Looking for feedback on the Potomac School

[Anonymous]

Considering sending my kids to the Potomac School.

Interested to hear about the good, the bad, the ugly.

Financially this will be a stretch for my family. I am worried about not being able to pay for anything beyond tuition, the bus, extended day program.

[Anonymous]

Hard as hell to get into

[Anonymous]

Tuition (at Potomac and elsewhere) goes up every year. Your comment about after care makes me think your kids are currently fairly young. When my oldest started in kindergarten, tuition was just under $30k, and it will be $50k before the oldest graduates. Those small increases every year compound, so if your income isn’t pretty much guaranteed to keep pace, it will be a difficult road financially.

If you take them to a shuttle stop (which most do) the bus is free.

As far as other costs, we didn’t encounter many until US - bring your own laptop, sports, dances, etc. In 4-8 a uniform is required but there are inexpensive options. $100 to the annual fund is sufficient and you don’t need to attend the auction. There will be a small donation ($10-20) requested for the fall festival and a class fund ($50?) that covers class parties and teacher appreciation.

As far as the school goes, it is a great school. I’m not sure I would choose it if I was worried about finances, though. There are many places kids can thrive, and this is just one of the options in this area.

[Anonymous]

We are pretty happy there. As with any school, teachers can range from excellent to ok, with some not-so-great, as well. The other factor to consider with respect to finances is that there are extremely wealthy families. I don't think we would have been comfortable with our children attending from K-12, given the amount of wealth. It is not the norm. And very McLean centric. If you live in another part of the DC area, be prepared to drive your children to McLean for playdates, parties, school events, etc. It is much harder to volunteer and attend school activities (which often occur during the day), if you live outside the McLean area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Not if you live in DC or MD.

It's a known fact that that is a huge boost for admissions. They are desperate to appear to be a DMV-focused school, as opposed to a NOVA-centric school, which they currently are, or at least are perceived as.

[Anonymous]

almost nobody from our k-8 with mostly DC and MD families gets in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Not if you live in DC or MD.

It's a known fact that that is a huge boost for admissions. They are desperate to appear to be a DMV-focused school, as opposed to a NOVA-centric school, which they currently are, or at least are perceived as.

This is utterly untrue.

[Anonymous]

It's either wealthy parents or parents who are trying to get those wealthy parents as clients. One group you won't have a lot in common with, and the other group won't bother talking to you for more than 3 seconds. So might be a bit lonely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's either wealthy parents or parents who are trying to get those wealthy parents as clients. One group you won't have a lot in common with, and the other group won't bother talking to you for more than 3 seconds. So might be a bit lonely.

This has not been our experience.

[Anonymous]

Potomac is a fantastic school, but it is not for every family. The academics are difficult, and get more difficult as the school progresses from IS to the High School (Upper School). You should know that if you are entering in lower school. The school values community highly, and has wonderful supportive families. The school wants families to participate in their community. The facilities are incredible, and has just about every amenity for every student (affinity groups, sports, arts, etc.). It is true that it is an expensive school, and a difficult one to get into. I don't think it's Mclean based. I fact, I would argue a down side of going to a school like Potomac is that families are spread out everywhere so often kids have to travel far to see friends, unlike a close-knit neighborhood public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Not if you live in DC or MD.

It's a known fact that that is a huge boost for admissions. They are desperate to appear to be a DMV-focused school, as opposed to a NOVA-centric school, which they currently are, or at least are perceived as.

Not sure where you are getting that. You do know the school was founded in dc and was located in dc foe the first 40+ years? Ask the admissions dept, but the acceptance rates are actually almost identical from dc, md & va. There just happen to be a lot more va applicants as there’s nothing comparable in va. If they were as desperate as you claim, they’d have much higher acceptance rates from dc than elsewhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Potomac is a fantastic school, but it is not for every family. The academics are difficult, and get more difficult as the school progresses from IS to the High School (Upper School). You should know that if you are entering in lower school. The school values community highly, and has wonderful supportive families. The school wants families to participate in their community. The facilities are incredible, and has just about every amenity for every student (affinity groups, sports, arts, etc.). It is true that it is an expensive school, and a difficult one to get into. I don't think it's Mclean based. I fact, I would argue a down side of going to a school like Potomac is that families are spread out everywhere so often kids have to travel far to see friends, unlike a close-knit neighborhood public school.

Is this true for HS parents too (especially new ones in 9th)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Not if you live in DC or MD.

It's a known fact that that is a huge boost for admissions. They are desperate to appear to be a DMV-focused school, as opposed to a NOVA-centric school, which they currently are, or at least are perceived as.

Not sure where you are getting that. You do know the school was founded in dc and was located in dc foe the first 40+ years? Ask the admissions dept, but the acceptance rates are actually almost identical from dc, md & va. There just happen to be a lot more va applicants as there’s nothing comparable in va. If they were as desperate as you claim, they’d have much higher acceptance rates from dc than elsewhere

So what on the history; that was many years ago.

Do you mean the school accepting students, or students accepting an offer to attend Potomac? If it's the former, they definitely accept as many as they can from DC and MD; not so from VA, as many more to choose from.

[Anonymous]

When we applied, we found the admissions group very focused on McLean kids and not really making any effort to get to know our Maryland kid. The Country Day school kids seemed to have an in that other's didn't.

Out of all the schools, they were the least welcoming. Maybe this has changed this was a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Not if you live in DC or MD.

It's a known fact that that is a huge boost for admissions. They are desperate to appear to be a DMV-focused school, as opposed to a NOVA-centric school, which they currently are, or at least are perceived as.

Not sure where you are getting that. You do know the school was founded in dc and was located in dc foe the first 40+ years? Ask the admissions dept, but the acceptance rates are actually almost identical from dc, md & va. There just happen to be a lot more va applicants as there’s nothing comparable in va. If they were as desperate as you claim, they’d have much higher acceptance rates from dc than elsewhere

So what on the history; that was many years ago.

Do you mean the school accepting students, or students accepting an offer to attend Potomac? If it's the former, they definitely accept as many as they can from DC and MD; not so from VA, as many more to choose from.

Again, just not true. I wish it were, as it would be nicer to have a few more neighborhood kids at the school (we are in NW). But having looked at this issue for years now, there is no basis to expect a bump in DC's admissions chances based on being in DC or MD.