Potomac questions
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Anonymous
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Hello this is a school we are looking into for this coming admission season. If any Potomac parents could help me with a few questions.
1. How do they treat students with nut allergy. One of our kids has this allergy and we want to see which schools are more supportive ie do they serve nuts in lunch? If they do can you just bring your lunch and not have to sit at a separate table? Is there a nurse in each level of school (ie in the elementary area, middle school area, high school)? Are kids allowed to have their epi in the classroom and if not that can it be in the classroom with a teacher? 2. Wondering how strong their baseball program is? I don't really hear about it frankly I just hear about St. Albans..which is another school we are looking at. 3. How diverse is the school in thought ie is it balanced--I am seeing too many schools that are all liberal or all conservative..frankly the best thing would be a school that keeps politics out of it. I don't even know if this is possible but thought I would ask. 4. If you take the bus (lower school)--what time do you get home? Do you get home earlier if you go to one of the centralized stops? Also how is riding on the bus for the little ones--are they grouped with high school kids? How is the seating if you child doesn't know anyone. I was a walker to our school growing up so bus is very foreign and something I recall wanting to experience. 5. How stable is turnover at the school? Are there a lot of longterm teachers? Any other thoughts..very much appreciated. Thank you very much. |
Anonymous
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St Albans, Georgetown Prep and St Johns have had the strongest baseball programs in the private school arena.
Maret has had some good years as well. Last year, Dematha, Prep and Maret won their respective conferences. Here is a list of all the teams and their standings related to their conferences. Teams typically do not play teams in other conferences except for the DC schools. There is a DC tournament. http://www.thesportsfannetwork.com/articles/6262-baseball-standings-wcac-iac-mac/ Baseball is not as popular in the IAC as Lacrosse. Lacrosse is king and baseball does seems to get short thrift. The numbers of kids playing baseball have really gone down so keeping a quality program going at all these schools is difficult. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for your reply. This is what I am hearing. I like St. Albans but worry that it is too snobby--we are regular people. Can financially afford any of these schools but we are very casual..not trendy at all and so are our kids so def trying to figure out where the reg kid who likes sports and academics (well they are young so I am told this could change but for now scoring high) would do well. Thank you. |
Anonymous
| Potomac is a great school, but the teacher turnover there is high. |
Anonymous
| I don't think St. Albans and Potomac differ much on the snobby factor. |
Anonymous
| If you're worried about the snob factor, you might need to broaden your search. What age are your kids? |
Anonymous
St. Albans gives significantly more financial aid than Potomac so it is actually more socio-economically diverse. You'll find snobs at both schools -- could there be a private school without some of 'em? -- but don't necessarily count out St. Albans without visiting. Among other things, the blazer/tie dress code removes some of the competition from clothes and labels. Both great schools, though, so good luck to you wherever you end up. |
Anonymous
| St Albans is not snobbier but it is stuffier, more buttoned up so to speak, more traditions of long standing and old connections. In many ways, it may actually be less snobby. It's not new or trendy or trying to prove anything. It is "who and what" it is. Potomac is newer but has lots of families with money to burn (which is true pretty much across the private school spectrum) and perhaps the overall vibe is "flashier" if anything. I don't think any of the schools are "snobby" just perhaps a few of the families. These schools have the whole socio-economic spectrum so it is nothing to be worried about. |
Anonymous
| Potomac was founded in 1904, so I would not call it a new school. |
Anonymous
| My son just graduated from 8th grade at Potomac. My husband and I work for the government so are not wealthy, but we did not feel out of place at the school and made lots of great friends (some who are amazingly wealthy, others like us). I did not notice a lot of turnover in terms of the teachers. It's a wonderful place. |
Anonymous
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Teacher turnover at Potomac is very low. And there's a great mix of conservative to liberal families (everything from a previous VP's grandchildren to current senator's kids)
As a middle class family who receives a small amount of financial aid, we love it there. |
Anonymous
That is not true. It is a great school in many respects, but a common complaint is that there are few long-tenured teachers. STA, as a comparison, has an average tenure of something like 16 years. |
Anonymous
| My son plays baseball at Potomac and I would say that the program is definitely improving and will only get better.(Stong players in the rising 7th and 8th grades and a great, relatively new varsity coach.) The intermediate school "A" team was undefeated this year and the boys were nicely recognized by the school. Baseball players are definitely not second class athletes at Potomac. |
Anonymous
They are second to lacrosse in the spring. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees has kids at Potomac, and the oldest left Potomac for Maret because he is a serious baseball player. |
Anonymous
| very, very liberal. |