Because of their hard work, BASIS Independent students grow into self-sufficient learners who are often recognized for their talents across disciplines, in and out of the classroom. We seek these opportunities out on behalf of our students, but they are also often recognized organically by meeting eligibility for prestigious national and international awards.
BASIS Independent Silicon Valley
student performance builds year after year
2017–18 Notable Recognition
- Seventh grader won the CBS Bay Area Spelling Bee and is currently competing in the National Scripps Spelling Bee.
- Our Speech & Debate team has taken the country by storm this year, including some notable mentions:
- We took on the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Kentucky, lauded as the most challenging national tournament in the U.S. Of the 115 debates showcased in the Silver Tournament of Champions Public Forum Debate competition; two of our students placed 6th in the country.
- The team competed at the University of Diablo for the 2018 Middle School State Tournament, bringing home seven middle school state champions and winning the tournament even before the finals round.
- The team competed at the 2018 California Coast National Speech and Debate Association District Tournament; we were one of the top three teams to qualify to Nationals.
- Our Science Olympiad Team made their way to Regionals, placing in 3rd and qualifying to advance to the State Championship, where they won 6th place.
- This year, our Science Fair students competed at the Synopsis Science and Technology Championship. They also had an excellent showing at the Synopsys Science Fair.
- Our Robotics teams were very busy this year—two of the teams (Hexanitrothane and SPACE CATS) competed in the Qualifying Tournament in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) under the theme of Hydrodynamics; SPACE CATS placed 3rd overall.
- The BISV Quiz Bowl Team won 2nd place out of a total 192 teams at Middle School Quiz Bowl Nationals in Chicago.
- Students from the Neuroscience Club participated in the annual 2018 Brain Bee, and one of our students won first place and went on to compete in the National Brain Bee.
- Students of the National Junior Classical League took the National Latin Exam in March; BISV students collectively scored 20% above the national average.
- For the first time, the BISV Mock Trial Team advanced to the Santa Clara County quarterfinals.
- Two of our students were 2 out of 15 Honorable Mentions in the 60th Annual Santa Clara University High School Mathematics Contest.
- Several students made it to the State Competition Round at the MathCounts Chapter Competition.
- Last year, BISV tied for 9th in the Junior Varsity History Bowl at the National Championship, and this year qualified for the National Championship Tournament in Washington D.C.
- Every single one of the History Bee Club members qualified for the History Bee Regional Finals.
- DECA took nine students who qualified to compete in the DECA’s International Competition all the way to Atlanta. One of our students finished in the top twenty with her exam score, and another finished in the top ten overall for his event.
- All of our runners in cross country set new personal and high records for themselves.
- A few of our Competitive Computer Science Club members qualified for the ACSL (American Computer Science League) All-Star contest in the senior division.
- A member of our Chemistry Olympiad is one of 16 Bay Area students who qualified to take the National Chemistry Olympiad Exam.
- Our team of Academic Decathletes competed in the Southeast Bay Regional Competition, contending in math, music, literature, social sciences, science, and economics.
- Five of our Decatheles competed at the State Tournament in Sacramento and two of our students won bronze medals in the Mathemetics Event.
2018–19 Notable Recognition
General Accolades
- Nineteen seniors were named National Merit Finalists, and four seniors were named National Merit Scholarship winners.
- Six students placed in the Top 3 of their division at this year’s Bay Regional Academic Decathlon, with one student placing 1st.
- In the Bay Area Brain Bee, eight BISV students were chosen for the second round of the competition, two students made it into the Top 5, and one student came in at 2nd place overall.
- During this year’s Silicon Valley Career Development Contest, 27 students placed in the Top 10 over 70 times, and 10 students placed 1st.
- At the State Career Development Conference, 15 Bobcats placed in the Top 10, and three students placed in the Top 3, moving on to the international competition.
Humanities
- One student qualified to attend the State Geography Bee.
- At the 2019 State Geography Bee San Francisco Regional Finals, six of our students qualified for the National Bee and three for the International Olympiad.
- Two students were awarded bronze medals for the 2019 National Mythology Exam.
- One student won the CBS Bay Area Spelling Bee and then made it to round five of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Language
- At the National Latin Exam, our students scored 7.5 points (18.5%) above the national average. Two of our students received perfect scores on their exams.
- Of the 42 students who took the exam, there were:
- 19 students summa cum laude (gold medal)
- 11 students maxima cum laude (silver medal)
- 3 students magna cum laude (certificate)
- 2 students with ribbons for Intro Latin
Speech & Debate
- Five students placed in the Top 5 at the Jon Schamber Invitational.
- Seven students placed in the Top 10 at the SCU Dempsey Cronin Invitational.
- Ten students placed at this year’s Stanford Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament.
- Six students placed in the Top 10 at the Cal Berkeley Invitational; one student placed twice.
- Four students qualified at the Tournament of Champions.
- Several middle school students competed at the 2019 Middle School State Championships for Speech and Debate, with one student achieving State Champion in storytelling.
Math/Economics
- Our Investment Club students won 1st and 2nd place in the 2019 San Francisco Stock Market Game.
- Our Middle School Math Circle Team won 3rd place in the Berkeley Mini Math Tournament, and placed 2nd in both score and participation in the Bay Area Math Olympiad.
- Our High School Math Circle Team won 5th place at the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament, one of the largest and most prestigious high school competitions in the world.
- The BISV campus hosted the Canadian Open Math Competition, the Canadian counterpart of the AMC 10/12.
- Out of 25 students, including circle members and non-members, who participated in this competition, 17 earned Performance with Distinction Certificates.
- Seven students qualified for higher-level national competitions.
- Four students took 2nd place at the local chapter or regional MATHCOUNTS competition.
- At the Purple Comet Math Meet, both our high school and middle school teams won Honorable Mention, placing 9th and 6th out of 675 and 553 teams worldwide.
- At the U.S. Math Competition Association, the BISV Math Circle was invited to the Challenger Division, finishing 8th place.
Science
- At the Churchill Invitational, our Division B Science Olympiad team placed nine times, including 1st in Thermodynamics.
- Five students in Division B took home the 5th place trophy at the Kennedy Invitational.
- Division C had two teams place in the Top 10 at the Golden Gate Invitational.
- One student scored so well on the F=ma exam that he qualified to take the USA Physics Olympiad Exam.
- Division B advanced to the State Championships after their Regionals competition.
- Twelve teams placed in the Top 10 of their category.
- At the ML Invitational “Best of West” Tournament, our Division B team took home a total of seven event medals and ranked in the top 6.
- Division B qualified for the State Championship for the THIRD year in a row.
- 30 students qualified for the regional “You Be a Chemist” challenges, and two moved on to the state competition.
- One student won 4th place in the 2019 National Competition.
- Bioengineering and Medical Club students competed at the BioEHSC, a bioengineering high school competition at UC Berkeley.
- Out of 14 participating students, 10 placed in the Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering categories.
Robotics
- Our Robotics team won the “Core Values Award”.
- Team Microbroccoli won the highest honor the “Excellence Award” at a Los Gatos Meet.
- A group of students attended the Central Valley Championship and won the “Robot Performance Award” and the 2nd place Champions Award.
Athletics
- Our Cross Country team competed at a local middle school division meet and one student placed 14th overall and came in 2nd in an individual event.
- For the second year in a row, our Middle School Boys Volleyball team was undefeated in their spring season.
- The Middle School Girls Volleyball team only lost one game the entire season.
2017–18 Notable Recognition
- Seventh grader won the CBS Bay Area Spelling Bee and is currently competing in the National Scripps Spelling Bee.
- Our Speech & Debate team has taken the country by storm this year, including some notable mentions:
- We took on the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Kentucky, lauded as the most challenging national tournament in the U.S. Of the 115 debates showcased in the Silver Tournament of Champions Public Forum Debate competition; two of our students placed 6th in the country.
- The team competed at the University of Diablo for the 2018 Middle School State Tournament, bringing home seven middle school state champions and winning the tournament even before the finals round.
- The team competed at the 2018 California Coast National Speech and Debate Association District Tournament; we were one of the top three teams to qualify to Nationals.
- Our Science Olympiad Team made their way to Regionals, placing in 3rd and qualifying to advance to the State Championship, where they won 6th place.
- This year, our Science Fair students competed at the Synopsis Science and Technology Championship. They also had an excellent showing at the Synopsys Science Fair.
- Our Robotics teams were very busy this year—two of the teams (Hexanitrothane and SPACE CATS) competed in the Qualifying Tournament in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) under the theme of Hydrodynamics; SPACE CATS placed 3rd overall.
- The BISV Quiz Bowl Team won 2nd place out of a total 192 teams at Middle School Quiz Bowl Nationals in Chicago.
- Students from the Neuroscience Club participated in the annual 2018 Brain Bee, and one of our students won first place and went on to compete in the National Brain Bee.
- Students of the National Junior Classical League took the National Latin Exam in March; BISV students collectively scored 20% above the national average.
- For the first time, the BISV Mock Trial Team advanced to the Santa Clara County quarterfinals.
- Two of our students were 2 out of 15 Honorable Mentions in the 60th Annual Santa Clara University High School Mathematics Contest.
- Several students made it to the State Competition Round at the MathCounts Chapter Competition.
- Last year, BISV tied for 9th in the Junior Varsity History Bowl at the National Championship, and this year qualified for the National Championship Tournament in Washington D.C.
- Every single one of the History Bee Club members qualified for the History Bee Regional Finals.
- DECA took nine students who qualified to compete in the DECA’s International Competition all the way to Atlanta. One of our students finished in the top twenty with her exam score, and another finished in the top ten overall for his event.
- All of our runners in cross country set new personal and high records for themselves.
- A few of our Competitive Computer Science Club members qualified for the ACSL (American Computer Science League) All-Star contest in the senior division.
- A member of our Chemistry Olympiad is one of 16 Bay Area students who qualified to take the National Chemistry Olympiad Exam.
- Our team of Academic Decathletes competed in the Southeast Bay Regional Competition, contending in math, music, literature, social sciences, science, and economics.
- Five of our Decatheles competed at the State Tournament in Sacramento and two of our students won bronze medals in the Mathemetics Event.
2018–19 Notable Recognition
General Accolades
- Nineteen seniors were named National Merit Finalists, and four seniors were named National Merit Scholarship winners.
- Six students placed in the Top 3 of their division at this year’s Bay Regional Academic Decathlon, with one student placing 1st.
- In the Bay Area Brain Bee, eight BISV students were chosen for the second round of the competition, two students made it into the Top 5, and one student came in at 2nd place overall.
- During this year’s Silicon Valley Career Development Contest, 27 students placed in the Top 10 over 70 times, and 10 students placed 1st.
- At the State Career Development Conference, 15 Bobcats placed in the Top 10, and three students placed in the Top 3, moving on to the international competition.
Humanities
- One student qualified to attend the State Geography Bee.
- At the 2019 State Geography Bee San Francisco Regional Finals, six of our students qualified for the National Bee and three for the International Olympiad.
- Two students were awarded bronze medals for the 2019 National Mythology Exam.
- One student won the CBS Bay Area Spelling Bee and then made it to round five of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Language
- At the National Latin Exam, our students scored 7.5 points (18.5%) above the national average. Two of our students received perfect scores on their exams.
- Of the 42 students who took the exam, there were:
- 19 students summa cum laude (gold medal)
- 11 students maxima cum laude (silver medal)
- 3 students magna cum laude (certificate)
- 2 students with ribbons for Intro Latin
Speech & Debate
- Five students placed in the Top 5 at the Jon Schamber Invitational.
- Seven students placed in the Top 10 at the SCU Dempsey Cronin Invitational.
- Ten students placed at this year’s Stanford Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament.
- Six students placed in the Top 10 at the Cal Berkeley Invitational; one student placed twice.
- Four students qualified at the Tournament of Champions.
- Several middle school students competed at the 2019 Middle School State Championships for Speech and Debate, with one student achieving State Champion in storytelling.
Math/Economics
- Our Investment Club students won 1st and 2nd place in the 2019 San Francisco Stock Market Game.
- Our Middle School Math Circle Team won 3rd place in the Berkeley Mini Math Tournament, and placed 2nd in both score and participation in the Bay Area Math Olympiad.
- Our High School Math Circle Team won 5th place at the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament, one of the largest and most prestigious high school competitions in the world.
- The BISV campus hosted the Canadian Open Math Competition, the Canadian counterpart of the AMC 10/12.
- Out of 25 students, including circle members and non-members, who participated in this competition, 17 earned Performance with Distinction Certificates.
- Seven students qualified for higher-level national competitions.
- Four students took 2nd place at the local chapter or regional MATHCOUNTS competition.
- At the Purple Comet Math Meet, both our high school and middle school teams won Honorable Mention, placing 9th and 6th out of 675 and 553 teams worldwide.
- At the U.S. Math Competition Association, the BISV Math Circle was invited to the Challenger Division, finishing 8th place.
Science
- At the Churchill Invitational, our Division B Science Olympiad team placed nine times, including 1st in Thermodynamics.
- Five students in Division B took home the 5th place trophy at the Kennedy Invitational.
- Division C had two teams place in the Top 10 at the Golden Gate Invitational.
- One student scored so well on the F=ma exam that he qualified to take the USA Physics Olympiad Exam.
- Division B advanced to the State Championships after their Regionals competition.
- Twelve teams placed in the Top 10 of their category.
- At the ML Invitational “Best of West” Tournament, our Division B team took home a total of seven event medals and ranked in the top 6.
- Division B qualified for the State Championship for the THIRD year in a row.
- 30 students qualified for the regional “You Be a Chemist” challenges, and two moved on to the state competition.
- One student won 4th place in the 2019 National Competition.
- Bioengineering and Medical Club students competed at the BioEHSC, a bioengineering high school competition at UC Berkeley.
- Out of 14 participating students, 10 placed in the Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering categories.
Robotics
- Our Robotics team won the “Core Values Award”.
- Team Microbroccoli won the highest honor the “Excellence Award” at a Los Gatos Meet.
- A group of students attended the Central Valley Championship and won the “Robot Performance Award” and the 2nd place Champions Award.
Athletics
- Our Cross Country team competed at a local middle school division meet and one student placed 14th overall and came in 2nd in an individual event.
- For the second year in a row, our Middle School Boys Volleyball team was undefeated in their spring season.
- The Middle School Girls Volleyball team only lost one game the entire season.
Last year, BASIS Independent Silicon Valley had 23 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists!
Our school had a total of 23 semifinalists and 19 finalists who participated in the National Merit Scholarship, culminating in 4 winners. According to the National Merit Scholarship website, there are 15,000 finalists each year based on the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores, out of the some 1.6 million entrants.
Over 69% of BASIS Independent Schools graduates are eligible for admission to Oxford and 42% to Cambridge.
Colleges in the U.S. don’t have minimum academic entrance standards for applicants. On the other hand, Cambridge and Oxford, U.K. universities that are consistently ranked as the top in the world, do have minimum criteria for students to be considered. Oxford requires 3 scores of 5 on AP Exams and Cambridge expects 5 scores of 5 on AP Exams.
BASIS Independent Schools alumni are quickly proving to be leaders in their fields.
Their prowess crosses industries: we’ve graduated Intel Talent Search Winners, Division I athletes, innovators in the field of autonomous driving, published poets, leading physicians, mathematicians who’ve contributed to research in their fields, and Netflix series actors!