Basis Independent Silicon Valley

Our daughter loves the rich learning environment here and being surrounded by kids with an equally strong passion for learning. The curriculum allows students to go deep in sciences while still mastering the very important liberal arts courses and skills. We are big fans.

My son is going there since 8^th grade. The environment has enhanced his personality. Great academic focus from great teachers and multitude of amazing clubs and programs!

My daughter is in 7^th grade. Initially she struggled but after getting help at office hours and leaning to plan her work load she has excelled. She likes going to school and has made good friends .
The teachers are good but like any school
There are some that are not that good .
Only draw back is lack of green grass and also I think there should be more break times especially one in the afternoon. It is a long day for the kids so they need more snack breaks. Also wish there was Better food available more than just at lunch time. Teachers are good. There are some kids that are rude and don’t look like
They come
From a good background but they will be disciplined.

After a year and half my kids staying in this school, I finally feel comfortable to rate this school: they do have a higher than normal turn over ratio in the beginning, but everything goes more smoothly now. The teachers are very responsive, emails are replied instantly. You can talk to the dean or school executives pretty much the next day or two after email is sent. My 5^th grade child had issue of organizing her homework and projects. The dean made a 3months weekly plan with her before we even realized it! For typical parents like us in Silicon Valley, this might be a school you are looking for!

Now that my two children have almost completed a year at their new school, I feel I can give a review. We have been very satisfied with our children’s experience at Basis. To the point, neither of our children have any interest even looking at any other schools. They find their classes challenging and interesting. They really enjoy their teachers. Their social networks are healthy and supportive. This school is a great fit for them.
As for more general comments:
–The teachers are really passionate about their subjects. I am constantly amazed at what my 10 and 12 year old are learning. In fact, we recently had a babysitter who was in twelfth grade at our local public high school and she and my daughter were sitting at the table doing their physics homework. The babysitter was shocked that they were studying the exact same topic!
–It is really nice that the kids are placed in ability level math and not limited or held back by outdated standards. My 10 year old is in Algebra 1 – and he is not the only one.
–This is not a school for someone who wants the «sports experience» in school. There are really no school teams yet although they have applied to the WBAL league that all the other peninsula private schools belong to. All sports that need resources beyond a gym are located off site at suitable nearby locations. That said, my kids do not miss it at all. They do club sports up where we live. We came to this school for the curriculum and philosophy – not the sports – so it is fine with us.
–The administration is active in fixing some of the general issues that came up this year. For example, next year all students will have more suitable lunch times. Parent coffees are now occurring every two weeks to give administration a chance to hear real time feedback from parents as well as for parents to receive updates from the school. They are finding out the problems and taking an active role to find suitable solutions while staying true to the Basis philosophy.
–The innovative Basis curriculum is fabulous! If you haven’t already looked into it, you can read many articles about it online.
If you are considering Basis and you think it might be a good fit for you and your family, I wholeheartedly encourage you to take a look!

My daughter is a 6^th grader at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley and she loves it. The curriculum is 3+ years ahead (e.g. 6^th graders study Biology, Chemistry, and Physics). It is difficult, but the teachers make it fun and interesting. There is great support for students who join academic competitions and the results are excellent. The sports program is also improving — my daughter recently joined the Running Club which has inspired her to join 5K races. This school has been great for our daughter and we have signed her up for another school year.

I have a 7^th grader at BASIS SV. She enjoys the academic challenge, great teachers and positive social environment. She has so much to share with us after school. We are very happy that she loves to learn as well as socially happy.

My 6^th grader loves this school and has learned so much during this school year! Most of the teachers are passionate and really knowledgeable about the subject matter. Kids study 3 different science subjects (Biology, Physics, Chemistry) starting from 6^th grade. And although the focus is on sciences, they do have Latin in 6^th grade (with a fabulous teacher), fine arts electives which include visual arts, but also music and drama, and foreign languages. Many of the 6^th grade textbooks are high-​school level. I would say that overall it’s a great school for a kid who loves learning and needs to be challenged.

This school is great. The staff is supportive and the teachers have hours where the students can meet them about lessons. I love this school! They aim high for the kids, and support them very well!

Update 2016: Still happy with the school. They have continually improved on most aspects of the school. Poor performing teachers have been moved out quickly. Kid loves it.
***
So far so good. The teachers are amazing and the best part of the school. There were certainly some facility issues with the new building at the start of the year but that’s smoothed out now.
Granted, the school is not for the academically weak. But after 5 months at the school our son really loves it. He’s in a rigorous program, is challenged, AND he enjoys it. We are very lucky to have this school in our community.
The downside isn’t the school but all the tiger parents… never happy with anything. They put incredible pressure on the school and their kids.
It’s disappointing that two of the negative reviews here are from people whose kids don’t attend the school. It’s like walking by a restaurant and then reviewing their food! Obviously a competitor.

I learned about Basis Independent School through an orientation I attended and started sharing what I had learned with my son who was in 3^rd grade at the time. We spent some time on the website as well.
After about a week of discussion and debate, he told us he wanted to go. In fact, he was begging to go. I was surprised how well he could articulate why, but it netted out that he wanted to be challenged and thought Basis would do this. I asked him whether leaving his friends in the neighborhood school would be a problem. He said he’d miss them but what Basis was promising to offer was more important to him.
Fast forward 6 months and I believe Basis is delivering on what it promised, a STEM focused curriculum that the kids are motivated to learn. About 3 months in the school year, my son said to me that he knows he’s in the classroom over an hour a day more than he was last year but it doesn’t feel like it to him. I think it’s partly because the kids move around from teacher to teacher and that helps to keep the learning fresh.
My wife and I had initial concerns: could he smoothly transition to an environment where expectations are higher, would it be an overly competitive culture, would he develop a sense of entitlement (at least I associate private schools with this having attended only public schools) and could he handle the demands of the curriculum. So far, it’s been manageable for him. It does require planning and discipline, but it doesn’t feel overly stressful. And, he’s never mentioned needing to do better than his peers and I’ve found the student body to be down to earth.
We’ve been pleasantly surprised with some of the growth he’s shown. Specifically, he’s taken an interest in playing the violin after learning how to play the recorder in his music class. Moreover, he has a general awareness of upcoming assignments/​tests and needing to plan for them. This is definitely new in him as he’s a kid who usually takes things as they come along. Basis does teach their students to take responsibility in owning their assignments so I believe it’s been rubbing off on him.
He’s been very inspired by some projects in his engineering class, including building a bridge from paper. He and his classmate spent weeks building it. The bridge was judged in a contest for design, strength, and weight. Most recently he’s been obsessed with building a robotic hand out of legos for extra credit. His initial design was flawed but his persistence paid off with a successful design. It’s this type curiosity and drive that I appreciate. Lastly, my wife was reluctant to have him learn Mandarin as his language elective because he failed to learn any when he attended a mandarin immersion pre-​school. It hasn’t been easy for him so far but his second attempt at Mandarin has shown progress. It was one of his favorite classes early on.
The initial start wasn’t without some growing pains. The building construction delays caused calendars to be adjusted but everything calmed down after 2 – 3 weeks. Things seems to be in a good routine now. If anything, I thought the parents were a bit over the top with their expectations and the never ending, peppering of questions. I actually felt sorry for the school administration and teachers.
I do have 2 things I wish were different at Basis. I wish the campus had more space for the kids to do things at lunch. They don’t have a place where they can burn physical energy. The second wish was that the parent group would relax a bit. Not sure where line is between offering helpful suggestions and crossing the boundary of becoming an overbearing parent, but feels like I see the latter at times.
Overall, I feel my son is getting a well-​rounded, solid education and we are getting good value for the tuition we pay. It’s still early on and I’m sure the demands intensify as you move up in grades, but so far it’s manageable and working for my son. There is definitely an academic slant to it but it’s done in a positive way.

If you can imagine a school without an outdoor area, playground, inside a building — then this is it. To me a school w/​o a playground can never be a healthy place for a child to spend 7 hours/​day — inside a building, including lunch!
Administrative staff– didn’t come across as genuinely nice, but, rather as those with a veneer of nice behind a mediocre personality.

Overall we’re very happy with BASIS. We came here attracted to the STEM focused curriculum, and have been very impressed with the content and coursework of the classes and the dedication of the teachers, many of whom are PhDs. Teachers have office hours after class and are always willing to help the students. It’s been only 5 – 6 months and I’m confident that my 8^th grader now has a solid foundation in math, physics, chemistry and even economics. But make no mistake, this school is definitely academic and fast paced, and is for students who have strong academic goals to start with — you cant afford to drop the ball otherwise you can get left behind very quickly. Like other schools, homework load is high but unlike other schools, designed to make you think and solidify concepts.

Basis is a great school if you are looking for academic concentration for your kids. I love their teachers and staff. They are very focused on your child’s success in every aspect and very proactive in the approach to helping the students. I am very happy to have my high schooler attend this school and my hopes for my child have been renewed.

This is a great school if you look for academic excellence. Basis has the best faculty. My kids love to learn after they went to this school. There is no question for academic.
Another thing I would like to mention is that my kids learned self-​management through Basis. They have their Curriculum Journal to follow everyday. They learned to take notes at school. This is amazing if they start this from 5^th grade.
Why I don’t give 5 star is that the school facility is too small. Kids are lack of outdoor activities.
Overall, this is a great school. Remember, it is a school, not sports center.