Potomac School Math Question

[Anonymous]

I remember reading posts last year that said Potomac’s math department was weak, particularly in the US. Is this a priority to change or improve? Any current or recent parent experiences? My DC is advanced and loves math and we were planning to apply to MS at Potomac, but this makes me nervous.

[Anonymous]

The math at Potomac MS is mediocre at best and will not be challenging for a student with high math (particularly computational) aptitude. They do very little differentiated math learning until IS. There are many wonderful aspects of Potomac MS and holistically it's a very nice environment, though. Don't apply for the math, apply for the overall experience. We supplement math at home and it works for us. DC very happy at Potomac MS overall.

[Anonymous]

The complaints are about the US. Nothing has changed.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell has very strong math, esp. in US.

[Anonymous]

If your child is good in math, Potomac is a great place. The courses get progressively harder, and they differentiate starting in 7th grade. I find that the complaints for Potomac in the Upper School don't come from parents of children who excel in math - but rather from parents whose kids struggle. There is a wide variation of math courses available to kids starting in 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The math at Potomac MS is mediocre at best and will not be challenging for a student with high math (particularly computational) aptitude. They do very little differentiated math learning until IS. There are many wonderful aspects of Potomac MS and holistically it's a very nice environment, though. Don't apply for the math, apply for the overall experience. We supplement math at home and it works for us. DC very happy at Potomac MS overall.

Potomac thinks there Math program is better than it is. It is mediocre at best. They have a specific way of teaching that doesn’t work for a fair amount of students and most of the teachers are just not good teachers - especially in the IS where it arguably matters the most.

[Anonymous]

The NWEA results, NAEP results, and PISA results all say that the USA does a poor job of teaching math all over. So I doubt any private or public locally is really great at *teaching* math.

A number of local schools, both public and private, have some high-performing math students. There is widespread supplementing in math - at home, with a tutor, or at a center - at any academically rigorous local school. This makes it impossible to separate which students perform well in math due solely to in-quality classroom teaching vs due to outside classroom math supplements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The NWEA results, NAEP results, and PISA results all say that the USA does a poor job of teaching math all over. So I doubt any private or public locally is really great at *teaching* math.

A number of local schools, both public and private, have some high-performing math students. There is widespread supplementing in math - at home, with a tutor, or at a center - at any academically rigorous local school. This makes it impossible to separate which students perform well in math due solely to in-quality classroom teaching vs due to outside classroom math supplements.

Why can’t we expect our private schools to mirror the challenging (and seemingly successful approaches) taken by places like AoPS or RSM, at least for kids with interest and aptitude in math? I have an elementary-aged daughter who loves math, and we likely will supplement starting soon but would way rather she have more free time afterschool and spend her math class at school more productively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember reading posts last year that said Potomac’s math department was weak, particularly in the US. Is this a priority to change or improve? Any current or recent parent experiences? My DC is advanced and loves math and we were planning to apply to MS at Potomac, but this makes me nervous.

No matter which school DC ends up at, even without regard to public or private, or magnet/selective vs non-selective, it would be wise to supplement / reinforce math at home, at a center, or otherwise.

Potomac has advanced math courses that really are available to students who are high performing in math. So do other top local privates and many local public HSs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NWEA results, NAEP results, and PISA results all say that the USA does a poor job of teaching math all over. So I doubt any private or public locally is really great at *teaching* math.

A number of local schools, both public and private, have some high-performing math students. There is widespread supplementing in math - at home, with a tutor, or at a center - at any academically rigorous local school. This makes it impossible to separate which students perform well in math due solely to in-quality classroom teaching vs due to outside classroom math supplements.

Why can’t we expect our private schools to mirror the challenging (and seemingly successful approaches) taken by places like AoPS or RSM, at least for kids with interest and aptitude in math? I have an elementary-aged daughter who loves math, and we likely will supplement starting soon but would way rather she have more free time afterschool and spend her math class at school more productively.

Except at STEM magnet schools (examples: TJ, Blair STEM magnet, Arlington Tech), many parents do not prioritize math skills.

Math, especially advanced math, often is just not a priority for parents who want their child to go into the arts, humanities, law, commerce, management (MBA), or even medicine. Fewer students at SLACs are math majors or in math-heavy STEM fields (SLAC exceptions: Harvey Mudd, Rose-Hulman). Literacy and writing ability often are higher priority than math to those parents.

(Med schools do want kids to take introductory calculus undergrad, but math is weighted less than PChem or Bio by most med school admissions folks.)

If a majority of parents at a private truly prioritized math (or advanced math or STEM) then the schools would respond.

[Anonymous]

Schools that talk about "STEAM" instead of "STEM" (the A is Arts) might well be under pressure from a subset of parents and/or board members who have an arts and humanities background, rather than a STEM background.

(NB: I have not checked Potomac's website -- the comment is not about Potomac. It is intended to apply to any school.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NWEA results, NAEP results, and PISA results all say that the USA does a poor job of teaching math all over. So I doubt any private or public locally is really great at *teaching* math.

A number of local schools, both public and private, have some high-performing math students. There is widespread supplementing in math - at home, with a tutor, or at a center - at any academically rigorous local school. This makes it impossible to separate which students perform well in math due solely to in-quality classroom teaching vs due to outside classroom math supplements.

Why can’t we expect our private schools to mirror the challenging (and seemingly successful approaches) taken by places like AoPS or RSM, at least for kids with interest and aptitude in math? I have an elementary-aged daughter who loves math, and we likely will supplement starting soon but would way rather she have more free time afterschool and spend her math class at school more productively.

The primary curriculum (which is combined with others) in the Potomac US honors math is AoPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NWEA results, NAEP results, and PISA results all say that the USA does a poor job of teaching math all over. So I doubt any private or public locally is really great at *teaching* math.

A number of local schools, both public and private, have some high-performing math students. There is widespread supplementing in math - at home, with a tutor, or at a center - at any academically rigorous local school. This makes it impossible to separate which students perform well in math due solely to in-quality classroom teaching vs due to outside classroom math supplements.

Why can’t we expect our private schools to mirror the challenging (and seemingly successful approaches) taken by places like AoPS or RSM, at least for kids with interest and aptitude in math? I have an elementary-aged daughter who loves math, and we likely will supplement starting soon but would way rather she have more free time afterschool and spend her math class at school more productively.

The primary curriculum (which is combined with others) in the Potomac US honors math is AoPS.

(Not OP) Interesting and useful information. Thanks.

Can you provide the names/publisher foe the math textbooks they use? I looked on the school's website, but I did not see that level of detail.