Potomac vs St. Albans

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP of this thread from 2 years ago and my son ended up choosing STA.
His choices were Potomac, Sidwell and STA.

He's had a great experience-I do think he made the right choice. I toured Potomac
again this fall for a younger sibling and while I liked it, it consistently seems like more of a generic high school.
STA has all the history and traditions that I really don't think you find anywhere else. The teachers
are fantastic. My son is doing fine with the single gender thing--he's fairly social and meets girls
through social media, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP of this thread from 2 years ago and my son ended up choosing STA.
His choices were Potomac, Sidwell and STA.

He's had a great experience-I do think he made the right choice. I toured Potomac
again this fall for a younger sibling and while I liked it, it consistently seems like more of a generic high school.
STA has all the history and traditions that I really don't think you find anywhere else. The teachers
are fantastic. My son is doing fine with the single gender thing--he's fairly social and meets girls
through social media, etc.

Is your son a sophomore? That’s an outstanding STA class (both students and parents.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

That completely depends where you are. Palisades? Just as easy to get to Potomac as St. Albans.

If you also work in dc then no the palisades doesn’t help.

exactly. unless you have a reason to be in mclean besides potomac, it makes no sense. and the bus might help you, but your kid will be schlepping it, and you won't be there for his activities.

there are other reasons to pick sta. they don't warrant mention given the commute issue, which should take care of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

That completely depends where you are. Palisades? Just as easy to get to Potomac as St. Albans.

If you also work in dc then no the palisades doesn’t help.

Doesn't Potomac require student to take the bus?

Yes, after K kids ride the bus. Once they drive themselves they are able to park in a nearby parking lot and take a shuttle from there.

We live in McLean and I would choose STA if your DS is a strong student (which obviously he is). DS toured both for HS and DS did shadows at both, etc. He had a much more favorable impression of the school and the students at STA despite knowing kids at both. We also found the parents at STA to be very welcoming. We attended a soccer game and the parents were low key and friendly.

The STA soccer parents are particularly friendly and welcoming. If you had attended another sport you may not have felt the same way. It can be a tough crowd.

so don't play hockey. and if the kid already plays hockey, the kid is already in the crowd. that's what having one of the only available ice rinks in the dmv will do--it will create a crowd that has access to that ice rink. It's not really an issue unless you make it one

[Anonymous]

Which does your son like better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP of this thread from 2 years ago and my son ended up choosing STA.
His choices were Potomac, Sidwell and STA.

He's had a great experience-I do think he made the right choice. I toured Potomac
again this fall for a younger sibling and while I liked it, it consistently seems like more of a generic high school.
STA has all the history and traditions that I really don't think you find anywhere else. The teachers
are fantastic. My son is doing fine with the single gender thing--he's fairly social and meets girls
through social media, etc.

Do you like the slight element of inclusive christian values?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP of this thread from 2 years ago and my son ended up choosing STA.
His choices were Potomac, Sidwell and STA.

He's had a great experience-I do think he made the right choice. I toured Potomac
again this fall for a younger sibling and while I liked it, it consistently seems like more of a generic high school.
STA has all the history and traditions that I really don't think you find anywhere else. The teachers
are fantastic. My son is doing fine with the single gender thing--he's fairly social and meets girls
through social media, etc.

Does that make you nervous?

[Anonymous]

Is the rink a Chevy reference? Have experienced a touch of this and eager to know which other sports are so clearly country club-affiliated? I don’t think if hockey as particularly posh but clearly unfamiliar with it locally

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the rink a Chevy reference? Have experienced a touch of this and eager to know which other sports are so clearly country club-affiliated? I don’t think if hockey as particularly posh but clearly unfamiliar with it locally

It’s not posh; it’s just not easy to do around here without a rink. There aren’t many rinks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely STA

-Parent of a Potomac graduating senior.

I have no experience with STA, but Potomac US is a demoralizing academic experience.

Why did yiu think Potomac US was demoralizing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely STA

-Parent of a Potomac graduating senior.

I have no experience with STA, but Potomac US is a demoralizing academic experience.

Why did yiu think Potomac US was demoralizing?

its a pressure cooker. excellent at other schools (excluding top tier academic programs i.e. STA/NCS,sidwell,gds) is barely average there

[Anonymous]

What is excellent at other school but barely there at Potomac? I am genuinely interested in what aspects you find Potomac demoralizing (i have a kid in the IS now). All sidwell/GDS/Cathedral schools are serious pressure cookers too, perhaps more so from what i see. So, just interested…do you mean academics demoralizing? Culture? Or something else altogether?

[Anonymous]

This thread pretty much sums it up:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1031793.page#21830783

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

We live in NW DC. DC goes to Potomac. It’s literally a 15 minute commute and he takes a bus.

[Anonymous]

Nonsense.