Our Recent Posts
November 1, 2021
The Top 10 FAQs About Our Fall 2022 Opening
Since we announced the opening of BASIS Independent Bellevue this past August, we have met many wonderful families and their student(s). It has been a true pleasure to get to know everyone, introduce them to our program, answer their questions, and meet their students. It has been exciting to meet future musicians, artists, mathematicians, astronauts, micro biologists, engineers, veterinarians, and hear other diverse aspirations from the students we have engaged with.
Our Admissions Team receives a variety of common questions, which we enjoy answering to help families discover our program, approach to learning, and foundational differences. Below are ten frequently asked questions that we receive and that we want to share with you.
If you have a question that is not answered below, please contact us and we will be happy to answer it!
October 8, 2021
The Advantages of Teaching Mandarin in Primary
When families learn about our Primary Program (Grades 2 - 4), they often ask us the same question: “Why do we teach Mandarin to students?”
Mandarin is a required part of the BASIS Curriculum in Grades 2 - 4 because Mandarin provides our early learners with several core development opportunities. Mandarin’s use of written characters for each word provides students with visual and artistic stimulation. How to read and write characters also follows logical patterns that help develop critical thinking and analytical skills.
Introducing Mandarin at an early age promotes the development of interdisciplinary thought and analysis, enabling the students to draw connections between their lessons from many of their subjects such as math, science, art, and even English. The Co-Founders and visionaries behind the BASIS Curriculum intentionally crafted our program for Primary, Middle, and High School to build upon the other and stretch critical thinking and problem solving skills. The inclusion of Mandarin in our Primary Program is just one example of our pedagogical approach.
September 29, 2021
BASIS Independent Schools, Top National Rankings by Niche
The 2022 Niche school rankings are in and BASIS Independent Schools continue to soar! Since first established, the BASIS Independent Schools network has grown to six campuses—three of which have graduating classes—in locations across New York, Northern Virginia, the Bay Area, and the greater Seattle area. Just over five years later, campuses across our network have achieved impressive national recognition.
Niche is the leader in K–12 school rankings and provides in-depth profiles on every school in America using powerful search and data tools. The 2022 Niche Best Private High Schools Rankings are based on a rigorous analysis of key statistics, data, and millions of reviews from students and parents. Ranking factors include SAT/ACT scores, the quality of colleges that students consider, student-teacher ratio, private school ratings, and more. The data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education, Niche users, and the schools directly.
September 24, 2021
Building the Future for Global Education
From a nationally recognized STEM-focused, liberal arts curriculum to an outdoor field, gym, and modernized classrooms, BASIS Independent Bellevue's campus is the centerpiece of our mission to raise critical thinking and problem solving to an international level.
BASIS Independent Bellevue is located in the tree-lined Crossroads and Lake Hills neighborhood between downtown Bellevue and Lake Sammamish. Our school is opening fall 2022 with Grades 2 - 7 to start, and each school year, we will expand into a Middle and High School Program (Grades 5 - 12). We are now accepting applications for Grades 2 - 7.
In our first year, students will engage in a variety of classrooms, a gym, and outdoor field. Initially, our campus will be shared with the Jewish Day School of Bellevue (JDS) for the first several years of our operation. During this first year, BASIS Independent Bellevue students will have a dedicated campus wing of classrooms and administrative offices separate from JDS classrooms and offices. In upcoming phases, BASIS Independent Bellevue will expand into more classrooms. Around the same time, JDS will relocate to a different location in the Seattle-Bellevue metropolitan area, and BASIS Independent Bellevue will become the sole owner of the existing campus and all facilities.
Ready to take a look at our classrooms and more? Let's explore!
September 17, 2021
How our Two-Teacher Model in Primary Makes a Difference
What makes BASIS Independent Schools special? This is a question that I, as Head of School of BASIS Independent Bellevue, receive time and again as I meet new families and get the opportunity to speak to people about our new school opening in Bellevue. While there is not just one answer to this question (as I believe that our school is different in a variety of ways) there is one particular area of our Primary Program that I believe stands out above the rest. This is our two-teacher model involving a Learning Expert Teacher (LET) and Subject Expert Teacher (SET).
“What is an LET and SET?” Well, in an effort to explain what each of these acronyms mean, the roles that they play, and how it all comes together to best support our students, I want to briefly talk about the tandem land navigation exercises that I participated in while in the military. During these training exercises, I would work together with a partner in a two-person team and within this team, each of us had a specific responsibility. One member was responsible for holding the compass and guiding the expedition, so to speak, while the other scanning the area for obstacles or areas of concern. If any such hazards were identified, we would stop, take a moment together to formulate a plan, and then continue on with the mission. In fact, when broken down like this, I believe that our LET/SET teaching model actually works in a very similar way.
August 26, 2021
Her Vision, Your Teachers, and Our Community with Our Head of School.
Ask any BASIS Independent student what they love about our program and “the teachers” is the first thing they mention. It is the passion, dedication, and expertise of our teachers that encourage students to question, make connections, experiment, and take on and apply deep content knowledge.
Ms. Elizabeth Thies, Head of School of BASIS Independent Bellevue, who has been and continues to be a stand out figure in the development of BASIS Curriculum Schools Subject Expert Teachers. Her vision for our school is, “To create a leading and robust learning community that empowers both students and teachers and allows us to work together to best serve the needs of the BASIS Independent Bellevue community.”
“I am passionate about training teachers,” Ms. Thies expressed, “and I look forward to having the opportunity to learn more about our students and working with our faculty to create a school learning environment that is engaging and compels our students to be excited about the learning process.”
August 19, 2021
Admissions FAQ: What to Expect on our Entrance Exam for Fall 2022
Thank you for your interest in BASIS Independent Bellevue for the 2022-23 school year! We are now accepting applications for our founding year for Grades 2 - 7. We will expand a grade level each school year as we grow into a full middle and high school offering.
We are excited to know that you are wanting to participate in an internationally benchmarked program where our teachers ignite passion in the mind, heart, and soul of every student. When students love to learn, they excel!
All applicants are required to take an online BASIS Independent Schools Entrance Exam. This online examination is created, administered, and proctored by BASIS Independent Schools. It is just one requirement of a student's application, which includes a Family Meeting, transcripts, and Math and English Teacher Recommendation Letters.
Listed below, are frequently asked questions about our Admissions Entrance Exam.
August 4, 2021
The Admissions Process: We Invite you to Join our Founding Year!
Participating in the founding year of a school is a unique and memorable opportunity.
And now, you have the chance to become a founding family of BASIS Independent Bellevue—a learning community where intellectual curiosity drives student success, where interdisciplinary instruction meets experiential learning, and where students learn at the highest international levels. Our passionate, Subject Expert Teachers bring our liberal arts program with advanced STEM offerings to life, using their expertise to help students develop deep content knowledge, subject mastery, and comprehensive critical thinking skills.
When applying, each family will work with members of the Admissions Team, whose role is to welcome new families to our program and educate them on the benefits of a BASIS Independent Bellevue education. They are the guides through the application and admissions process.
The 2022–2023 Application is Now Open!
We are now accepting applications in our Rolling Admissions Application Cycle for Grades 2 - 7! Read on to learn more.
July 30, 2021
Attend a Campus Tour of BASIS Independent Bellevue!
There’s nothing quite like discovering a new private school than by stepping onto its campus grounds to learn more about the program and the student learning experience.
We are excited to announce we offering families a tour of BASIS Independent Bellevue as our classrooms undergo renovation. We are offering private campus tours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 4:30 PM and 5:15 PM. Campus tours are on a first come, first served basis and we will accommodate your tour request as best as possible. Tours will last approximately 30 minutes. Our campus is located in the Crossroads neighborhood of Bellevue. Click here to register for a campus tour!
BASIS Independent Bellevue is opening fall 2022 with Grades 2 - 7 to start. Our campus will grow a grade level each school year as we expand to a full 5-12 program. In our program, students participate in a curriculum benchmarked to the best education systems in the world, brought to life by passionate Subject Expert Teachers, and in a culture of support. For these reason and more, our students build a love for learning and achieve extraordinary outcomes as they discover their potential.
July 22, 2021
BASIS Independent Schools - Teacher Recruitment
What does the teacher hiring process look like at BASIS Independent Schools?
Everyone remembers that one teacher—the one that left such a strong impression that you actually started to call English your favorite class even when you’ve always been a “math person.” To paraphrase BASIS Independent Brooklyn French Subject Expert Teacher Mr. Mandeville, at BASIS Independent Schools, all teachers are that one teacher—each one forges a true connection between their students and the lessons being taught, instilling in them an avid love for their subject. Good luck asking one of our students what their favorite class is. They either tell you, “all of them!” or, “it changes each year!”
Our dedication to hiring world-class teachers is one of the reasons our network and students have seen such notable success over the years—from achieving top results on the OECD Test for Schools (based on PISA) and Advanced Placement exams, to our students gaining admission to some of the world’s best colleges, including Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and more. Our robust teacher recruiting process is designed to find and hire high-caliber educators who inspire students to gain the knowledge, confidence, and critical-thinking skills to accomplish whatever they set their minds to.
To help families better understand what goes into ensuring every teacher at school is their child’s favorite teacher, we want to provide you with a look inside our teacher selection and hiring process.
Welcome!
Inspired by the blissful feeling of uncovering connections, our blog Eureka! Bellevue is about sharing moments that capture the essence of what it is to be a BASIS Independent student, teacher, administrator, or family.