The Potomac School - Spill the Beans Please

[Anonymous]

Doesn't matter how nice or status-y the school is if the parent behaves in an uncivilized fashion as witnessed many times in this thread. I would hope that the guilty parties would not behave this way in person and truly wonder why you believe it's OK to write this rudeness.

The sign of a truly well-raised and elegant individual is their belief in never saying or writing something that they wouldn't want the entire world to know came from them. I would hope for some newfound awareness by those of you who come across as being without manners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't matter how nice or status-y the school is if the parent behaves in an uncivilized fashion as witnessed many times in this thread. I would hope that the guilty parties would not behave this way in person and truly wonder why you believe it's OK to write this rudeness.

The sign of a truly well-raised and elegant individual is their belief in never saying or writing something that they wouldn't want the entire world to know came from them. I would hope for some newfound awareness by those of you who come across as being without manners.

I don't perceive rudeness from guilty "parties" - a quick review of the thread shows some poster was trying to discredit Potomac's sports program in favor of St Stephens and St Agnes, and a few Potomac posters chimed in with pretty compelling facts that directly disputed her/his claims. I think its perfectly appropriate for posters to challenge others who, for whatever reason, are launching negative attacks on a particular school or program. In fact, the Potomac posters were pretty complimentary of SSSAS in their comments.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what you consider being rude, pp, but name-calling such as implying "bigot" and "idiot" among many others, is not acceptable behavior. Have we really sunk that far that we think it's acceptable to tell people to shut up?

I am just floored by behavior when we get into these "my school is better than your school" arguments. Why people can't calmly have a discussion without trashing someone else is beyond me. I would hope that I don't know any of these people.

[Anonymous]

" Or maybe people in the south, like VA, hate to admit the schools aren't as good." ???????????


Right kinda like UVA or whole VA college system as compared to MD or DC

[Anonymous]

News flash: There ARE 50 states!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like the most innane comments in this thread now are coming from non-VA people......

[Anonymous]

Can the Board administrator just erase the last few posts? It really downgrades the content of this post! And I can't believe how this poor Lifers posts got dragged down with this nonsense

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely, without a doubt, love to send my kids to Potomac. We simply do not have that kind of money. Every child I have met from Potomac is delightful.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in Potomac for my daughter. We are an international family living in Virginia. I have no connections so to speak of (We know one family with children at Potomac). Does that matter?

I've heard the only way to get in one of the coveted/limited kinder slots is to be an alumni or know somebody.

True or false?

[Anonymous]

Depends upon the grade you are seeking. Have known lots of kids who got in with no connections to the school.

At Potomac, it is all about the kid. Parents tend to be ignored for the most part. That said, they do have a good international representation.

Potomac has a different app process than anyone else. In addition to the usual recs, app and testing, they also do their own testing. If your child is great, and if there are openings, he or she will get in on their own merits.

[Anonymous]

I completely disagree, at least at the K level. It is (or at least it was) about the kid's connections rather than the kid him- or herself.

[Anonymous]

pp -- my husband had connections with the head of the school and our daughter didn't get in. Now, she's at an Ivy. We don't think Potomac liked the fact that our daughter went to a nontraditional montessori school. We aren't super rich -- we think Potomac prefers the super rich types.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I completely disagree, at least at the K level. It is (or at least it was) about the kid's connections rather than the kid him- or herself.

That was not true in our experience. We knew one family at the school, but not in some sort of "super connected" way. We're upper middle class, but not super rich.

I think Potomac actively seeks both kids and parents who share a common set of values - chief among them kindness (there's sort of an unofficial "no jerks" rule), but also a focus on pursuing balanced excellence in academics, athletics, arts, and social interactions.

As far as connections go - I think knowing someone helps, not because the school seeks people with the right social status, but because having another family vouch for you gives the school one more data point that helps them know if your family will be a good fit for the Potomac community. The school is very big on promoting an inclusive and supportive community. That said, we know plenty of people who were admitted without knowing anyone.

Finally, I do agree that the majority of the admissions process is focused on the kid. Potomac takes preschool recommendations and playdates seriously. In our experience, they do a good job of putting together classes of kids who are diverse, but share a common set of values.

[Anonymous]

Middle class single mom here with no connections whose son got into Potomac at K. I completely agree with the comments above about the type of students and parents Potomac is looking for. Supportive, low maintenance, kind parents and kids (who happen to be pretty bright and hardworking.)

[Anonymous]

I love what I know about Potomac and am just getting ready to apply my DC for 1st grade; a PP mentioned that Potomac does its' own testing - can someone please explain/elaborate? TIA