Grading at Potomac?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child is new to Potomac's ninth grade this year. He/she is liking it socially, but has been frustrated by lower-than-expected grades, particularly in math and science. Our son/daughter was placed into the advanced classes and had done very well in these subjects previously. However, despite studying a great deal, he/she is routinely receiving B's, C's, and even D's on tests. Based upon what our child overhears and classmates' disappointed expressions, these types of grades don't seem to be that uncommon, and it doesn't seem that the school grades tests on a curve even if many students received C's or D's.

Has this been the experience of other upper school parents? DC came from a rigorous school so we don't think it's a case of Potomac being significantly harder than the previous school.

We probably should have researched this earlier, but have learned that the school also does not give grade boosts for honors courses. We are becoming concerned that college options may be limited when compared to the public school students who have 4.6 GPAs.

We know that Potomac has a great record of college placement [b]but are beginning to wonder if this is perhaps only for the students with perfect 4.0 GPAs. [/b] Our child is becoming more and more frustrated, saying that he/she can't study any harder. Moreover, he/she is losing interest in subjects that he/she had enjoyed before.

Is this commonplace, or is this a unique experience? We are worried.

Not sure if it is true that the school has a great record of college placement. Majority of the kids got into top schools are recruited athletes, legacies and URM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From another thread, Landon vs Potomac School?


I will share some dislikes about Potomac.

1. Black box - They cannot explain what the purpose of their curriculum is nor their academic tracks. Some tracks are just harder, seemingly to show harder courses were offered/attempted so colleges can see. They make arbitrary decisions, such as which science to take for 9th graders, despite no science placement exam (they do placement exams for math and foreign language).

2. College prep - Everything is positioned as "this will help them for college". "Our school is so hard, college will be easy for them." Is this a reason for a school to be hard? I do not understand that. The school should be at an appropriate level of challenge for each student, not just hard for all. And that in turn is to help the student realize their potential while learning new subjects and skills, not to make it into a certain college. For example, what if a student wanted to apply to a certain college's journalism program, but because the high school was so hard, the student's grades are not as strong (though decent) and hence that journalism program does not accept them. Has the high school done well by the student or not?

3. Transportation system - joke. Nice to have all those buses but for goodness sake, any smart parent knows the value of that time in the car with your student. Talk about school, life, whatever.

4. Black box part 2 - random decisions with no reason giving. The head of school decided to give a day off yesterday May 24th. No reason other than not too many snow days. Great for part of the school (younger kids), but what about the high school kids? They just lost a day of review and meetings with teachers on fairly short notice and now walk into school on Tuesday after Memorial Day right into exams. Another one there, start exams on Wednesday so students can have that last day Tuesday for any last minute prep or questions of teachers. Nice call head of school!

5. Facilities - let's spend tens of millions of dollars on a new sports facility that students already say they do not want to walk across campus to or exclude some sports. Seems like it would have been a good idea to have a pool, but nope. You have one of the best softball teams in the state, maybe a nice field with consistent grass? Nope. Real baseball field at official size? Nope, let's have sparse grass and a shallow right field. This place does not think.

Can you tell this has been a long year at this school?

Then leave if you are not happy. hopefully you did not pay your deposit. Nobody is forcing you to pay $40k to go to such a terrible school.

[Anonymous]

Wow, this thread went downhill fast.

I will chime in as a current h.s. parent.

Potomac is a good school in many respects:
Strong sense of school spirit.
Teachers are generally very good and show a high level of energy and commitment, including 1-1 time with students when needed.
Kids are friendly and does not seem cutthroat from our sense and our student.
Nice physical campus.
Lots of activities - you do not need to be a jock, nerd, artsy - be what you want.

What else you should know:
This is a hard/challenging school. There is no easy track. I do not know if it is worth it at the end (yet).
All families are welcome, but keep in mind the majority live in VA. Many families have known each other from a young age.
Your kid needs to want it. If they are having challenges, it is on them to seek out teachers. Parents can help but not a substitute for student drive.
Sports are a big commitment (anywhere I know) - especially varsity. An away game and bus back to campus at 8pm might mean up very late with school work.
9th grade biology - only because I saw it mentioned somewhere else - yes it is hard (too hard maybe), no matter which level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread went downhill fast.

I will chime in as a current h.s. parent.

Potomac is a good school in many respects:
Strong sense of school spirit.
Teachers are generally very good and show a high level of energy and commitment, including 1-1 time with students when needed.
Kids are friendly and does not seem cutthroat from our sense and our student.
Nice physical campus.
Lots of activities - you do not need to be a jock, nerd, artsy - be what you want.

What else you should know:
This is a hard/challenging school. There is no easy track. I do not know if it is worth it at the end (yet).
All families are welcome, but keep in mind the majority live in VA. Many families have known each other from a young age.
Your kid needs to want it. If they are having challenges, it is on them to seek out teachers. Parents can help but not a substitute for student drive.
Sports are a big commitment (anywhere I know) - especially varsity. An away game and bus back to campus at 8pm might mean up very late with school work.
9th grade biology - only because I saw it mentioned somewhere else - yes it is hard (too hard maybe), no matter which level.

What do you mean you do not know if it is worth it at the end (yet). Do you imply that the college admission of your DC may not be as good as you expect?

[Anonymous]

Thew are wrong, at least with respect to the relevant privates.

[Anonymous]

By not knowing if is worth it at the end, I mean that the student is still in high school. We do not know how the student will turn out, where they will go to college, and whether the education received will help them later in life.

I do not judge a school solely on which college the student is accepted to, if that is where this is headed.

[Anonymous]

Judging someone in later life based on high school is silly. This is just babbling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is an important thread re Potomac, and likely some other "top" schools in the area. Potomac seems to apply more rigor in some if not all areas, not for the sake of learning or helping the students, but to simply achieve the reputation of a rigorous school. That in turn is likely an attempt to compete with the schools in D.C. proper and also to show parents why Potomac should be chosen (and paid for) versus the high school just down the road. We have been at Potomac a few years and our misgivings have increased each year. Our student does OK, but likely would be happier and less stressed elsewhere, and with better grades. it is unfortunately late in the game to make a switch.

If that is not clear enough, I am basically one step away from saying this school is somewhat of a sham. The kids are nice, as are most families, there is a nice sense of camaraderie among the students. The campus and buildings are nice. The teachers for the most part make themselves available and seem knowledgeable. But underneath it seems like there is a goal to make it rigorous for rigor's sake, not to help the students. When the best answer that administrators can provide is "we do this so college will be easier", that is not a reason to pile it on.

And I agree with the poster re 9th grade bio. The teachers are not very good and the curriculum for the course is oppressive. Both in advanced and regular. The regular bio teacher(s) seem to think they should teach at advanced pace instead of forming a good foundation in bio and heaven forbid instill an enjoyment of the subject.

Sounds a very common problem in Potomac. Can more Potomac US parents provide their insights here? Thanks!!

Parent of 2 US students and I agree 100% with PP. They make it very hard only for the sake of making it hard. "Love of learning?" Please. My kids hate school. To the PP who says just to leave. How easy do you think it is for a kid to leave their HS getting established their? I know some do it, by my DC's like their friends and activities and really, after all the incredibly hard work, do not want to quit. And that's what leaving would feel like. But I promise you, if I had to do it over again, I would never send my kids to Potomac. One of things that has blown me away is the inconsistency in subjects between teachers. Get the wrong chemistry teacher and you are basically screwed. I doubt they would share class grades, but anecdotally, it has been shared with me that some teachers have stronger grades class-wise than others. How can they be fair?

[Anonymous]

I am a parent of a Potomac student who has not yet had chemistry. Are you able to share teacher(s) to look for or avoid for this subject?

And I also agree it is fair to post the good, bad and ugly here in spite of trolls. The school is very demanding, not sure that it is for the right reasons. For example, in English, there is a lot of work around learning to write well. This makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, the science courses we have seen so far seem not just demanding, but designed to pile on and not ensure a deep understanding of the basics and at least a bit of enjoyment.

As another poster stated, there is nice school spirit and an impressive campus. It almost feels like a small college.

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent at a Big 3 school who doesn't understand why you think the grading is so hard. The school profile shows a very generous grade distribution for junior year - the hardest year at my DC's school. Only 7 grades of C or below were given out for the entire junior class?? And over 75% of the grades were B+ or better. This is very different distribution than what you'd find at my DC's school. https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1540210031/potomac/t3fw6u2toei2gmtqbxnd/2018-2019SchoolProfile.pdf

[Anonymous]

Potomac parent here. I honestly do not understand all of this whining. Life is not fair! There are teachers who are tougher graders than others. This is true throughout life and also in other schools - we sent one child through the cathedral schools and it was a known fact that certain teachers give As and others don’t. This is true in many others life situations - not all managers are fair and in college some sections of courses are harder than others. We taught our kids to work hard and praised them for effort. I disagree that Potomac is hard for the sake of being hard - extensions are freely given for mental health reasons and there is a large coterie of kids with accommodations, not just for testing but for homework and note taking as well. I think the problem is the parent body that feels their kids are being given a raw deal if great grades aren’t handed to them on a platter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Majority of the kids got into top schools are recruited athletes, legacies and URM.

And where is your proof of this hot take?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a parent of a Potomac student who has not yet had chemistry. Are you able to share teacher(s) to look for or avoid for this subject?

And I also agree it is fair to post the good, bad and ugly here in spite of trolls. The school is very demanding, not sure that it is for the right reasons. For example, in English, there is a lot of work around learning to write well. This makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, the science courses we have seen so far seem not just demanding, but designed to pile on and not ensure a deep understanding of the basics and at least a bit of enjoyment.

As another poster stated, there is nice school spirit and an impressive campus. It almost feels like a small college.

Wish I could. I was just using chemistry as an example, tbh. Could apply to any of the classes, with the exception of history, which seems to have a more consistent curriculum across all the classes.

[Anonymous]

Short answer: the occasional below-B grade on an assessment is nothing to worry about as long as end-of-quarter averages are coming out to B- or higher. Over time in high school you want your child’s grades to trend upwards and for your child to feel reasonably confident and engaged.

Checking in with your child’s advisor never hurts.

More nuanced answer: Low grades may be a teacher issue if the teacher is not providing adequate preparation and feedback.

As a unit begins, students should know its content. If following a textbook, then the table of contents suffices. A syllabus can be helpful, as can a unit plan or other outline. The redundancy of a study guide is helpful, but teachers will sometimes expect that a high school student be independent enough to make his or her own guide.

Timely feedback is essential. Long before a formal summative assessment, students should have a mix of formative self-assessment and teacher assessment to gauge how well they are doing. This might be self-corrected homework, classwork, lab reports, pre-tests, or other assignments. No quiz or test grade should truly be a surprise. Students should already know how well they comprehend the material in a unit. It’s then their choice to get more help, study harder, etc.

The assessments need to be fair. There are a lot of qualifications for fair. They should be announced as far in advance as possible. Assessments should only practice skills previously taught. For example, if students are only asked recall-style questions in class and for homework, then it’s not fair to ask them to do analysis for an assessment. A teacher should be able to show how every test question connects to previous written work. Teachers should also keep statistics on their tests. If a large number of students botch a question, it was poorly written or did not connect to prior learning. If the statistical distribution of the scores is odd, it suggests a bad test or cheating.

A lot of parents and administrators will tell you that tutoring support is an option. I’m of the opinion that unless your child has an unaddressed learning disability, tutoring should not be necessary if teaching is adequate. Your child’s teacher should make plain where resources for additional help are available. Does he or she recommend websites for each unit? Does the teacher have office hours or review sessions? Are there extra worksheets or other practice materials available from the teacher? Are there student tutors or an academic support center on campus?

— a former private school teacher