BASIS Curriculum Schools Are Disruptive

Although “disruptive” isn’t a word you often hear about education, or about curricular excellence, or about teachers who love to teach and do it well… it is apt when it comes to BASIS Curriculum Schools.

“Disruptive” is actually a term I have heard co-founder Michael Block use to describe what he and his wife, Olga Block, had in mind when they started their first charter school in 1998. Quite specifically, they sought to provide an education that was not available when BASIS Tucson opened its doors and started teaching kids to love to learn, and do so according to international standards, which were rarely seen in the United States, then and now.

He has used it to describe the BASIS Curriculum, with its balance of STEM and of Humanities, of collaborative, project-based work and independent field research, and of our innovative use of the College Board’s Advanced Placement coursework to corroborate student mastery. It also describes our one-of-a-kind senior years for high school students, with Capstone Courses and Senior Projects.

Block has also used it to describe the teachers inside the classrooms at BASIS Curriculum Schools – the two-teacher-classrooms in Grade 1 through Grade 4; the subject expert teacher and learning expert teacher symbiosis; the mastery of material by teachers who do what they must to fulfill program requirements, and who also go beyond to satisfy their passion for their discipline, and do so with all of the creativity they crave.

The BASIS Curriculum Schools network is, in three short syllables, disruptive – a perfectly descriptive word for us. What makes us unique in American education is that we are a “disruption” that parents can trust to provide their children with great choices in their futures. That’s why we were delighted to see the following story in Forbes mention the network – and our co-founders – and do so using this rough but relevant and very real little word. Disruptive is precise in describing BASIS Curriculum Schools, and the energy we put into the world-class education that each of our students shall receive.

Click here to read the Forbes piece, which was written by Amity Shlaes.

Of course, the new piece is not to be confused with another excellent piece in Forbes, published in spring, 2016. You can find the older but still relevant piece, written by Maureen Sullivan, by clicking right here.

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Phil Handler

Director of Communications, and Managing Editor, Vectors at BASIS.ed

Phil Handler grew up in Chicago, where he was a lawyer and also worked in politics, professional football, and newspaper, TV, and radio journalism. He also worked in San Francisco for eight years as a radio journalist and producer. Phil earned his BA via a double major in expository and fiction writing, and speech communication, as well as a JD in law, both from the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign. Phil enjoys reading fiction, science and history, and coffee-sipping while dog-walking or movie-watching.

BASIS Curriculum Schools Are Disruptive

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