Potomac and Holton
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Anonymous
| OP, in other words, these posters have no idea which is better academically based on what you’re asking. |
Anonymous
| My DD is at Holton. Started there in 9th grade after leaving a VA private (not Potomac). She has found Holton to be academically rigorous. Equally she has found that the teachers really care. They are available to her, engaged, seem to take a personal and actual interest in the learning and well-being of the students. At the previous private, my DD was under-challenged. At Holton, she is right where she should be. Also appreciate how they really examine the mix of classes - honors and otherwise - to figure out the best fit for your child. The school communicates A LOT. Maybe too much. But rather have more than less if had to choose. Socially, she has found friends and has never commented on any "mean girls" in her classes. What has surprised us most is how welcoming the parents have been. We came in "new" for HS but have never felt like we're playing catch-up or that people are insular. Maybe due to the efforts made across the year to host social gatherings. |
Anonymous
Holton parent here, with friends who have children at Potomac: my sense has been that to say Potomac is "a tier higher" than Holton is a gross overstatement, but it has always seemed incrementally somewhat stronger academically. More accurately, I think that Holton is somewhat more tolerant of students who are weaker academically, especially those who were admitted in the lower grades, with Potomac quicker to counsel out for academic reasons. That's a subjective impression of course. But the average students seem similar and the high end (say top 25% or so) are extremely strong at both schools. I think PP above makes a correct observation, the schools are close enough that class-year cohorts are going to overwhelm the subtle differences in terms of the experience you have and college placements. (This may be different for students with particular academic, athletic, or artistic interests, I can't say which has the better field hockey coach or whatever.) We're going through this process right now, and it seems to me that the top handful of DC privates (I would incude both Holton and Potomac in this category) have pretty similar placements over time, with year-to-year variation driven by individual student characteristcs in particular class years more than major differences between the schools. Information regarding those schools and peer schools seem readily available on instagram if you want to do some due diligence, and I'd look at multiple years to get a better feel than just one, where there is variation both positive and negative. Both excellent schools, and close enough that I think fit for your child and how you like the feel of each place is more important than the incremental differences between the schools. At the end of the day, schools in the Big-3-plus-Holton-and-Potomac category are so strong that questions of feel and logistics start to loom larger than the really fine distinctions one can draw among them. Stated somewhat differently: if your child is a strong enough performer that the marginal academic differences between these schools is worth worrying about, they will be fine at either and have similar college outcomes. But that's like, just my opinion, man. |
Anonymous
| Holton! Potomac blows!! |
Anonymous
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Adding my two cents as Holton parent and Potomac aunt (kids are in close but different years). Both kids are very different, and very happy at their schools. Nephew is a very confident, sporty kid who is happy to go with or lead the pack. Daughter is also a confident but undercover extroverted, sporty kid with a strong sense of individuality and wants to walk her own path. That said, both kids work hard and thrive in academic pressure, which is definitely present in both schools.
So when our DD was applying, we also wanted to know where these schools stand with academic rigor and college outcome but these were just two of the many factors we considered. If strictly looking at academics, we found that both schools were similarly strong - test scores, college outcome, curriculum, teacher tenure, etc. As PP mentioned, it is much easier to get a sense of college matriculation these days by checking out the school's instagram page (note that not all kids post). Interestingly, in some years, we saw Holton with slightly higher test scores (SAT/ACT averages), but by just a hair not high enough to include as a deciding factor. Looking at both kids right now, both schools have stellar humanities programs, a huge reason we chose privates (when we first started on this journey we had moved to a really good public school pyramid, but much later found their humanities to be lacking). We are finding that Holton has a slightly more deliberate STEM focus based on the curriculum and materials that our daughter is working through for the same years as our nephew. Not saying it's the most advanced when compared to top publics or TJ - we've also explored those - but enough to keep DD challenged. The "more well known and sought after" feeling you're sensing could be due to a variety of factors: proximity to DC, politicians' kids attending, limited comparable VA privates resulting in more demand. Having gone through the admissions processes for these two, we also saw how this played out - there was a stark difference between the two. And of all the privates explored, we have to say that Holton had the most welcoming and organized process that also did not seem forced/fake. They provided a lot of communication and opportunities to visit the school for events and meet current parents. But most importantly the Admissions team took a genuine interest and the time to learn about our daughter and also get to know us as parents. On the other hand, we felt Potomac's admissions didn't give a (: _ _ _ _  on whether we applied or accepted. Not that this should matter, as we've heard the in-school experience has been fantastic for our nephew.
So far, the genuine interest and care is something we continue to see for our DD and her classmates. Holton has been more willing to work with the whole child to build them up individually (this was very important for our daughter) and academically, whereas Potomac was less tolerant of differences when it came to academic results (more quick to counsel out) and even sports participation (our nephew knows of Potomac kids getting push back from administration for participating in outside sports in lieu of the school sports). Ultimately our DD chose Holton for all the other reasons, but if she were to choose Potomac, we would have been equally pleased with their academics. And our nephew just didn't have that choice but have heard his parents share they sometimes wished Holton was co-ed. We are lucky that both kids found a school that is a good fit for them so far and they've also found their social circles. Both are academically challenged and will be more than college ready.
Good luck! |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thank you Holton parents! We have already toured both schools and a lot of what was shared above is similar to what we saw. Since we couldn't get a sense of the academic rigor from the tours, the insights above have been helpful, thank you again! |
Anonymous
You have it backwards. Holton is a tier above Potomac. |
Anonymous
By whom? Those VA folks on DCUM who make lot of noises trying to make Potomac relevant? |
Anonymous
Only on Potomac boosters' minds. No ranking would put Potomac ahead of Holton. Even though rankings don't mean much, they would still not rank Potomac ahead of Holton. |
Anonymous
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Have a hs daughter at Holton with a best friend at Potomac. School experiences have been similar (except the co-Ed/single sex part which has pros and cons to both).
Both have strong academics, sports, arts, college placement, etc. If given a choice, I would go to the school on the same side of the river as your home. Yes both have bussing, but crossing the AL bridge everyday is a pain—and nerve-wracking once your child starts driving. Yes people make both schools work from either side of the river, but it’s so much easier living closer to school. Especially socially—if you live on the other side, you are the one that has to make the effort to continuously cross over for events, hang-outs, etc. |
Anonymous
It should be pointed out, not socially savvy in a good way. Parties with plenty of booze and pot and parents turning a blind eye, fake ID’s, lots of exclusion of kids not deemed “cool”-we couldn’t have left fast enough. Not great socially for a kind kids with integrity and on the quieter side. |
Anonymous
| Because of hooks, college acceptance and matriculation data for local privates can be highly misleading with respect to an unhooked student's chances of admission to a particular college. |
Anonymous
OP here. Thanks for the above, this is the kind of insight we’re hoping to gain. For example, which of these two schools enable more unhooked kids into better colleges? |
Anonymous
| Holton is gross and toxic. Stay away. Bunch of entitled jerks and the teachers make things more difficult than they need to be. What teacher says no one gets an A in my class? |
Anonymous
| Holton is much more elite than Potomac. Compare college lists. Mine went to HYP after Holton. Potomac grad friends went to state schools in VA. |