When Francina Dominguez moved from Tucson, Ariz., to Champaign-Urbana last year, she discovered that her two daughters — who attended a BASIS charter school in Arizona — had no such choice here.
But that hasn’t stopped the University of Illinois assistant professor in the department of atmospheric sciences from trying to start one of the schools in C-U.
A BASIS charter school is a public, academically rigorous school that is managed by BASIS.ed, which has schools in Arizona, Texas and Washington D.C. There are three types of BASIS schools: free, open-enrollment public charter schools; tuition-based domestic metro-area private schools; and tuition-based international private schools.
Dominguez, whose two daughters attended BASIS in Arizona, would like to bring the free public school to C-U.
“They’re very academically oriented,” Dominguez said. “It’s more rigorous than regular public schools. Academic excellence is the most important thing. But you don’t have to test into them, and they’re free. So you find children of all socioeconomic backgrounds.”
To start the process of getting a school in C-U, Dominguez hopes those who are interested will visit BringBASIS.com and fill out a two-minute survey. A representative from BASIS.ed indicated that 800-1,000 students would need to express interest from one area to initiate the creation of a school.
According to the BASIS website, “to educate students to the highest international standards, we teach a robust Liberal Arts and STEM-focused curriculum that requires, at various points in a student’s academic course of study, classes in logic, economics, fine arts, music, drama, engineering, and world history, to name just a few.”
Several of BASIS’ Arizona schools have been nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report.
Dominguez said the BASIS schools so popular in Arizona that waiting lists were created. Typically, a middle school and high school are created to start, with an elementary school to follow.
“I think having it in the community is a really important resource,” she said. “For the children that are academically inclined, you have a really top notch school. This is one of the best in the world. It would be good for any community to have a BASIS school, regardless of what your preferences are. It’s great to attract potential faculty members to the community. It’s a draw for the community to have this resource.”
To learn more about BASIS, visit its website. You can also write to Dominguez directly at basis4champaign@gmail.com or find her project on Facebook.