Reply to Are Other Upper School Students at Potomac Not Getting Tests and Papers Back for Weeks at a Time?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Current parent of a senior at Potomac and while no school is perfect our experience at Potomac has been pretty great. I honestly believe that many - not all - of the parents complaining in this thread are ones who thought their kid was brilliant and going to be a straight A student in HS but, when he or she got to Potomac and isn’t, these parents freak out. They can’t handle it. They want to find anyone to blame.

The truth is Potomac US is very intense, very rigorous, and straight As are not common, especially when compared to public schools, even the best publics. The US students have to be very well organized and totally on their game every single day.  Getting an A means a lot of work and perseverance. It’s not enough just to be smart.

- From parents whose kid is Not a Lifer & who have experience at other top privates in DC. [/quote]

So you are basically repeating the argument of the Potomac administrator that part of the "hard experience" is to encourage teachers not to have transparency, to have no written feedback in a timely manner and for all these smart "together" high schools students to "guess" about what they need to improve in each assignment every week without any grading or feedback from teachers, just so they can all be humbled and taught that they aren't all the smartest students and experience the harsh grading at Potomac in a more, let's say, thoroughly personal way.   What a bunch of malarkey!  If the school faculty doesn't respect it's own students enough to hold up their end of the bargain to actually provide feedback and grades on assignments, what does that say about what Potomac thinks of it's own students and the culture of trust between student and teacher it is instituting.  I would want to say VERY FAR AWAY from a school such as this!  it would be an absolute disaster for mental health, self-image, and pedagogical success of the students.  [/quote]

[b]You are grossly exaggerating if not flat out making up whatever you want to.[/b] The students get a tremendous amount of feedback. Most teachers promptly give back graded quizzes, tests and papers. Plus teachers have open office house every week. Any kid who feels s/he isn’t getting sufficient feedback has multiple avenues of recourse - teacher, advisor, learning center, deans, etc…. Again there are only a few 2 or 3 teachers in the US who have poor records for returning papers, labs or tests. Very very unusual.

This thread has gotten utterly ridiculous.  Talk the administration if you aren’t happy. If all you are doing is posting crap on DCUM your motives are incredibly suspect as this exercise is not helping your kid. 
[/quote] Why on Earth would multiple people come on this forum and say the same thing? If your kid hasn’t had this experience, great. [b]You are in the minority,[/b] and there is nothing wrong with parents wanting to share information without fear of it blowing back on their child. That’s what these forums are for. I agree that it ultimately won’t solve the issues, but that’s not the point.[/quote]

Another parent of three lifers here - I do not believe for a minute that the parents who are extremely happy with the teaching and education their children are getting at Potomac are in the minority. We have had incredible teachers in every division and, while the US is very academically rigorous, I have seen nothing but teachers who are willing to go the extra mile. As it is at most independent schools.

My children have learned how to be good learners - from teachers who give detailed feedback and offer their time and energy in spades.[/quote]

+1 I’ve always thought teacher feedback on assignments was one of Potomac’s biggest strengths. [/quote]

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