Questions about Potomac Upper School
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Anonymous
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It's pretty well established that the math department is a problem. Everyone we met during the process mentioned this issue. Not a single positive word about it from anyone.
That really bothered me but what I found worse is hearing that this has been going on for years and that the admin is not doing anything about it. I think that reflects poorly on the entire school. All schools have problem areas and problem teachers but having a child in another school (Big 3) there is usually more of an effort to address the issues publicly and to make an effort to fix it. |
Anonymous
| Is there any update from the new dean on this issue? |
Anonymous
Ok - real talk - and most of the people who are commenting on here would never admit this but this comment is 100% correct
The perception among parents of what college's want in admissions certainly exacerbates this issue. However - it is not that the Math department is particularly weak, its that Parents freak out about math class/placement/grades more than any other program. They aren't having nervous breakdowns or demanding their kids get transferred to a higher english or science class at anywhere near the same level. The administration regularly capitulates to parents demanding a class change against the advise of the teacher (and sometimes against what the student is actually saying they want when they are not around their pushy parents). Then when their child struggles its "blame it on the teachers" the "teacher isn't teaching well enough" never "I pushed to have my child placed beyond their current knowledge/ability." This constant movement also hurts the kids who are correctly placed in the advanced classes because the class gets disrupted when a new student has to be brought up to speed. The movement also happens in the other direction when parents try to game the system by moving their B honors student down a level in order to chase a higher grade. Last year parents were pushing as late as May for kids to get moved to a different class level. The constant movement fuels the "math is a problem" reputation, which causes parents to be more aggressive and less likely to listen which causes the problem to continue to spiral. |
Anonymous
This whole post should be disregarded, because the notion that moving up to the honors math level from extended is something that happens regularly is simply false. |
Anonymous
| ^^^Agreed-in fact, my DC dropped down a level in math even after getting an A last year in Honors math. Not worth the constant pain and hassle of learning left up to themselves. |
Anonymous
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Lots of misinformation here. I don't know how anyone objectively looking at the Potomac math faculty could state that anyone of them is unqualified. Here are their bios:
I have a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Middlebury College and have taught most high school levels, from beginner’s algebra to multivariable calculus and linear algebra. I believe that the salient features of math – its aura of abstract purity, its requirement of discipline, its worlds of thought to explore, and its offer of opportunities to find truth – make it not only good for the mind, but ennobling. This teacher also received a presidential commendation in 2022: https://www.potomacschool.org/academics/academic-stories/~board/pp-upper-school/post/most-influential-teacher-award I am a Northern Virginia native who graduated summa cum laude from Virginia Tech with a BS in mathematics. I also hold a Master’s Degree from Tech’s School of Education, where I was the Mathematics Education Student of the Year. Before coming to Potomac, I taught pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, algebra 2, and precalculus in various middle and high schools in Virginia, Illinois, and New Jersey. I hold a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Xavier University, a master's degree in physics from the University of Rochester, and a J.D. from Georgetown University. I received my bachelor's degree in biochemical engineering from Duke University and have extensive experience with technology, and I especially enjoy working closely with colleagues to incorporate the use of technology in the classroom. In addition to my IT interests, I also enjoy a broad spectrum of activities, from drama to debate. I recently relocated from Houston, where I taught a wide range of IB and AP math courses at Lamar High School since 1997. I was a double major in Theatre and Mathematics at Grinnell College, and have pursued both professionally. I hail from Boston and have earned two degrees in secondary mathematics education--a bachelor’s from Boston University and a master’s from Framingham State College. After graduation, I worked for several years in a Massachusetts public school where I taught all levels of math, from Algebra 1 through AP Calculus. In 2007, I spent a year in Istanbul on a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Scholarship and taught high school math in a Turkish private school. I loved my time abroad, contracted the travel bug and, after a few years back in Massachusetts, took off for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I spent three years teaching integrated and IB math at an international private school in Malaysia while exploring Southeast Asia. In our experience, our kids at Potomac have found math to be one of the most enjoyable areas of study. The teachers have been phenomenal, and we believe they are doing an excellent job preparing students in courses that range from Geometry to Multi-Variable Calculus and Linear Algebra. |
Anonymous
| ^^^Clearly written by the admin. Ask the kids in Upper School how they feel about math. You’ll get a far different answer! |
Anonymous
Nope. Current PS parent with a current US kid that has two of the teachers listed in the bios and loved them both. I'm sure if you ask a lot of kids how they feel about math you might get different answers. But there are a whole lot of US kids that are thrilled with their math teachers. |
Anonymous
Lots of misinformation above. Post assumes teachers are teaching. FYI running down math aptitude of students is not a good look. Also agree that no one in extended is getting into honors. I can think of zero kids every making that leap. Most honors kids fall into a few categories-sibling in older grade so they know the curriculum, kid who is years ahead by participating in outsourced math programs. No one in honors doesn’t have a tutor or access to the curriculum. Anyway has not been a great part of Potomac. |
Anonymous
Post also assumes kids are doing the work and don't have parents who are pushing them into higher levels than they should be. Maybe kids aren't moving from extended to honors (although - that is happening regardless of what you say I know examples from this year) because the teachers have a pretty good sense of what is required and where the kids are. Honors math might not be for everyone. That's fine. But it doesn't indicate that the department isn't doing its doing its job. Everyone at Potomac has access to tutors (parents who can pay $50k a year for tuition, can pay $50 an hour for some additional tutoring). In addition, the MCC is staffed by students who have been chosen and who volunteer their time to helping students. At this kind of school, one would expect the kids in honors to be kids who are fairly serious about math and science. If you kid is not, perhaps extended is the right fit. There are plenty of kids in honors math classes. Don't condemn a department as faulty just because your kid isn't one of them or insinuate that kids that are in honors are only there because they are somehow cheating ("access to the curriculum"). Not a good look for you. |
Anonymous
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First of all the bios are accurate so not sure what that person complaining about mis-information was talking about.
Getting into this quote -
The elephant in the room, that no one is talking about is that there are no more education majors and no more people going into teaching thanks to terrible pay and the absolutely toxic culture surrounding schools and parents these days. Recent grad of party school was in fact the absolute best that applied that cycle. No one with a math degree is thinking "I should become a high school teacher," even at a school like Potomac and especially with the cost of living in the area. You think "recent grad of party school" is bad? Just wait. At least they are a grad of a school. This is an across the board problem and in 10 years you all are going to be begging for a Math department with anything approaching the background of current faculty. |
Anonymous
NP. Hooded is absolutely not true. I’m a parent of an US Potomac kid who has no tutor and no older sibling or other access to the curriculum. So there’s at least one. There are a LOT of parents who try to push their kids in math when the kid is not ready, willing, and/or able. The math teaching at Potomac can be tough — it does require kids to advocate for themselves and seek help, which many are reluctant to do, and that’s not ideal. That said, I hear from parents with kids in college that they are very, very well prepared for college math classes. I agree with PP who said that the college process is part of the problem — we all seem to think that only kids who take “the most rigorous courseload” and have a perfect GPA has even a chance at anything other than community college. Earlier and More transparency about the application process would help, I think, but they see it differently. |
Anonymous
| Both kids on our tours at Potomac said they had placed into honors and eventually decided extended was the better place for them. |
Anonymous
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These recent comments are absurd and admin or the math department clearly logged on. They are the complete opposite on more than a dozen threads on this subject going back several years and everything we've heard from other parents.
There are always exceptions and I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find people to say the math department is not terrible - especially if asked by admin and if it would help your child's math grade. LOL |