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BASIS INDEPENDENT SILICON VALLEY

WELCOME TO BASIS INDEPENDENT SILICON VALLEY.

YOUR COMMUNITY AND YOUR UNBOUNDED OPPORTUNITIES.

WHAT OUR CHIEF SCHOOLS OFFICER SAYS“When I talk to new teachers, I say: It is your job to make these children want more.”

Carolyn McGarvey, BASIS.ed Chief Schools Officer

WHAT OUR TEACHERS SAY“Everyone has that one teacher who has left a lasting impact, who made you love science or love French. Usually, it is just that—one teacher or a handful of teachers who changed your life as a student. At BASIS Independent, we're all that one teacher, striving to foster the most academically rich and engaging experience possible for each of our students.”

Mike Mandeville, French Teacher

“I love teaching at BASIS Independent because every day I get to work with like-minded colleagues who are passionate about education and making their subject come alive for their students. Every teacher and staff member is equally invested in creating and fostering a learning environment that will help our students be successful in the classroom and in the real world.”

Jessica Wolf, Math Teacher

“Teachers at BASIS Independent bring extra enrichment into the classroom. The teachers here have an intimate knowledge of these concepts because of their industry background. They connect concepts to real-world experiences to introduce deeper thinking, comprehension, and creativity. Teachers are encouraged to go outside of their boundaries and bring in their personal flavor and interests to engage and excite students.”

Dr. Anuradha Murthy, Biology Teacher

“Teaching at BASIS Independent enables me to engage my students with the rigor of a college class while sharing my passion and love for my subject area of English. I've never felt more fulfilled in my work as a teacher as I do at BASIS Independent.”

Steve D’Amato, English Teacher

Table of Contents

01 WELCOME

05 TEACHERS + CURRICULUM = UNBOUNDED OPPORTUNITY

Teachers The BASIS.ed Diploma Curriculum The Co-Curriculum: Sports, Clubs & Activities Senior Projects

22 OUR RESULTS Global Results National Results AP/PSAT/ACT/SAT Results AP Seminar & Research

28 STAY IN TOUCH

“ I love that my child is challenged by a rigorous, well-rounded curriculum and I love that he is surrounded by bright, motivated students who help challenge him. He’s absolutely thriving at BASIS Independent and has been truly inspired by engineering and music classes. He loves learning advanced math and history, and in general enjoys being in an “older kid” school with lockers and different teachers for each subject. It’s amazing that he will take Latin, geography, and so many other interesting classes.”

—BASIS Independent Parent

WELCOME!

01

Dear Reader,

Welcome to BASIS Independent Silicon Valley. The following pages showcase the unbounded opportunity that is available to your child as part of the BASIS.ed community.

When the BASIS.ed network of schools was formed in 1998, co-founders Dr. Michael and Olga Block were pursuing the answer to a simple question: What happens when world class academic standards, those upheld in the best education systems around the globe, are combined with the spirit of American creativity, the entrepreneurialism that is so deeply woven into the fabric of our culture?

The answer to this question, discovered in our first school in Arizona, is now the driving force behind our network of 28 schools around the world, a network lauded both for top academic performance and student satisfaction. The answer to the question builds the foundation for a future so bright, a future of unbounded opportunity as our children determine just who they want to be and how they want to carry on their adult lives.

As we look to the future for our children, in this time of great uncertainty and complexity, we acknowledge that to build a rewarding life today requires us both to embrace the adventure of continual redefinition and refinement, but also to hold firm to what is solid and true and timeless. To uphold our great contributions to the world, new skills must be gained and competencies honed. Our program, rooted in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, is designed to foster these new skills and competencies. As much as the BASIS.ed diploma ensures deep content mastery in all disciplines, it stands out in the challenge and opportunity it offers to students. Students stretch the limit of what is possible, combining information and knowledge in novel ways, fueling discovery of self, the world around them, and the world that doesn’t quite exist yet.

The following pages tell only the partial story of BASIS Independent Silicon Valley. We invite you to immerse yourself in our community. Visit us for an Information Session, explore our website, or talk to our parents, students, and teachers. What you will find is an intimate learning community preparing students to be participants, not spectators, in the 21st Century world of commerce and innovation.

Sincerely,

Peter Bezanson CEO BASIS.ed

WELCOME!

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BASIS.ed EDUCATES STUDENTS TO THE HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL LEVELS

04

HOW?

TEACHERS +CURRICULUM =

UNBOUNDEDOPPORTUNITY

0505

HOW?



TEACHERS + CURRICULUM = UNBOUNDED OPPORTUNITY It really is very simple. Ask any BASIS.ed student what makes their school different and they will first tell you, “the teachers.” Teachers who love teaching, teach students to love learning.

We believe that high-level subject matter expertise, coupled with the passion to inspire students, are the most important ingredients to teach content knowledge, creative thinking, and problem solving to the highest international levels.

Thus, our teacher recruitment process is highly selective and we hire only the most qualified teachers. Upon selection as top candidates, prospective teachers are challenged to teach a lesson during one of our regular Demo-Teach Days. Only the teachers who are highly ranked by both students and faculty are hired to be BASIS.ed teachers.

At BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, the classroom is sacrosanct and student–teacher interaction is the essential CO-CREATIVE educational activity. The value we place on nurturing this relationship is evident in how we allocate our resources and the deep signs of respect we show toward teachers and the learning process.

Teachers open the minds of our students to their disciplines and teach them how to learn. This true partnership and mutual respect is unmistakable in our academic community. Dialogue flows freely. Support—academic and otherwise—is always available. Students grow to learn that they can always find a champion in their teachers. Our teachers are answerable with regard to ensuring they establish and nurture this connection with each student.

BASIS.ed teachers are authentic professionals. They work in a collegial culture in which they are held professionally accountable for student learning. That responsibility is complemented by the freedom we accord them as professionals to craft their own classroom learning culture so that they are able to do what they do best: light the fire of learning in every child.

06 TEACHERS

“BASIS Independent instilled a love of learning in my daughters and challenged them in ways I didn’t realize was possible. I had underestimated my kids. They now adore school, since they feel challenged and are engaged more than ever.”

—BASIS Independent Parent

THE TEACHER AUTONOMY & ACCOUNTABILITYBASIS.ed does not write curriculum; we manage it. What does that mean? It means that we choose the subjects to be taught and set the standards for the scope and sequence of instruction in that subject. Teachers who are new to BASIS.ed quickly discover that ours is a system that balances the accountability of common high standards across the network with the pedagogic autonomy to develop innovative ways to meet these standards. BASIS.ed will never hand a teacher a fully written curriculum for a course, but we will provide structured guidance in the form of common standards, common exams based on those standards, and a network of “Subject Advisors”—mentor teachers sprinkled throughout our schools—to assist and support.

The creative tension between the autonomy that our expert teachers value so highly, and the common aspects of shared accountability that enables BASIS.ed to maintain academic quality control across the network, is the nexus at the heart of our classroom learning culture. We are able to preserve this level of autonomy for our teachers by agreeing upon these common principles.

WE BELIEVE:1. Children can achieve more than we have commonly been told. With

hard work, dedication and the support of teachers and parents, 3rd graders can think critically, 6th graders can learn Physics, and High School students can read Critical Theory and Philosophy.

2. Instructional time is precious. Every minute of every class should be filled.

3. Mastering the basics is the precondition for going beyond them. Students learn to listen for the music of Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter and to decipher the crucial details in a historical primary source, but they must also be able to parse the grammar of a sentence and craft concise and persuasive prose.

4. Homework, as long as it is an extension of what is being learned in the classroom, is valuable. Practice helps students achieve mastery.

5. High-stakes, summative tests that assess content mastery and learning skills (BASIS.ed Comprehensive Exams and the College Board Advanced Placement Exams for example) are foundational for learning.

6. The evaluation of teacher performance must be based both on classroom instruction and on student learning results on high-stakes assessments.

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The BASIS.ed Diploma prepares students to participate in the dynamic and unpredictable world of 21st Century commerce and innovation. Students who earn this diploma grow in our classrooms to love learning and the pursuit of deeper understanding. They experience the delight of mastering fields of complex knowledge and of developing the habits of disciplined, critical enquiry. Above all, they have the best possible educational foundation to be independent and resourceful problem solvers and to face future challenges. It is their choice what career opportunities they pursue and intellectual decisions they make in the future. It is our job to fully prepare them to succeed in those choices.

All BASIS.ed schools share a common curriculum and common assessments (including AP exams and BASIS.ed’s own Comprehensive Exams), which are used to assess both student mastery and faculty performance. Successful teachers are rewarded through substantial merit-based bonuses.

The scope and sequence of the BASIS.ed Diploma is determined by these practices.

We define opportunity for our students in GLOBAL terms. In the 21st Century we can no longer conceive of opportunity for the next generation as confined to a city, a state or even a nation. Hence, we commit to teaching our students to the highest global standards so that they can win admission to the best universities in the world and compete in a global professional marketplace.

Founded by two economists, from our earliest days our schools have been committed to the smart, network-wide use of student performance data. We hold ourselves ACCOUNTABLE to use the insights this data provides to sustain and improve learning outcomes for our students.

TEACHERS + CURRICULUM = UNBOUNDED OPPORTUNITY

The BASIS.ed Diploma

We teach our students to achieve MASTERY of the foundational academic disciplines and competencies, for it is that mastery which will empower their future lives and careers. In our classrooms they face extraordinary challenges, and they grow accustomed to the unwavering support of the faculty.

We have a course of study that is CONNECTED from the student’s academic start in Preschool to its finish with Senior Projects. Our curriculum is carefully calibrated so that in every discipline and at every grade level, students are appropriately challenged and excited by their learning, and each year builds as a preparation for the challenges to come.

Our approach to the use of TECHNOLOGY in education is highly focused: we use technology to help us solve problems of scale, to help create the connective tissue that joins a network of schools into an integrated system with data-driven quality control and the sharing of best practices, and to ensure that curricular decisions and innovations are driven by our master teachers, not a top-down centralized bureaucracy.

In terms of the integration of technology in the classroom itself, we believe that technology is one of many tools available to teachers to engage and inspire students to take ownership of their learning experience. However, devices cannot replace the dynamic, CO-CREATIVE classroom interaction between teacher and student. We have developed our own tablet-based electronic learning platform to enhance, not replace the role of the teacher. Our belief is that technological competency with industry-standard hardware and software is a key skill necessary to thrive in our modern academic, professional and personal lives.

We create a learning culture in which diverse PERSPECTIVES are challenged and tested in an environment of informed thought and collegiality. Our students must be prepared to productively and decently navigate the uncertainty of the 21st Century landscape with a profound humility. By engaging with a variety of global perspectives, our students are empowered to make their own decisions about how they will navigate their world. As a learning community, we do not hide from the conflict and struggle that ensues. We revel in it as a vital component in the maturation of our students and the evolution of their most deeply held convictions.

“All the teachers are helpful and caring, and they make sure that no student feels left out. The teachers are also really nice and do their best to help their students succeed. If you ever need extra help, teachers are happy to help during lunch and off ice hours, and they are even happy to set up appointments to help.”

—BASIS Independent Student

08 BASIS.ed CURRICULUM

10 BASIS.ed CURRICULUM

THE STUDENT IN THE CLASSROOM: THE ACADEMIC JOURNEY FROM PRESCHOOL TO SENIOR PROJECTSFrom Preschool to senior year, the academic program is divided into five divisions:

1. EARLY YEARS: PRESCHOOL–KINDERGARTEN, DISCOVERY AND FOUNDATIONPreschool and Kindergarten are both taught in self-contained classrooms. During these years, each classroom has an assigned Early Education Teacher and an Early Education Teaching Fellow who has at least a Bachelor’s degree, and who aspires to become an Early Education Teacher. The Early Education Teacher is responsible for most of the instruction. However, in specialized disciplines such as Mandarin and Engineering, a Subject Expert Teacher replaces the Early Education Teacher.

The Preschool learning environment is carefully designed to encourage a child's natural curiosity to question, to create, and to discover. We focus on nurturing a rich, enjoyable, and intentional learning experience. Early Education Teachers specifically facilitate opportunities for children to interact with materials in a thoughtful and intentional manner and encourage children to use their imagination and creativity to ask questions, and to use their own reasoning to organically learn from, and make connections to, the world around them.

Following on the heels of this program, Kindergarten lays the foundation for success in school during the years to come. This success is based not only on the acquisition of foundational concepts and skills, but also on the adoption of scholarly habits and the immersion in a culture which values learning above all other endeavors.

2. PRIMARY YEARS: GRADES 1–3, TEACHING TO LEARNStarting in Grade 1, BASIS.ed students are no longer in a self-contained classroom. In every discipline, a Subject Expert Teacher (SET) who specializes in that discipline (Humanities, Math, Science, Engineering, Art, Mandarin, etc.) teaches the students. Across all disciplines, the Learning Expert Teacher (LET), who focuses on effective pedagogy, co-teaches with the SET.

The role of the LET is to make sure that students understand what they are being taught, and that every individual student is working to the absolute best of his/her personal ability. The LET travels with his/her students throughout the school day and is always there to aid in the scholastic development of students. LETs provide a high level of progress monitoring, parent communication and enrichment to all students and their families.

The synergy of the SET and LET facilitates a relatively rapid transition from instruction in foundational skills and knowledge to independent thinking and active learning in the primary grades. Heavy emphasis is placed on making connections between disciplines through the reiteration of key concepts throughout the curriculum, fostering the move from the acquisition to application of knowledge.

“I like the atmosphere in this school. I like how everyone is academically challenging themselves. Rather than competing against one another, we are all looking for ways to help each other better ourselves. I like the fact that I’m competing against the ‘me’ rather than the people around me because I’m trying to be a better person —not a better rival.”


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3. BRIDGE YEARS: GRADES 4 AND 5, FROM CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT THINKINGIn Grades 4 and 5, students graduate from the two-teacher model and are taught exclusively by SETs, most of whom have advanced degrees in the field they teach. This builds on the independence fostered in the Primary Years and allows students more independence in—but also more responsibility for—their education.

As the name indicates, the Bridge Years transport students from the foundational years to an intermediate program focused on mastering basics necessary for a college-preparatory curriculum. In particular, instruction focuses on attaching abstract thinking to concrete thinking: students transition from reading comprehension to interpretation, from data collection to data analysis, and from mathematical calculation to mathematical reasoning. Courses unique to the Bridge Years include Latin, Classics, and Physical Geography.

4. THE INTERMEDIATE YEARS: GRADES 6–8, KNOWLEDGE AS A TOOLDuring these years, BASIS.ed students complete a rigorous schedule of pre-Advanced Placement courses in all core disciplines, including the three sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Biology), Economics, and a course in Logic.

It is in these Intermediate Years that our students come to understand knowledge as a tool. They begin to glimpse what mastery of the fundamental concepts skills and material in these various disciplines will afford them. They learn that amassing skills and facts is a step toward the more creative thinking required of the college-level coursework they will tackle in High School.

5. THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS: GRADES 9–12, THINKING FOR PROBLEM-SOLVINGBeginning with a demonstration of mastery in required pre-AP and AP courses in English, Math, Science and Social Science, BASIS.ed High School students further develop their ability to think independently and creatively in Post-AP and Capstone courses and independent research projects.

The High School program culminates in a 3-month, off-site, independent project that is proposed and constructed by the students under the guidance of both an internal BASIS.ed faculty adviser and an external, professional specialist in the field of the student’s choosing. The Senior Project is the most evolved phase of the BASIS.ed Diploma. It gives students the opportunity to apply their academic content knowledge in a professional or research setting, and to demonstrate individual accountability and a facility for problem-solving. BASIS.ed graduates thus leave the High School program prepared to be leaders in college and beyond.

12 THECO-CURRICULUM

THE CO-CURRICULUM: SPORTS, CLUBS & ACTIVITIES

Our school’s co-curricular energy and range is evident in the clubs, sports teams, and activities we offer to complement our academic program. On their teams and in their clubs, students make life-long friends, have great fun, and develop passions and interests that are often life-defining. BASIS Independent Silicon Valley teaches students to be participants in their own learning, and thus we deliberately empower students to guide the school’s co-curriculum. At the beginning of each year, we survey students to determine their interests, and our faculty explicitly encourages them to develop their own programs.

In a few short years, BASIS Independent Silicon Valley students have gained local and national awareness for their talents. One 8th grade student was recently named as Broadcom MASTERS Semifinalist, while another group of students won the National History Bee in Chicago. BASIS Independent Silicon Valley is also home to our very own 9th grade entrepreneur who runs Green Kids Now, Inc., a nonprofit charity designed to raise environmental awareness (and he's a published author!).

“There is so much opportunity in this school: clubs, electives, school events, teamwork, and spirit are all great things I see every day.”


SPORTS, CLUBS & ACTIVITIES AT BASIS INDEPENDENT SILICON VALLEY

Below is a list of the current clubs and activities available to students at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley. Our offerings change and grow in response to the interests and passions of our vibrant student community.

CLUBS

Business/ EconomicsDECA

EnglishBook ClubCreative Writing & Literary Mgzn.National Scripps Spelling Bee

Fine ArtsA Capella GroupArt ClubFilm ClubIndian Dance ClubJazz EnsembleNational Art Honor SocietyNational Junior Arts Honor SocietyPops ChoirRock, Pop n’ Soul Club

History/Social ScienceAcademic DecathlonNational History BeeMock TrialModel United NationsNational Geography BeeNational History Day

Science/MathBiology OlympiadEnvironmental ClubMath CircleMathEdgeNational Science Honor SocietyNeuroscience ClubScience Bowl

Science/Math (continued)Science Fair Program: - Broadcom Masters - Intel Science Talent Search - Synopsys Science FairScience Olympiad

Student SocietiesLeadershipNational Junior Classics LeagueNational Honor SocietyNational Junior Honor Society

Technology & EngineeringCar Builder’s ClubGirls Who Code ClubRobotics Club:- FLL- FTC- VRC- VEXTechnovation/Girls Tech Club

Other ClubsAdopt-a-Class ClubAmerican Red Cross Club Anime ClubARK ClubChess ClubCrane ClubInternational Cuisine ClubKey ClubSpeech & DebateTed Ed. ClubYearbookZenith Tutoring

ATHLETICS

Fall: Sept–DecBasketball: - Boys Middle School - Boys High School - Girls Middle School - Girls High SchoolSoccer: - Boys High School- Boys Middle School- Girls Middle SchoolTennis: - Experienced Tennis - Novice Tennis Volleyball: - Girls High SchoolCross Country; Fencing; Golf; Table Tennis

Winter: Jan–Mid FebBasketball: - Boys Middle School - Boys High School - Girls High SchoolSoccer - Boys High School - Boys Middle School - Girls Middle SchoolFencing; Table Tennis

Spring: Mid-Feb–MayBadminton: - Boys and Girls High School Tennis - Experienced Tennis - Novice Tennis Volleyball: - Boys High School - Girls Middle SchoolFencing; Golf; Table Tennis

NOTE: All programs are subject to change based on participation rate and advisor availability



The BASIS.ed Diploma prepares students to be participants, not spectators in the

21st Century world of commerce and innovation.

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16 SENIORPROJECTS

Senior Projects Our promise to you is that, at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, your child will face extraordinary challenges and grow accustomed to our unwavering support. That is how all of our students—each of our children—build lives for themselves.

The goal of the BASIS.ed Diploma is to ensure that students have the opportunity to make great choices in their future lives. The proof that our program accomplishes this vital goal lies in our Senior Projects, the culmination of our diploma, and in our college acceptances. In their three-month-long Senior Project, our students take the academic content knowledge and skills they have mastered in our classrooms into the real world to apply knowledge and to develop competency in solving problems and creating new knowledge.

The following is a selection of Senior Projects from the Class of 2016. For a full listing of Senior Projects in 2015 and 2016, please visit our website.

FAULTY FORENSIC EVIDENCE AND FALSE CONVICTIONS Rachel Kuntz | Arizona Innocence Project

In criminal law, the standard to convict is beyond a reasonable doubt. Due to this incredibly high standard, expert testimony is key to a jury’s verdict, and forensic evidence is the “proof” many juries need to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. But not all forensic sciences are created equally, and faulty forensic evidence can have drastic consequences. The Arizona Innocence Project has a number of cases in which scientifically inaccurate forensic evidence was used to falsely convict, leaving

innocent people in prison for decades. Here, we show the relationship between faulty science and false conviction. By working with these cases hands-on in the aftermath of conviction, we can examine how this evidence directly affects convictions and how the truth about its scientific invalidity can be hidden from jurors, judges, and defendants. Our justice system is meant to be based in truth and evidence, and improperly relying on forensic evidence can not only convict an innocent person, but it can set free a guilty one.

TEACHERS + CURRICULUM = UNBOUNDED OPPORTUNITY

“ Our input as faculty is not just received and cataloged but then is brought out regularly and puzzles are put together and inquiry is fed. At the end, something greater than the sum of its parts happens.”

—Dr. Stephen Speyer, Biology Teacher, Senior Project Advisor

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NEPHROLOGY’S HIDDEN NEMESIS: A LOOK INTO THE BK VIRUS AND ITS RELATION TO IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE AGENTSAlex Nica | Mayo Clinic

If you were to ask a random person what they thought is the most transplanted organ, the answer would most likely be heart, liver, or lung. In reality, the need for kidneys is more than double that of the next most needed organ. With demand so high, it is important that the relatively few people who can get a kidney transplant keep it functioning well for as long as possible. It is here where the BK virus, the

topic of this research project, becomes relevant. Once a transplant recipient is on an immunosuppressive regimen, the often asymptomatic BK virus reactivates (in about 10% of kidney transplants), proliferates, and can ultimately lead to the destruction of the graft. For this study, a literature review of journal articles on BK nephropathy (spanning the past decade) was conducted to analyze if there is a correlation between more heavy use of immunosuppressants in recent years and an overall increase in BK nephropathy after transplant. Findings—based on data collected from various journal articles through Pubmed—suggest a positive correlation between increased immunosuppressant use and an increase in the incidence of BK nephropathy. In addition, data regarding which risk factors will most likely result in nephropathy or graft rejection have also been analyzed. For BK nephropathy, preemptive monitoring and treatment is much more effective than retroactively trying to curtail the disease. My research indicates a startling trend, so that appropriate immunosuppressant regimens may be established sooner rather than later.

CARING FOR THE FUTURE (ELDER CARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW) Sammy Kanungo | CareArbo

This project aims to understand the very pressing issue of elderly care from two different points of view: the first being a medical and sociological point of view, and the second being that of a startup business attempting to address that issue. As the baby boomer generation begins to enter retirement in the United States, the need for convenient and cost-effective care for the elderly arises in a dramatic fashion.

However, it is not just the United States facing this problem; India’s population, due to declining fertility rates and higher life expectancy, will be comprised of nearly 20% (323 million people) elderly by 2050. Currently, obtaining qualified care for elderly loved ones can reach costs of over $80,000 per year, an unsustainable and unobtainable rate for many. In order to find out how one might go about finding a solution to this problem, I followed a startup company in its developing stages to observe the necessary steps and research needed, which included a vast amount of targeted market research and surveying of public opinion. Research such as this remains vital to obtaining success in the entrepreneurial world and allows for the creation of solutions to problems that people may not yet realize are present but will soon become apparent.

“It is a very creative school that combines children’s best skills with learning more and more in life. I am happy that my school has put me in a place where I can express myself, my thoughts, and ideas freely to my teachers, who are extremely skilled and knowledgeable about the subjects that they are teaching.”


18 SENIORPROJECTS

THE WAR AGAINST ALGAE GROWTHEvelyn Scollick | Biosphere 2

The steady decline in our oceans’ pH levels has seen devastating effects on marine life everywhere, from coral bleaching to the endangerment of hundreds of species. Along with this ocean acidification, we have seen an increase in harmful algae blooms which deplete the oxygen levels in the surrounding water, creating dead zones where no animals can live. These blooms also release harmful toxins effecting both fish and, as a result, all living creatures down the food chain as they ingest these toxins too,

including us fish-eaters. Over a billion people get food from oceans by subsistence fishing. It seems that as the greenhouse gases in the air continue to rise, and the CO2 continues to dissolve into the ocean making it more and more acidic, the more hopeless it feels to ever be able to counteract such pressing concerns. This project has two aims: the first of which is to observe a correlation between the changing ocean conditions and the algae that grows in the different environments, by studying how and what type of algae grows in different pH and UV environments; the second is to develop a solution to aid in the ever-growing problem of algae growth and its effect on the marine life around it.

THE MUSICAL KEY TO OUR BRAINCaleb Price | ASU CoNi Lab (Communication Neuroimaging and Neuroscience Lab)

The purpose of my project is to determine how music induces the powerful emotions we feel in the brain. Through this research, I will then be able to create a formula based on the patterns in the music I analyze and thereby compose my own piece to test the validity of my formula. While a person listens to a piece of music, the brain will subconsciously anticipate what will happen next in the music and eventually signal dopamine transmitters to be released in the brain at the climax

of the piece. While music can be felt in many different ways, essentially the two reactions that occur in the brain are an emotional and a physical reaction to this musical climax. I employed a behavioral survey that asked participants questions about their emotional and physical reactions to 1 out of 10 pieces of music, each selected by its emotional use in films. From the data I have gathered, I have observed that the brain anticipates more with suspenseful, intense music at the beginning which then increases the satisfaction of a climatic musical resolution and thereby creates the powerful reactions that an audience feels while listening. Though somewhat obvious, it illustrates music’s power when used correctly in influencing an audience to feel the same powerful emotion in a movie scene. It shows how music draws people together in a raw experience of emotion and is capable of making different people from different worlds relate on the single fact of human nature.

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OUR RESULTS

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OUR RESULTS

22 GLOBALRESULTS

Global Results

IF THE BASIS.ed LEARNING COMMUNITY WERE A NATION, IT WOULD BE THE TOP-RANKED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

In a world of accelerated change, students need more than what traditional education offers. When journalists report that the United States is lagging behind educational systems around the world, they are usually referring to results on a common exam given to 15-year-olds around the world: the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Test for Schools, based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).Often used as an international benchmarking tool, results from the test are comparable to existing PISA scales so schools can compare their performance to other countries and school systems around the world.

Why does this test matter? What's striking about this exam is that it is a test of applied knowledge. Memorizing facts and figures alone won’t get students a high score. The test assesses problem solving and critical thinking; to do well, students need to think beyond the boundaries of each subject and explore how they relate to each other in a real-world, problem-solving context.

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2016 OECD TEST FOR SCHOOLS RESULTSBASIS.ed-Managed Schools vs. Other Educational Systems

MATH

641 BASIS Independent Silicon Valley

626 BASIS.ed

613 Shanghai-China

573 Singapore

554 Korea

536 Japan

519 Finland

518 Canada

518 Poland

514 Germany

496 U.S. Private Schools

494 United Kingdom

487 Portugal

481 United States

413 Mexico

391 Brazil

READING

609 BASIS.ed


570 Shanghai-China

542 Singapore

538 Japan

536 Korea


524 Finland

523 Canada

518 Poland

508 Germany

499 United Kingdom

498 United States

488 Portugal

424 Mexico

410 Brazil

SCIENCE


611 BASIS.ed

580 Shanghai-China

551 Singapore

547 Japan

545 Finland

538 Korea

526 Poland

525 Canada

524 Germany


514 United Kingdom

497 United States

489 Portugal

415 Mexico

405 Brazil

2016 INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS' ASSESSMENT (ISA) Average Score in All Subjects

GRADE 3 GRADE 4 GRADE 5

335

426463

382

492

428

Source: OECD Test for Schools, 2016. BASIS.ed results are from the 2016 OECD Test for schools. Results for all other countries and educational systems are from the 2012 PISA. The 2016 OECD Test for Schools was designed to enable international benchmarking against results from the 2012 PISA. BASIS Independent Silicon Valley was the only Independent school in the BASIS.ed network to participate in 2016.

BASIS Independent Brooklyn was the only U.S.-based Independent school in the BASIS.ed network to participate in 2016. Source: International Schools' Assessment, 2016.

BASIS Independent Schools All Schools

24 NATIONALRESULTS

National Results

The Washington Post—America’s Most Challenging High Schools 2016 #1 BASIS Oro Valley, #2 BASIS Flagstaff, #4 BASIS Tucson North, BASIS Chandler, BASIS Peoria, and

BASIS Scottsdale are on the list of “Top-Performing Schools with Elite Students”

2015 #1 BASIS Oro Valley; #2 BASIS Chandler; #6 BASIS Tucson North BASIS Scottsdale is on the list of “Top-Performing Schools with Elite Students”

2014 #10 BASIS Tucson North BASIS Scottsdale is on the list of “Top-Performing Schools with Elite Students”

2013 BASIS Scottsdale and BASIS Tucson North are on the list of “Top-Performing Schools with Elite Students”

2012 #1 BASIS Tucson; #5 BASIS Scottsdale

2011 #4 BASIS Tucson

U.S. News & World Report—Best High Schools Rankings

2016 #2 BASIS Scottsdale: #1 charter school, #4 STEM school; #3 BASIS Tucson North: #2 charter school, #6 STEM school; #6 BASIS Oro Valley: #3 charter school; Bronze Medal - BASIS Chandler

2015 #2 BASIS Scottsdale, #3 STEM school, #1 charter school; Bronze Medal - BASIS Oro Valley and BASIS Tucson North

2014 #2 BASIS Scottsdale, #15 STEM school, #1 charter school; #5 BASIS Tucson North, #3 STEM school, #3 charter school

2013 #2 BASIS Tucson; #5 BASIS Scottsdale


2011 U.S. News did not perform ranking




Newsweek—America’s Best High Schools

2014 Schools offering grade levels below grade 7 (like BASIS.ed-managed schools) are no longer eligible for Newsweek's ranking.

2013 #3 BASIS Scottsdale; #7 BASIS Tucson North

2012 #3 BASIS Scottsdale; #5 BASIS Tucson







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Sources: US News & World Report National Universities Ranking and US News & World Report National Liberal Arts Colleges Ranking, 2016. College acceptance information self-reported by students. Naviance, 2016.

2016 ACCEPTANCE RATE TO TOP 50 US NEWS & WORLD REPORT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

BASIS Independent Silicon Valley

Total BASIS.ed Network of Schools

64.3% of students

42.0% of students

Sources: Advanced Placement results: The College Board, 2016. College Acceptances self-reported by students. Naviance, 2016. *The Class of 2016 was BASIS Independent Silicon Valley's inaugural graduating class.

College Acceptances The BASIS.ed Diploma prepares students to excel in some of the world's most prestigious colleges and universities. Below are a handful of facts and figures highlighting some of the accomplishments of BASIS.ed Class of 2016. For more information, including a full list of acceptances for the Class of 2016, please visit our school website.

2016 BASIS Independent Silicon Valley Graduates

All 2016 US Graduates

42.9% 3.3%

2016 GRADUATES EARNING RECOGNITION AS NATIONAL MERIT COMMENDED SCHOLARS OR BETTER

Source: National Merit Scholarship Corporation, 2016.

Total College Acceptances

BASIS.ed Network of

Schools


1770 110

BASIS.ed GRADUATES: CLASS OF 2016 COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES

Total # of Graduates

BASIS.ed Network of

Schools


352 14*

Average # of College Acceptances per Graduate

BASIS.ed Network of

Schools


5 7.9

26 RESULTS

2016 GRADUATES: MEAN SCORES ON COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS

*Sources: ACT and the College Board, 2016.

PSAT SCORES ACT SCORES

SAT 1600 SCORES SAT 2400 SCORES

UNITED STATES

141


214

UNITED STATES

21

UNITED STATES

1006

UNITED STATES

1490


2144


1484


31

27Source: The College Board, 2016.

Participating Schools: BASIS Scottsdale and BASIS Tucson North. Source: The College Board, 2016.

2016 ADVANCED PLACEMENT RESULTS: AP SEMINAR AND AP RESEARCH

BASIS.ed United States

AP SEMINAR AP RESEARCH AP SEMINAR AP RESEARCH

2016 ADVANCED PLACEMENT RESULTS: ALL EXAMS

AVERAGE SCORE PASS RATE

BASIS Independent Silicon Valley BASIS.ed United States

Average Score Pass Rate4.1

2.9

3.9

3.0

98.6%

71.9%

92.0%

67.1%

3.70

2.85

3.91 88.1%84.4%

57.5%

The AP Capstone Course was specifically created to challenge the most intellectually gifted and ambitious students in the most elite public and private schools in the nation with rigorous college-level research. BASIS.ed students score significantly higher than even this highly exclusive group of top performers.

Stay in Touch BASIS Independent Silicon Valley was one of the founding schools in the family of independent schools quickly establishing some of the very best college preparatory programs in the world. See below for the many ways you can stay in touch with us and learn more about the experience as a BASIS Independent family.

BASIS Independent Silicon Valley Established Fall 2014 | Grades 5–12 blog.basisindependent.com/silicon-valley facebook.com/BINSCA [email protected] siliconvalley.basisindependent.com (408) 291 0907

BASIS Independent Brooklyn Established Fall 2014 | Preschool–Grade 12 [email protected] brooklyn.basisindependent.com (718) 643 6302

BASIS Independent Fremont Established Fall 2016 | Kindergarten–Grade 8 [email protected] fremont.basisindependent.com (510) 775 5822

BASIS Independent McLean Established Fall 2016 | Preschool–Grade 12 [email protected] mclean.basisindependent.com (703) 854 1253

BASIS Independent Manhattan Opening Fall 2017 | Kindergarten–Grade 8 [email protected] manhattan.basisindependent.com (646) 522 3058

BASIS International School Shenzhen Established Fall 2015 | Preschool–Grade 12 [email protected] basisinternationalsz.com +86 755 2361 6666

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