Student Achievement

BASIS Independent Manhattan Speech & Debate Team Wins Championship Tournament

May 1, 2024 by christineklayman Leave a Comment

We’re thrilled to celebrate our middle school team’s first-place win at the English Speaking Union’s (ESU) New York Debate League (NYDL) Championship Tournament!

On Saturday, April 27, the ESU NYDL Middle School Parliamentary Debate Championship took place at Speyer Legacy School. The competition was intense, and we are pleased to announce that our team of Anya H., Sasha S., and Daniel Yoonsuh L. emerged as the winners, claiming the coveted 1st Place title. Their performance was a testament to their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.

Undefeated Excellence

The team’s journey to victory was nothing short of phenomenal. They navigated five rounds of debate on these topics:

Expanding NATO Does More Harm than Good
Makeup Does More Harm than Good
This House Prefers Contentment Over Achievement When the Two Are in Conflict
College is Overvalued

They demonstrated exceptional research, critical thinking, and persuasive speaking skills, all while maintaining an undefeated record.

The final round proved to be the ultimate test. Sasha S. delivered the winning speech in front of a distinguished panel of five judges from some of New York’s most prestigious schools. They unanimously awarded victory to our Wildcat team’s proposition!

Individual Accolades

Beyond the team win, BASIS Independent Manhattan received the prestigious award for the highest percentage of wins across all competitors. Individually, Sasha, Anya, and Yoonsuh achieved an outstanding 5-0 record (excluding the final round, which they also won). We also commend the efforts of Itamar, Adrika, and Cosmo who secured a commendable 3-2 record throughout the competition.

The entire day, filled with intellectual challenges and exhilarating competition, culminated in a well-deserved celebration – tired but ecstatic, our champions reveled in their victory alongside their coaches and supporters. They also enjoyed making FaceTime calls to share the big news!

Congratulations to our incredible Debate Team! Their dedication, talent, and teamwork have brought immense pride to the BASIS Independent Manhattan community. This incredible win wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering dedication of our student debaters, the invaluable guidance of coaches Max Singer and Grace Campos, and the tireless support of school administrators and parent volunteers.

Congratulations to everyone involved. We look forward to witnessing their continued success in future tournaments!

Interested in learning more about our passionate teachers, curriculum, after-school and summer programs, sign up for our interest list, visit our school, or attend an admissions event.

BASIS Independent Manhattan is a PreK – Grade 12 private school, providing students with an internationally benchmarked liberal arts and sciences curriculum, with advanced STEM offerings.

More than 60% of High School Students Earned AP Scholar Distinction

October 27, 2023 by msnyder

At BASIS Independent Brooklyn, we prioritize cheering on our students’ accomplishments across many areas–from fine arts to community service, debate competitions, sports, and beyond. However, academic accomplishment remains a shared priority within our community. Today we can proudly share that based on the 2023 AP scores more than 60% of our high school students qualified as Advanced Placement (AP) Scholars during their time in our program. Students move from AP Scholar to AP Scholar with Honor and then AP Scholar with Distinction. Approximately 48% of our students reach that highest level of AP Scholar with Distinction by the time they graduate.

“Academically all of our students qualified as AP Scholars by the time they finished their junior year,” said Josh Harmon, Head of School for BASIS Independent Brooklyn’s Upper School. “When looking at all students in grades 9-12 more than 60% of our entire high school was awarded the honor of AP Scholar or higher. Moreover, our students sat for more AP exams in 2023 than ever before with the growth of our high school.”

AP Scholar awards recognize students who have demonstrated both a depth and breadth of knowledge and whose work has shown college-level mastery across multiple disciplines. The College Board awards the following distinctions for AP exams, and we have students who have achieved all levels.

AP Scholar: students who received a score of 3 or higher on 3 or more AP exams.
AP Scholar with Honors: students who received a score of 3 or higher on 4 or more exams, and have an average score of at least 3.25 across all exams taken.
AP Scholar with Distinction: students who received a score of 3 or higher on at least 5 exams, and an average score of 3.5 across all exams taken.

Nationwide, only about 10% of students earn the distinction of AP Scholar or higher by the time they graduate (based on historic data provided by the College Board). We are thrilled to share some of the top accomplishments here:

72 students in our high school were named AP Scholar or higher distinctions, representing approximately 67% of our high school in May 2023 when the exams were taken.
Our school was recognized as a Platinum Member of the AP School Honor Roll. This is the highest recognition possible for a school on the Honor Roll, and it is based on our students’ outstanding results.

Congratulations to all our students who have earned an AP Scholar Award for their performance on the exams during their High School tenure. See the full lists of student recipients updated to include the 2023 results below:

AP Scholar: Students who received a score of 3 or higher on 3 or more AP exams.

Victor B. ’25
Matthias B. ’25
Alex D. ’23
Luke D. ’23
Eden E. ’24
Axel F. ’25
Charlotte J. ’24
Rachel K. ’25
Viola L. ’25

Avi L. ’24
Noah L. ’23
Jason P. ’25
Talin P. ’26
Nadia S. ’25
Sasha T. ’25
Rei W. ’24
River W. ’26
Lyra Y.-M. ’23

AP Scholar with Honor: Students who received a score of 3 or higher on 4 or more exams, and have an average score of at least 3.25 across all exams taken. Nationwide, only about 6% of students will graduate high school with this degree of recognition or higher. Nearly all of these honorees have done so well before graduation.

Jack C. ’25
Mabel C. ’23
Nicholas D. ’25
Laila G. ’24
Miles H. ’23
Laith H. ’25
Alexa L. ’24

Aidan L. ’25
Katreen L. ’23
Matthew R. ’23
James R. ’25
Richard S. ’25
Evan S. ’25
Daniella S.-B. ’23

AP Scholar with Distinction: Students who have a score of 3 or higher on at least 5 exams, and an average score of 3.5 across all exams taken. These students have already completed at least a semester’s worth of college credit while still in high school. Only about 4% of graduating seniors receive this award, and less than 1/10th of 1% of students receive it after sophomore year. At BASIS Independent Brooklyn, a third of students finishing sophomore year received the distinction.

Overall in our high school, the following 40 students received this honor:

Hong-Yuan B. ’24
Krishan B. ’24
Isabella B. ’23
Jack B. ’24
Katie B. ’23
Zeke B. ’24
Luca C. ’23
Syun D. ’24
Zach D. ’23
Colin D. ’25
Sofia G. ’24
Samantha G. ’24
Diego G. ’24
Angelina G. ’24
Maxwell H. ’25
Mateo K. ’25
Ye L. ’24
Shamei L. ’23
Thomas M. ’25
Dilan M. ’24

Maddox M. ’25
Ben N. ’24
Oliver P. ’24
Charles P. ’24
Gustavo P. ’25
Daniel P. ’24
Alex R. ’24
Colton R. ’24
Skye S. ’25
Maxim S. ’25
Felix S. ’25
Nadine S. ’24
Yuna S. ’24
Jonah S. ’24
Lucas S. ’24
Morgan S. ’23
Ryan T. ’23
Isaac W. ’24
Maren W. ’23
Andrej Z. ’24

Please join us in congratulating all of our BEARS!!!

All comparisons are based on publicly available data from the College Board, National Center for Education Statistics, and National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Our Class of 2024 gathered together in the senior lounge the first week of the school year with Dean Matthew Goldman, Associate Head of School Robert Runyon, Director Darlene Forde, Head of School Josh Harmon, and College Counselor Matt Brauch.

2022-2023 Year in Review

July 14, 2023 by msnyder

Dear Families and Staff,

During the quiet months of summer, we make it a priority to reflect on the past year right before the rush of back-to-school begins. Now we wanted to share some lessons learned, celebrate accomplishments, and pay tribute to our 2023 graduates.

Let’s start with academics. We spend many hours reviewing our academic outcomes as a data-driven school. Our data informs our practice, identifies our weaknesses, and allows us to knowledgeably celebrate our successes. For these reasons, we can truly say we practice both the art and science of teaching. Without data, we would not understand our own goals, or we would assume we were just lucky when we met them!

This year more than 60% of our students earned the AP Scholar designation (scoring a 3 or higher on at least 3 AP Exams). This is consistent year over year and showcases the strength of our program. But it isn’t due to the fact that fewer students are opting to take APs. Not at all. In fact, we ordered 315 AP exams this year, the most ever in our school’s history.

Also in high school, we celebrated our National Merit Scholar winner Maren W. ’23, and we also now have exciting national merit scholarship news with our rising seniors. We have the longest list of commended scholars and finalists in our school’s history. A third of our rising seniors were recognized because they scored in the top 1% on the PSAT in NY state. This is significant even by BASIS standards!

It’s not only in high school that we’re seeing success. We had plenty of year-over-year increases in the Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP) assessment which measures primary and middle school students’ growth in verbal reasoning, reading comprehension, quantitative reasoning, and mathematics. Our 8th graders had a 7% increase over last year’s averages, while 4th and 5th respectively had 6% and 3% increases over last year’s averages.

But what about our current seniors? Our 5th graduating class? We’re incredibly proud of them! 40% of students were offered spots at colleges in the top 25 ranked national and international institutions. We had students accepted to:

Amherst College, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Imperial College London, New York University, Northwestern University, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Toronto, University of Virginia, Williams College.
Four out of 22 of our students applying to colleges this year received offers of admission from Cornell University.

Our 2022-2023 school year was one of a return to traditions and events we desperately missed – from the Spring Musical to Debate competitions and Senior trips. We embraced seeing each other in person at Coffee with Administration meetings and added Open Gyms and fun activities. Kids enjoyed field trips once again and we were happy to have a year that brought them together more.

Celebrating Accomplishments

Throughout the 2022-2023 school year one thing remained the same— student accomplishments across all grades continued to reaffirm the vision behind all that we have built here in Brooklyn. Our educators took pride in providing structure and stability to support content mastery.

Our students continued to excel at their studies and outside the classroom, our students’ accomplishments made us incredibly proud. An overview of 2022–2023 student accolades follows, broken out by discipline.

Fine Arts

Scholastic Arts and Writing Competition – Our students were recognized yet again with many honors this year. One national Silver Medal in drawing and illustration (see image on right). Five regional Gold Keys, 5 Silver Keys, and 8 honorable mentions in photography, digital art, painting, drawing illustration.
Our Upper School Choir was invited to perform at Radio City Music Hall before the Christmas Spectacular once again!
High School Band was asked to play at the New York City Marathon to cheer on the runners and engage the spectators.
Our Spring Musical The Addams Family was a rave hit. Upper School drama performances in elective classes were a wonderful celebration of creativity all year long.
Our entire Fine Arts team put on wonderful festivals before Winter Break and at the end of the school year.

Photo: The 2023 Spring Musical The Addams Family. Image taken by Danny Dolan ’22 @dannydolan_

Humanities/Social Sciences

Our Debate Club sent our teams to city championships and to state championships. One of our students, Isaac W. ’24, even won the top “team” award at a competition over Spring Break!
The Grizzly Co-Editor-in-Chief Laila G. ’24 won the prestigious Al Neuharth Student Journalism Award and is representing New York State in their student journalism conference in D.C. in June. Photo: A winning team at the Primary School Chess National Championships. We are still making room for that big trophy in our trophy case!

Our Bears won 5th place team in the very competitive K-6 U1400 division at the Primary Chess National Championships – despite being down one player! Aiden C. ’30 also placed 6th individually at nationals. There were many, many other chess accolades throughout the year.
Sameer M. ’28 was a semi-finalist at the National History Bee and the U.S. Academic Bee as well as a quarter-finalist at the International Geography Bee
Samantha G. ’24 was published in the University of Pennsylvania’s peer-reviewed journal Perspectives on Urban Education for her reflections on life and school in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholar: Noah L. ’23 was awarded the prestigious Presidential Research Scholarship to Cornell University, where he will be attending this fall. Only 230 students are inducted each year. This was based on his academics and past research project for Trinity Church Wall Street.

Math

Rising senior Alex R. ’24 won the 2023 Strogatz Prize – MOMATH National Mathematics Communication Competition – for his submission visualizing the topic of gradients and vector fields from his Multivariable Calculus. He drew a gradient/vector field of his face with the angle/direction changing according to position in 3-day space. You can see his facial expressions and colors used depending on movement along the axes.
Our MATHCOUNTS team came in second in Brooklyn and went on to compete at the New York State Championships.
The largest group of students ever sat for the MATH KANGAROO assessment for younger grades across both our campuses.

Photo: Ms. Reyes and Mr. Kaponyas pose with their students who participated in Math Kangaroo this year.

Science

A rising senior Charlie P. ’24 was named the 2023 Borlaug Scholar in the World Food Prize New York Youth Institute on his paper and presentation about obesity in Nauru.
Our school won second and third place in New York States TEAMS competition. Thank you to Physics teacher Josh Winter for continuing to grow the team.

Sports

Our Co-ed JHS basketball team won the CONSAT league championship after an undefeated season under Coach York!!! Go Bears!!!
Our CSAA Boys Varsity Soccer team made the league playoffs and Coach McCollum was very proud of their determination and drive during the year.
CSAA Girls Volleyball made the playoffs after a tremendous fall season with Coach Nalipinski. They continued Volleyball Club this spring and are looking ahead to next year!
CSAA Co-ed JHS Flag Football team had a strong first year and made the playoffs with Coaches Wekilsky and Ryan. Team spirit could not be stronger, and we want to thank families for showing up consistently to cheer on our Bears.
CSAA Co-ed JHS Outdoor Soccer: Our Bears had a great season, won both semi-final games, and made it to the league finals. While they did not win, they showed great determination and teamwork. Athletic Director McCollum and Coach Kevin were very proud of our Bearsll
USATF Junior Olympians
Tasi-Ann C. ’25 earned the title of NY Junior Olympian for both Long Jump and Triple Jump. She also placed third in the Long Jump event!
Isaiah C.’28 was named a NY Junior Olympian in 200m and 400m races. He competed against students one to two years older than him and achieved the top position!

Photos (Clockwise from Upper Left Corner): 2022 Girls Varsity Volleyball Team, 2022 Varsity Boys Soccer Team, 2023 CONSAT Coed JHS Basketball Champions, and 2023 CSAA Coed JHS Outdoor Soccer Team.

Community Involvement

This year our high school team arranged a Second Annual Day of Service in the fall to bring our community together and make a difference locally.
Our National Honor and National Junior Honor Society students dedicated more than 2,000 hours to service projects this year!
Students worked to redistribute more than 8,000 lunches to RHAP throughout the school year to the Red Hook Art Project. High School students regularly volunteered for Homework Help and even the gala. Families supported RHAP by attending the annual gala as well!
Back-to-School Textbook Exchange – Families donated nearly 200 textbooks and others bought used textbooks to benefit the Red Hook Art Project.
Our first School Supply Drive in partnership with School Tool Box provided 80 school supply boxes to students through Red Hook Initiative.
500 coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and blankets as well as 200 care packages were assembled to support Red Hook’s Redemption Church community.
Toy Drive – Families donated more than 175 toys requested by parents who visit Good Shepherd counseling and wanted presents to give their children during the holidays. Our Lower School families donated nearly 50 games and toys to the Myrtle Avenue BKLYN Association.
Our community donated more than 310 food items to Community Help in Park Slope and created more than 300 Thanksgiving cards for Heights and Hills to deliver with their Thanksgiving meals to seniors.

These awards and examples of community involvement are an amazing testament to the school and the power of the curriculum and teachers. Most importantly, they are an incredible representation of our creative, diverse, driven scholars. It is important to us that as a school we prioritize opportunity, allowing students to showcase their skills, define their interests, and pursue their passions.

Looking Ahead

Without community, academic successes are temporary and limited. We have made significant growth as a community this year, and it will further our students’ academic success and our school’s reputation. We see this anecdotally in the conversations we have together and the cultivation of mutual respect and trust. Not every conversation is one where we agree – nor should it be – but we continue to make our students’ growth and well-being the priority. But beyond the anecdotes, we also see our community’s growth in our achievements outside the classroom.

We all recognize that opportunity in class and to a large extent out of class comes down to the talent of our teachers. We also recognize that the curriculum that attracts families and students to BASIS Independent Brooklyn comes to life in a teacher’s hands. We have worked hard to recruit teachers who bring something extra to the school and we continue to attract talented teachers.

Teachers love this school because they are allowed to teach the subjects they know best the way they know best. They’re allowed to share their passion for their subjects with their students and this builds engagement. We worked hard this year on retaining teachers and the retaining of teachers worked us hard as well. But we’ve learned a lot about bringing new teachers into the fold and creating more consistent expectations and disciplinary approaches to supplement autonomy in the classroom. We will continue to support teachers in their transition to our school and growth with us and we have many veteran teachers that have stepped up to become involved in supporting their peers.

As we close our thoughts on the year, we want to salute our Class of 2023 for shaping our school. We are grateful to them and want them to know they always have a place here. Our team is already planning homecoming events around the Winter Break and Senior Projects when students return from their universities. What we want to ask from our alumni and parents is help to provide professional advice and even connect our students after they graduate to internships and opportunities. This coming year we will be formalizing and expanding our mentorship program, and we need the help of our community to open doors for our wonderful students.

Overall, we want our students to look back, feel a great sense of pride in their school, and share in the school’s success that they helped create. We have much to celebrate, and we’re in an exciting position moving into the year ahead marking our 10th school year educating students in Brooklyn. We want our students, teachers, staff, and families to feel a part of all our community has built together and the great opportunities ahead.

Photo: Co-valedictorian Katey B. ’23 addressing her peers at graduation. Image here and at the top of the blog post taken by Danny Dolan ’22 @dannydolan_

Debate Team Claims Championship Title at Tournament

June 1, 2023 by msnyder

A big Mountaineer congratulations to our exceptional middle school debate team for their remarkable achievement at the 2023 Seattle University Speech and Debate tournament. BASIS Independent Bellevue students placed first and second in the team competition. In the individual competition, our Mountaineers also placed well.

Their outstanding performance and dedication earned them a well-deserved place among the top contenders. With their eloquence and critical thinking, our talented students have proven themselves as formidable debaters in a highly competitive arena.

Team Competition:

First Place Overall:
Angelina J.
Sophia T.

Second Place Overall:
Rhea G.
Peggy L.

In the team competition, students had to debate the topic: The United States Federal Government should ban the collection of personal data through biometric recognition technology.”

Our students also experienced success in individual competitions.

Individual Competition:
Angelina J., 3rd Place
Howard H., 3rd Place
Sophia T., 4th Place
Rhea G., 6th Place
Peggy L., 7th Place

We commend their hard work, tireless preparation, and exceptional debate talent. This is an impressive accomplishment and a testament to their abilities and the guidance of their dedicated coach.

Join us in celebrating their success and applauding their achievement as they continue to shine brightly in the world of debate.

BASIS Independent Bellevue, a private school, opened with Grades 2 – 7 to start and will add a grade level each school year as we expand to a full middle and high school (Grades 5 – 12).

Middle School Team Wins National Science Bowl Competition

May 2, 2023 by msnyder

Congratulations to our Mountaineers on winning the 33rd Annual Science Bowl sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

This is a significant achievement which requires hard work, dedication, and teamwork. We are incredibly proud of our students and their accomplishment, and representing BASIS Independent Bellevue as a first-time competitor in this national academic competition.

The National Science Bowl is a highly competitive academic competition that challenges students’ knowledge in various fields of science including biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, and energy. The National Science Bowl brings together students from across the country to complete and showcase their scientific knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Photos by Jack Dempsey, National Science Bowl®, Department of Energy, Office of Science

Join us as we celebrate our Middle School Team champions, including our Grade 7 students:

Gordon B.
Katherine L.
Kevin W.
Timothy W.
David X.

Congratulations to our students and the team’s two dedicated and passionate coaches. What an exciting win!

Science Middle-2
The DOE awarded the BASIS Independent Bellevue Middle School Team $5,000 for their victory, which goes to our school’s science department. In our Middle School Program, beginning in Grade 6 students take congruently separate courses in biology, chemistry, and physics, each led by a Subject Expert Teacher. This approach to the sciences happens each school year from Grade 6 to Grade 8.

Winning the National Science Bowl requires a high level of academic preparation and commitment. Students must have a deep understanding of scientific concepts and be able to apply them in real-world situations. To achieve this level of subject mastery, students invest a great deal of time in preparation and practicing. Their passion and dedication to their craft led them to victory.

Go Mountaineers!

BASIS Independent Bellevue, a private school, opened with Grades 2 – 7 to start and will add a grade level each school year as we expand to a full middle and high school (Grades 5 – 12).

College Counseling Spotlight: Preparing for Decision Day

April 27, 2023 by msnyder

Every year on May 1, students are cementing where they will attend college on National Decision Day. What are we doing to prepare our students for this big, impending decision?

This year, our College Counselor, Ms. Abrams, has been working with students and parents in grades 9-11 to ensure they feel confident and comfortable with the college admissions process, and we are also pleased to share some of the standout internships and programs our soon-to-be seniors are doing this summer.

Our students learn a lot about the college process and how this journey will be unique for each one of them. During the vital junior year, grade 11 students have:

Individual, weekly meetings in the College Counseling office to form college lists and identify the “right fit” schools that suit their personalities and support their academic goals.

Group sessions to discuss major college application checkpoints, such as essay writing, resume building, and summer program enrollment.

Collaboration time with teachers to share information and prepare for the recommendation letter writing process.

Our grade 9-10 students have access to Ms. Abrams’ resources and are encouraged to stop by her office to start discussing their plans for the future. She helps them choose high school courses that will be beneficial for completing their goals, and her door is always open for them to discuss volunteer and summer program opportunities, and college research.

Once students reach their senior year, they take a daily college counseling course to help them succeed in successfully planning for the next stage of their education journey.

Admissions Reps Visiting Our Campus
Further, we host college admissions representatives on campus in the fall, and this year we welcomed reps from over 50 colleges and universities. These visits provide an advantageous opportunity to learn straight from the source about what makes a college unique, and they allow students of all grade levels to get their questions answered. This process helps our students hone their college choices to the point where they will be happy to attend anyone on their list.

Supporting Parents in the Process
Every month, Ms. Abrams distributes an informational newsletter on local college fairs, parent workshops, and organizations in the community that can help build student resumes. For example, families have access to a curated list of hundreds of Pre-College Summer Program opportunities and volunteering.

Additionally, Ms. Abrams hosts various webinars for parents about topics such as Financial Aid, The Common Application, and the SAT/ACT tests. She also makes time for individual check-ins to ensure that she, the families, and the student are all on the same page and that everyone’s goals align.

Preparing for Senior Year
Our students are currently brainstorming for their personal statements and supplemental essays, which will help them get ahead before the rush of college applications in the fall semester. After their AP tests, juniors will work on these essays in their English classes with Ms. Abrams and their English Subject Expert Teacher to ensure they receive constructive and valuable feedback.

Additionally, students are working on leveling up their resumes and conveying themselves in the best way possible. They are visiting colleges both in person and online, and we are excited to take all of our high school students to SUNY New Paltz this May to get a feel for a college campus.

Pre-College Summer Programs for Our Students
Many students will engage in pre-college summer programs at major universities or through community organizations. These programs help teach students important skills for their futures, such as collaboration, time management, organization, and advocacy. See below for some student highlights!

Ashley W. (Class of ’24) is attending New York University’s Pre-College program this summer. She is so excited to dive into two courses: Applied Psychology and Intro to Marketing. Ashley has loved NYU for a very long time and is looking forward to making new friends and expanding her passions this summer.

Deniz E. (Class of ’25) has lots of plans for this upcoming summer. First, he will attend Columbia University’s three-week Summer Immersion Program where he will focus on two courses: Globalization and Challenges in International Economics and Politics, and Political Economic Ideologies of The Modern World. Deniz loves New York City and is excited to work on Columbia’s campus this summer. He will also work at the USTA’s Tennis Summer Camp as a Junior Coach and help young children improve their tennis skills.

Hudson L. (Class of ’25) is excited to attend The University of Pennsylvania’s Pre-College Summer Program. After thoroughly enjoying both his AP Biology and AP Psychology courses, Hudson is enrolled in UPenn’s Neuroscience Research Academy. He is looking forward to learning more about the brain and how it connects to our emotions. Specifically, he is excited to spend time on a beautiful college campus.

Julia N. (Class of ’26) will attend Columbia University’s Pre-College program for Architecture this summer. Besides being a dedicated student and soccer player, Julia loves art. She is eager to explore her more creative side while working alongside like-minded peers on a college campus this summer.

Mountaineers Win First Place in Grade 5 Math Is Cool Competition

March 9, 2023 by msnyder

This past weekend our students took first place as overall Best School in our division in the local grade 5 Math Is Cool competition!

The Math Is Cool competition is comprised of testing a variety of math skills including mental math, individual and team tests, team multiple choice, triple jump, and college bowl. Individual awards are determined by both mental math and individual test scores for each student while the school score is calculated using the highest score amongst all of the school’s team scores in each event.

We had seven teams participate at this competition hosted by Liberty High School, as well as two individuals. In addition to taking first place as overall Best School in our division, we had five students place in top six individual scores!

6th place: Ethan B.
5th place: Adam Z.
4th Place: Derek X.
3rd Place: Yiyang L.
2nd Place: Alexander X.

Congratulations to our coach, students, and families! We are proud of our Mountaineers hard work and achievements.

Shout out to all of the Mountaineer mathletes that participated in the Math Is Cool competition and represented our school: Adam Z., Alexander X., Alicia W., Argen Y., Brandon L., Brian Z., Daniel C., Derek X., Ethan B., Ethan W., Ethan Z., Gavin H., Grace L., Grace T., Haoling Y., Jasper H., Junia G., Leo S., Linda J., Lucas X., Mingming G., Morpheus Z., Sam L., Shuyan L., Stephanie S., Suri S., Yihan L., Yiyang L.,

BASIS Independent Bellevue, a private school, opened with Grades 2 – 7 to start and will add a grade level each school year as we expand to a full middle and high school (Grades 5 – 12).

2022-2023 Student Accomplishments

February 25, 2023 by ekugler

Though many things about fall 2022 were unfamiliar, our students continued to shine through clubs and contests that were held in person and virtually. Here, we highlight our students’ accomplishments from the first part of the 2022-2023 school year. Congratulations, Red-Tailed Hawks!

STEM

Nation’s Top Teens in STEM
Chelsea H. ’24, a Buteo Scholar, was named one of “16 Under 16 in STEM” by The74, a news site covering education, and became one of the nation’s top teens in STEM.
Click the link to read the news.

STEM Day by Hexagon US Federal
Alina A. ’26, Grace A. ’26, and TJ Z. ’25 participated in a STEM Day event hosted by Hexagon US Federal in November and competed in a contest to share how they think Hexagon US Federal technology can address the challenges of the future.

Scholarship

National Merit Scholarship
Seven Seniors- Robert D. ’23, Spencer A. F. ’23, Cavan B. G O ’23, Arthur H. ’23, Aneesh V. ’23, Robert W. ’23, and Raleigh C. W ’23 were named Finalists in the 2023 Competition for National Merit Scholarship awards.

Volunteer

President’s Volunteer Service Award
A letter from the White House. Fiona X. ’24 received a gold medal and certificate from the President’s Volunteer Service Award Program. The gold medal for young adults (16-21) is the highest award for the program and is eligible only for volunteers with more than 250 hours of service within the last 12 months.

Math

Mathcounts Team
Twelve selected mathletes from the mathcounts team attended the NOVA chapter competition. Our school won 2nd place in this super competitive chapter.

The top 25% of students from the selected mathletes of the chapter are recognized.
Congratulations to:

Rebecca C. ’27, 4th place
Ian W. ’27, 5th place
Chloe G. ’27, 18th place
Sophia W. ’27, 23rd place
Anna W. ’27, 24th place
Tang T. ’27, 26th place
Delia A. ’28, 32nd place

American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10/12
We have several students that have qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Exam, (AIME) after receiving exceptionally high grades on the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10/12. These students are listed below. Anna W. ’27 also scored in the top 1% nationwide during the AMC on10/12. We hosted the AIME at BASIS this month.

Students who received a Certificate of Achievement for being an 8th grader scoring above a 90 and Acceptance to the AIME:
– Chloe G. ’27
– Anna W. ’27 (Also received Honor Roll for scoring in the top 1% Nationwide)
– Ian W. ’27
Acceptance of the AIME:
– Adithya P. ’26
– Enxiang “Gabe” Z. ’26
– Chelsea H. ’24

Mathleague
Congratulations to Owen H. ’30 and Jude B. ’31 participated in the qualifying round of Mathleague, and both have made it to the next level. They will be participating in the State Rounds in May.

Quiz Bowl

Large group of students wearing black and sitting on a stage

Longfellow Academic Tournament To Endallwars (LATTE)
Our Middle School Quiz Bowl team won 3rd place at the 2023 Longfellow Academic Tournament To Endallwars (LATTE) on Saturday, February 11, 2023. The team had the following students: Delia A. ’28, Colin S. ’28, Mohan P. ’27, Richik P. ’27, Kameron L. ’27, and Brayden B. ’27.

Science Olympiad

Fairfax Invitational Tournament
Our entire High School Science Olympiad Team proudly represented BIM in the recent (01/07) Fairfax Invitational Tournament which included high schools from MD/DC and all of VA. It was particularly exciting to go against BASIS DC. This is the inaugural year of BIM having a competitive, full high school team. The top 5 placements were recognized and medaled:

1st place in Scrambler (engineering): Team Caden Z. & Phoenix D. ’25
1st place in Detector Building (engineering): Team Caden Z. & Phoenix D. ’25
4th place in Anatomy Physiology Team: Veer B. & Orien L. ’25
5th place in Chem Lab Team: Fiona X. ’24 & Hera L. ’26

2023 Science Olympiad at Virginia Tech Invitational (Division B)
Our school’s Science Olympiad Division B team ranked number 5 among many strong teams across the country.
We’d like to congratulate the following teams who got recognized in the award ceremony.

In 1st place:
Disease Detective: Grace Y. ’27 and Justin Y. ’27
Fast Facts: Rebecca C. ’27 and Sophia W. ’27

In 2nd place:
Anatomy and Physiology: Rebecca C. ’27 and Grace Y. ’27
Forestry: Sophia W. ’27 and Grace Y. ’27
Road Scholar: Rebecca C. ’27 and Ian W. ’27

In 3rd place:
Crave the Wave: Ian W. ’27 and Ellie Z. ’28
Green Generation: Lillian S. ’27 and Grace Y. ’27

In 4th place:
Solar System: Sophia W. ’27 and Justin Y. ’27

In 5th place:
Meteorology: Zain M. ’28 and Sophia W. ’27

Sports

Fencing

Tahiyah H. ’27 won 7th place in woman’s foil Division 2 and 6th place in Junior women’s foil, 5th place in cadet women’s foil at the American Challenge; Tahiyah H. ’27 was awarded the bronze medal at the Super Youth National Competition of the Rockies for youth 14 women’s foil; 3rd place at the National Super Youth Challenge in Cadet Women’s Foil; 3rd place for Junior Women’s Foil at the Nova Knights Regional Youth Competition; 1st place in both Junior and Cadet Women’s foil at RYC River City Rumble. She also won 2nd place in the Y14 women’s foil!

Sahar H. ’31 won 2nd place in the youth 10 women’s foil and 2nd place in the NoVA Knights youth 12, women’s foil, and regional youth competition.

Two young students in track suits with medals around their necks

Fairfax Challenge Fall RYC/RJCC & Y8 (Non-Regional)
Andrew Y. ’32 participated and won 1st place with the GOLD medal in Mixed Y8 Sabre in a fencing tournament (Fairfax Challenge Fall RYC/RJCC & Y8 (Non-Regional))!

Cobra Challenge SYC/RCC/Y8
Andrew Y. ’32 and Aiden L. ’33 won the silver medal and the bronze medal respectively for men’s Y8 saber at the Cobra Challenge SYC/RCC/Y8.

Apex Regional Fencing Tournament
Ifechi O. ‘31 won the gold medal at the Apex Regional Fencing Tournament for Youth 10 Women Epee in Apex, North Carolina.

Teacher in a blue sweatshirt with an award winning student

Karate
King of the Hill
Aaryasinh V. ‘26 won 1st place 🥇 in King of the Hill, a Karate Tournament in the DMV area.

Adult in a suit presenting karate student with medals

Shooting
Shooting XIII CAT Championships Lima 2022
Suman S. ‘23 was in Lima, Peru competing at the Championship of the Americas (CAT Games) in women’s 10-meter Air Pistol, which is an Olympic event. Suman won first place in both individual and group events and secured a quota position for Team USA for the 2024 Olympics.

Dance
National Solo Dance Final (U.S. Figure Skating)
Evelyn Z. ‘28 won 1st place in the National Solo Dance Final! (Bronze Solo Pattern Dance) and a silver medal in the Juvenile Solo Combined Dance.

Art

Scholastic Art Awards
Chelsea H. ’24 received 3 Honorable Mentions, 1 silver key, and 4 Gold keys.

The titles of Chelsea’s awarded works:

A Silkworm Pseudo-science Drawing & Illustration Mclean Honorable- Mention
Urban Flight Painting Honorable- Mention
Seafloor Mixed Media Honorable- Mention
Asian Express Grand Design- Silver Key
Fracking And Fractures Drawing & Illustration- Gold Key
Metamorphosis Drawing & Illustration- Gold Key
Brainstorming Roots To Scientific Fruits Mixed Media- Gold Key
Jiaozi Drawing & Illustration- Gold Key

Piano
The NVMTA Bach Baroque Competition and Festival
Fiona X. ‘24 participated in the Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association (NVMTA) annual Bach-Baroque festival at Columbia Baptist Church, Falls Church VA, and got selected for the second round audition for her piano performance.

All second round performers, whether or not they are chosen to play in the Honors Recital, will be recognized at the Honors Recital. A select number of students from the second round will be chosen to perform in the Honors Recital on Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 pm at Columbia Baptist Church.

The NVMTA Bach Baroque Competition and Festival is an annual event that celebrates the music of Johann Sebastian Bach as well as many other Baroque composers. Only exceptional performers are selected to 2nd round out of dozens of seasoned performers.

Foreign Language

State Latin Convention
Grade 7 Latin students won the State Latin Convention.

Chinese National CLASS Essay Contest
Back in September and October, our grades 8-12 Mandarin students wrote essays to participate in a national-level Chinese Essay Contest: the 19th National CLASS (Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools) Essay Contest, an opportunity brought to them by the high school Mandarin teacher, Ms. Li. Although everyone in the High School Mandarin program submitted an essay, our school could only submit 10 students’ essays. These 10 students were identified as the top 10 at the school level after a thorough evaluation. Students were tasked to craft an original, 2-page essay in Chinese in response to their respective prompts. They worked tirelessly on their essays to compete against other K-12 students around the USA in three categories: Regular, Immersion, or Heritage. Essays were evaluated by a committee of judges. The committee recognized our students’ essays were exceptionally strong!

This month, we were notified that several of our students have won awards! Awards include Gold, Silver, and Honorable Mention.
Gold Award:
Kingston Z. ‘27
Yilin Z. ‘27
Joel C. ’26
Sophia J. ‘26
Angela J. ‘26
Michelle Y. ‘26
Silver Award:
Jessica D. ‘25
Fiona X. ‘24

2022 National Chinese EXPO of Student Works
In December, our Grade 11 Mandarin students participated in the 2022 National Chinese EXPO of Student Works with their video submission of the shadow show: “Nian’s Story.” The 11th-grade students worked extremely hard on this project. They started this project last school year and worked on it this year for the 2023 Lunar New Year Celebration. Students created and drew their own puppets, and backgrounds, and even wrote an original script telling the story of Nian and Xi. It is an important story of why red is such an important color in Chinese culture. This past January, “Nian’s story” won an award for their entry in the 2022 National Chinese EXPO of student Works (NCESW).

Congratulations to:
Haasini A. ‘24
Devin P. ‘24
Justin L. ‘24
Logan S. ‘24
Fiona X. ‘24

Debate Club

Debate Regular-Season Tournament

The team of Rebecca C. ’27 and Chloe G. ’27 went undefeated and took first place in the novice divisions. The teams of freshman Sophia J. ’26, Angela J. ’26, Ben R. ’26, and junior Paulina H. 24 went undefeated in the junior varsity division and took 3rd and 4th places.

The team of Xinyu Y. ’27 and Grace Y. ’27 went undefeated and took 2nd place out of 66 entries in the Novice division, and the team of Ben R. ’26 and Paulina H. ’24 went 3-1 and took 6th place in the Varsity division in their second tournament of the season.

Our debate team participated in its final regular-season tournament of the year. The team of Juniors Shaun J. ’24 and Chelsea H. ’24 went 4-0 and earned first place in the varsity division.

Well done, Red-Tailed Hawks!

BASIS Means Business: Wildcat Edition

February 17, 2023 by msnyder

Upper School students were invited to participate in a new initiative across all BASIS Independent Schools introduced earlier this year.

BASIS Means Business encourages our students to create and innovate as they develop an entrepreneurial business idea and present it in a Shark Tank-style competition.

One finalist from each network school will compete in the finals on Saturday, Feb. 25 (held via Zoom) and the winner will receive $10,000 toward their charity of choice.

On Wednesday, Feb. 15, Pierce B. (’24) and Scarlett S. (’24) presented their ideas to the Upper School student body and our three judges.

The panel of judges included Kirk Murphy (Intro to Business elective teacher), Paul Kim (Wildcat parent and businessman), and Ms. Ermakova (Subject Expert Teacher, Math & Economics).

The presentations were on:

Biowrap – an eco-conscious replacement for plastic wrap (Pierce)

GardEco – Gardens for the urban home (Scarlett)

Both students showed impressive composure and professionalism. As far as the judges were concerned, high marks for both students were given regarding their public speaking. During the Q&A portion, the judges didn’t hold back from asking critical and pointed questions not to be too harsh but because they saw the potential in the students and their ideas. For example, they challenged the students about R&D, the cost of having a zero-carbon facility, and how to monetize online content behind a paywall.

The benefit of this project extended beyond the participants to the audience of high school students. The presenters demonstrated to their peers what it means to lead and set the tone for future competitions. It is clear that while marketing strategies and overall business acumen will always grab everyone’s attention, the foundation of success relies on the manner in which you present yourself and your ideas.

…and the Wildcat advancing to the BASIS Means Business finals is:

Now, the judges agreed that Scarlett has what it takes to go against her competitors from BASIS Independent Brooklyn, McLean, Fremont, Silicon Valley, and Bellevue and bring home the big prize. She has access to all of the resources and support offered by the BASIS Independent Manhattan community to prepare her for success. We look forward to the finals this month, but even more, we are eager to watch this program grow over the years to come.

Math Team Wildcats Win Second at MATHCOUNTS Regionals

February 8, 2023 by msnyder

BASIS Independent Manhattan’s middle school math club participated in the MATHCOUNTS Manhattan Chapter Regional Competition on Feb. 4, 2023. They performed at the top of their game and finished in second place as a Top Team, above the best and brightest teams from a slate of other schools in Manhattan.

We had several stellar performances by our students with Cooper H. (’28) placing third in the individual rankings out of 284 students. There were two more Wildcats who finished in the top 77 participants – Shreyas S. (’28) in 32nd and Alex S. (’27) in 60th.

To prepare for this annual competition, the math club has been meeting weekly for the whole school year to practice problems, complete mock contests, and participate in other competitions. With all of their preparations, the students were exuberant about showing off their skills in the MATHCOUNTS competition.

On the day of the event, our Wildcats showed up and did a fantastic job! Mr. Schuman (Math Club Coach & Subject Expert Teacher, Math) recounted how exciting the announcement of winners turned out to be.

“School team awards were announced starting with eighth place, and as each one was announced I could see our students’ hopes diminish. Then when we heard ‘…and in second place, BASIS Independent Manhattan,’ and a high-decibel roar erupted from our section of the audience.

It was amazing to share in the pure joy and sense of accomplishment that was behind that roar. I am so proud of this math team and all of the hard work that they put into preparing for this event.”

Congratulations to the entire team:

Shreyas S. (’28)
Cooper H. (’27)
Alexander S. (’27)
Itamar L. (’29)
Matthew G. (’28)
Aiden T. (’28)
Shepherd L. (’28)
Michael H. (’29)
Arnav M. (’28)
Deven A. (’29)

The BASIS Independent Manhattan team has advanced to the MATHCOUNTS New York State Competition, which will be held in Saratoga Springs on March 4.

Mr. Schuman summed up how he was feeling with an eye on the future:

I am very pleased with our math team’s performance. We will continue to work on problems and discuss strategies for the remainder of the school year, with the goal of building on our success. My hope is that returning math club students will provide mentorship and leadership that will make our team even stronger. I am also enthusiastic that new students will join the club next year to expand our team’s breadth of knowledge and problem-solving abilities.

About MATHCOUNTS
MATHCOUNTS is a national middle school math enrichment program offering competition and club activities designed to foster an appreciation of math among U.S. students so as to prepare students for future career opportunities and success.