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[quote=Anonymous]We have children at Potomac Upper School.

At least for us, our experience has been positive and interesting. The school does some things really well, and other things not so much. But overall, Potomac has worked for us and we are proud to send our kids there.

On OP’s wealth Q, we never felt it was an issue for our family or our kids in terms of making friends and fitting in. Our children are friends with kids who are truly private jet uber wealthy, with others at our level (above and below), and with others who haven’t been as lucky and who struggle. They are also friends  with kids of famous and well known parents (such as professional athletes, diplomats, political folks, CEOs etc.). It’s about the kids and not us, and I think the Potomac families we know feel the same, so it’s never been an issue for anyone from our experience.

Day to day, the kids seem to figure it all out. They wear school uniforms in the younger grades until they get older, which helps to enforce the idea that everyone should be treated equally. Everyone in the lower grades is invited to birthday parties and there is often (always?) a small gift-spend limit. That translates to the Upper School. In Upper School, some kids are decked out but mostly kids just wear regular casual clothes. Nobody is trying to one-up, and if someone does wear something cool, there is some good natured ribbing and even some shout outs, but it’s friendly and age appropriate. There is also an intentional effort throughout Upper School to talk about kindness and acceptance, and just a general awareness that having things (or not having those things) doesn’t define anyone.

I have seen wealth come into play in other areas. Preferential treatment for kids of large donors, for example, and that’s not great. On the other hand, Potomac does try to promote a sense of community for everyone. And preferential treatment can happen at any school. So on the few occasions where I have seen it, I am not happy. But it is truly occasions, not the norm, and overall families and kids are treated equally and fairly.

There is another poster who rightly focuses on rigor. Potomac offers a very competitive and intense program, and a lot is expected of these kids. It ramps up and the kids can feel it. There is stress and anxiety. Still, it’s not pressure for the sake of pressure, there are lots of resources, almost all of the teachers we know really care and try to work with families, there’s a ton of communication, and the goal is for kids to grow to be the best student and person they can be. Nobody is going out of their way to grind a kid; if anything the opposite, with teachers and staff working with families to make sure that kids are learning and challenging themselves (but not to extremes). So it all balances out, kids find the pace that works for them, and they do their best. Are there exceptions — sure — but that’s our experience.

My only real criticism of the program is the math curriculum, which was concocted by Potomac, was poorly conceived, and should be discarded in its entirety as a well intended failure. It’s a peculiar feature of Potomac administration pride (“we created our own math program and it works so well!”), yet the school’s judgment here is simply wrong and infected with bias. I would love to see a commission of area private school math teachers review Potomac’s math program on a white label basis and then poll Potomac families — and Potomac math teachers — confidentially about their experience with it. Until then, all hail Potomac math.

Like other DMV privates, there is no AP. But there are honors and advanced courses, and there is nothing stopping a student from taking AP exams either.  My only complaint here is that honors and advanced classes for STEM are great and start early, but Potomac really doesn’t offer the same level courses for English/History until later. That’s another unforced error. With that said, are those honors and advanced English/History classes excellent? Yes. Are they well taught? Absolutely. Are the teachers running these classes outstanding? Clearly. Can students interested in these subject areas also supplement their overall experience with related electives and independent course work? Of course, and they do (and it works).

The Upper School has a good sports program. I know some teams stand out year over year. I don’t know if Potomac produces a lot of D1 athletes, but we see lots of D3 kids get into excellent athletic conferences every year as far as college admissions goes.

The bus system is robust and works most of the time. By that I simply mean that when it doesn’t work, it really doesn’t work. The transportation office is probably the worst of all the departments, with inconsistent communication (and sometimes outright wrong information). We have seen it all over the years. In fairness though, I think Potomac buses in kids from literally dozens of zip codes, it’s hard (and very expensive) to consistently maintain a fleet of buses, harder still to find bus drivers, plus coordinate all that. Mistakes are going to happen, and when you consider the sheer number of bus runs and kids moved every day, their system is amazing. It’s just really frustrating to see the same mistakes over time by a department that doesn’t seem to want to professionalize itself.

Let me add one disclaimer. This is just our experience. We know families at other DMV privates, and they have the same or equivalent positives and negatives when they share their school experiences with us. There is no perfect school. Potomac has been great for us and we have no regrets, even with its imperfections.

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