Top-ranked Scottsdale Basis school eyes expansion, new campus
Basis Scottsdale, a charter school ranked among the top-performing high schools in the country, plans to nearly double its capacity by building a two-story campus on 9 acres in north Scottsdale, according to plans filed with the city.
Construction on the school, planned to hold grades 4 through 12, could start by March and be ready in time for the new school year in August. The campus will feature upgraded science labs for chemistry, new labs for biology, a large outdoor courtyard, full-size gym and more classrooms, Basis spokeswoman Katie Sarvas said.
Why Basis ranks highly
Basis Scottsdale is part of a charter network that includes 16 Basis campuses in Arizona, two in Texas and one in Washington, D.C. The Scottsdale school is ranked No. 2 nationally among high schools by U.S. News & World Report.
The school ranks highly in large part due to its rigorous curriculum and students' high performance on national testing. Basis Scottsdale boasts a 100 percent participation rate in Advanced Placement courses, with the average student taking about 10 AP exams, according to U.S. News & World Report. The students pass about 96 percent of those exams, which typically count for college credit.
Increasing capacity
As a charter school, Basis admits students through open enrollment and free of tuition, though there is an extensive waiting list for admission. The existing middle and high school campus in Scottsdale has a waiting list of more than 500 kids, Sarvas said.
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Cramped conditions at the existing middle- and high-school campus — at 136th Street and Via Linda Drive near Mayo Clinic — have forced Basis to restrict the number of incoming fifth-graders to less than half of the number the school could serve based on community demand, Sarvas said. Meanwhile, the lack of substantial outdoor space or a full-size gym limits the opportunity for extracurricular activities, she said.
Building a larger campus, less than 2 miles away at Shea Boulevard and 128th Street, is expected to resolve those issues by boosting capacity from about 740 students to about 1,200, Sarvas said. The school will be tied with a new Basis Chandler campus as the largest in the charter network, Sarvas said.
Neighborhood concerns
The expansion plans have sparked backlash from some residents in the area who are concerned about traffic around the campus, which would sit on the already busy Shea Boulevard corridor.
More than 42,000 cars pass through the intersection of Shea and 124th Street just west of the planned campus each day, according to city data. That's nearly the same number passing through the intersection of Scottsdale and Indian School roads, in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale, data show.
Opponents have formed a coalition and launched a website, basisschoolnews.org, encouraging concerned residents to attend two upcoming city hearings: the Scottsdale Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 13 and the Development Review Commission meeting on Jan. 21.
"It is important that we collectively consider all apparent and hidden impacts, consequences, injuries and costs from Basis' intended plan," the group wrote in a letter to neighbors.
The Basis spokeswoman said school officials have worked with city officials for months to create a traffic plan they say will work efficiently for the neighborhood.
"We have every confidence that the latest version of the traffic plan satisfies all concerns raised by the neighborhood," Sarvas said.
Basis secured up to $100 million in bonds through the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority last October to build new campuses in Scottsdale and Chandler, renovate three other schools and refinance existing debt. The IDA provides tax-exempt financing for community projects. Unlike public districts, charter schools lack the ability to ask voters to approve bonds backed by property taxes.
The old Scottsdale campus will become the new home of Basis Scottsdale Primary, which will serve students in kindergarten through third grade. The school will cap its capacity at about 520 students, Sarvas said.
Last year, Basis Scottsdale was one of only four Arizona schools with six National Merit scholarship winners, with selections based on test scores, grade-point averages, extracurricular activities and leadership skills. That included senior Anvita Gupta, who was also named by Intel Corp. as one of the world's top young scientists after she developed a computer program to identify potential drugs to treat cancer, tuberculosis and Ebola.
About Basis
The Basis network was established in 1998 and has grown to 6,000 students. The Scottsdale campus opened in 2003.
The Basis curriculum focuses on science, technology, engineering and math. Students have the option to graduate after 11th grade, but most stay and participate in the school's senior projects and capstone courses, according to Basis.
Three Basis schools were ranked among the 10 most-challenging high schools in America by the Washington Post last year: campuses in Oro Valley, Chandler and north Tucson. Language classes offered in Scottsdale include Mandarin Chinese and Latin, and students study such subjects as physics and chemistry in middle school.
Charter schools in Arizona
The Arizona Legislature created the charter system in 1994, providing public funding for schools operated by private organizations. There are more than 500 charter schools serving nearly 160,000 students in Arizona, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
Charter schools are required to submit a detailed business plan when applying to open and must file annual financial reports with the state, according to the department.
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