have time to read: Overall 1/5, "learning" feels like a 9-5, "teachers" teach with worksheets, family engagement entails a useless weekly update, and the support we get is one therapist/counselor that you will never see and hear from. If you're looking for a hint of high school life, BASIS DC is not it. There are no facilities as the space used for a gym is a "multipurpose room" that is used for class, cafeteria, and a gym. Windows are non-existent, the whole building is always cold, the hallways are wide enough for two people, and bathrooms are always in a mess. Learning. The learning experience is absolutely horrendous. All the good teachers who actually taught have left because they were trying to do something different than the curriculum having no freedom or receive better treatment and experiences such as pay and whatnot at other schools.BASIS' outlook on learning is stuffing you with useless information that you forget next week. The learning is mainly ridiculous, excessive, and meaningless worksheets that in the end are worth nothing and sometimes not even graded. The only reason why the curriculum is this skewed is because BASIS wants to show ridiculous numbers such as "99% passed an AP", "99% graduation rate", and "Top Charter School In DC". Please, please, please go to another school like School Without Walls, Banneker, DCI, or just any other school. If you already in BASIS get out as fast as you can and make the right choice to switch out saving time, money, and opportunity.
Submitted by parent on October 20, 2023

We have two kids at Basis (5th and 7th) and both are thriving and are overall very happy. The work at times is strenuous, especially in 6th and 7th grade, but kids are taught from day one how to stay organized, study and take notes, and be responsible for their homework and other assignments. The leadership team and support staff are very responsive when we reach out, especially Mr. Rose., and there are enough options for sports and other extracurricular activities to keep my kids engaged after school.
Submitted by student on April 27, 2023

Middle school is strenuous and all good teachers who have at the bare minimum taught before are leaving soon. Highschool has fallen to pieces, nearly all long term teachers have left. Extremely complex material with unqualified teachers leaving students unmotivated. Senoritis comes around in Freshman year. Head of school manipulates teachers, treats them horribly. Straight up lies to students about things ranging from school lunch to teacher qualification. Some teachers are absolutely out of line and kinda insane, others have given up, others don't understand what they're teaching. No freedom of curriculum. Extremely boring. No labs or hands on activities ever. No punishments for anything, students can roam the halls, scream, break things, fight, etc with little to no punishment. School shooting threats earn you a three day suspension and that's it. Horrible school, no experience, burntout students and teachers, terrible head of school, terrible teachers, very few teachers with ANY teaching experience under there belt. Getting a teacher with a teaching degree or who has taught before is rare and that teacher is automatically regarded as on of the best. DONT COME HERE, LEAVE IF YOU CAN. 0/10 basis sucks your soul out
Submitted by parent on March 21, 2023

BASIS has a tough curriculum that asks students to master difficult subjects, but the school supports them all the way. From after-school tutoring and meetings with teachers and optional Saturday study sessions before big tests, the school really helps students meet the high standards that it sets for them. They're also proactive about potential problems, with a counselor who will seek out students when a problem is developing and responsive administrators who will email parents to flag things they should know.
Submitted by parent on October 13, 2021

This is our first year at Basis and we are very happy so far with what we've seen. Our child loves their teacher and we have been impressed by the support staff and they've been very responsive when we've emailed them questions, etc.
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2021

My son attended this school for 5th grade last year. He was 100 percent virtual the entire year. At the beginning of the year, I was worried I had made a mistake enrolling him, given that the academics were much more rigorous than the school he previously attended, and my concern about balancing this new rigor with on-line learning challenges. As it turns out, my fears were unfounded. My son's teachers overall were very good, and math, English, physical geography, music, art and classics teachers were exceptional. He rose to the occasion and learned a tremendous amount. For students willing and able to do the work, this is an exceptional school. Note that it is essentially an "honors" school, as math is accelerated and the curriculum is designed to prepare kids for heavy AP course load in High School. This, of course is not for everyone. Also, the after school sports options are limited, and the school's physical space is nothing to write home about. That said, if your focus is on an exceptional academic, college-prep experience and your kiddo is able to rise to the occasion, this place is for you. Also be aware that this school has its own way of doing things, and expect little or no flexibility in this regard. I believe that this stems from a belief that their formula leads to success, plus they don't want anybody making accusations of unequal treatment. I may not always like this, but I respect it.
Submitted by parent on August 19, 2020

Awful experience, no transparency between students, parents vs. the teachers. No consistent structure. Attempts to fail kids and wants their failure.
Submitted by student on November 22, 2019

Not great - the rules are not followed, even by the administrators, who are taking advantage of the fact that the head of school has recently left, and are causing major confusion and discontent.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2019

Terrible - mixed messages asking parents to get involved and then not and say how they support the kids - but they fail there miserably - talk a good game but no follow through - the facility is not habitable - no windows!!! Let alone conducive to learning - class sizes very large
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2019

My daughter has ADHD and is creative and strong in language and arts. We had a very bad experience at BASIS
Submitted by student on March 28, 2018

This school is horrible, period. there is nothing more to say. period
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2018

My child was enormously proud of how much straight-up knowledge was gained. Great strides in academic confidence.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2018

Three kids at BASIS DC...fantastic experience all around!
Submitted by other on March 03, 2017

Very poor learning environment; multiple changes in administration, with the latest adding nothing of note to the school; poor discipline overall in the classroom and school as a whole; extremely rude staff. My daughter did well enough in the middle school but we should have transferred out at the high school level, a choice most of her friends wisely made. If you choose to remain, be sure you research the requirements they will expect you to meet and what help they don’t provide. Basis is not about education. It’s about numbers. And the numbers don’t always add up. Ours has not been a positive experience.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2017

I would recommend asking a lot of questions before entering this school. It works for some students, it definitely doesn't work for others. The "rigorous" curriculum comes with some caveats, one being that it does not always have teachers qualified to teach the courses, this is true of the AP classes that are required of the 8th and above classes. Those students take an AP exam and that AP exam translates into their school grade. In our experience, the teacher is not always qualified to teach these high level courses. An AP class is not just another class. We have had the experience of being told to "buy the book," without any help in which of many, many AP prep books, and one month before the exam told to "do the exercises." Juggling several AP classes as a 9th and 10th grade student is more than a rigorous curriculum, it requires trained teachers. Basis does not always provide them and the students suffer.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2016

Basis Dc is an above and beyond great school because there is no limits on what you can learn. I know kids that took Algebra 1 in 5th grade. My son took precalculus in 8th grade. Compare to where we came from it is night and day.If you want to be competitive and more than ready for college, then Basis DC is the place for you. This is no place for slackers!!!!
Submitted by parent on October 07, 2015

This school makes 5th graders grow up entirely too fast. My child had no time to play outside after school because he was doing homework for hours. I had to sit and keep him on task the whole time because he was so tired since he was at school all day long pushing hard as well. I think this school is ridiculous personally. This is not every parents experience but it sure was ours...
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2015

This school has a good blueprint but it's only been in Dc for 3 years. It's just getting used to the city and its rules. This school has had a different head of school every year and are always admitting fault but rarely actually fix any of their problems