Nonsense

Idiotic of you to post here. Talk to Virchow, dean of academics. She’s fantastic at advocating for students. Really your kid should talk to her, not you but you sound like you are the type who wants to do it yourself. BTW - tell your kid this is why he had an advisor. He is supposed to take this issue to his advisor not his mommy.

Anonymous wrote:Why do families put up with this for $45k? Is this common?

This is very common (I’m a teacher) at all of the independent schools where I have worked. Some teachers are great about returning work in a timely fashion, others not so much. Parents need to contact the division head if they deem it having a negative impact on their child’s learning. It really is unacceptable for it to take weeks to return graded work.

^^^Ummm no-most honest person I know!

Anonymous wrote:The teachers and grading at Potomac are the absolute worst (with a few exceptions like the awesome Chemistry teacher Ms Petro). One of the teachers couldn’t even get grades in on time to be released with report cards today (and was gone most of Dec and Jan out of the classroom for personal reasons). The grading is in a Black Box with no online grade book or any transparency that parents can easily follow. Maybe the Lifers are used to this BS but those of us who came into US from the outside can easily see the Emperor has no clothes here. Buyer beware!!

DC is lying to you . . . . .

Anonymous wrote:I have heard very good things about the Chemistry teacher you mentioned.

She is amazing-won some teaching award last year from University of Chicago. Other teachers should follow in her example. My DC says she is the only teacher who ever gave things back in a timely fashion and who was readily available if you had an issue. It’s absolutely true that some classes haven’t graded a thing all semester until the very end-how does that help a child to improve? Do they don’t realize how important grades and performance are for college admission? Why pay for this??!!

Agree with above and really upset we left public school for the opportunity to pay 45K for this horrible experience!!

I have heard very good things about the Chemistry teacher you mentioned.

The teachers and grading at Potomac are the absolute worst (with a few exceptions like the awesome Chemistry teacher Ms Petro). One of the teachers couldn’t even get grades in on time to be released with report cards today (and was gone most of Dec and Jan out of the classroom for personal reasons). The grading is in a Black Box with no online grade book or any transparency that parents can easily follow. Maybe the Lifers are used to this BS but those of us who came into US from the outside can easily see the Emperor has no clothes here. Buyer beware!!

I am trying to find out if this is common or whether our child has been unlucky.

Why do families put up with this for $45k? Is this common?

Unfortunately, the teachers who aren’t returning work also don’t respond to student emails for the most part or say they “don’t know” when our child asks how he/she did on the last assignment or how he/she is doing grade-wise. And our child is afraid of looking like a grade-grubber, but it is disconcerting to have so little idea how you are doing in the class.

Yes, this is a continuing problem. Have your DC contact the teacher via email. If they do not get a response, contact the teacher yourself. This has happened to a number of students where it was too late to recover.

Keep in mind that COVID is still affecting teachers in very important ways. For example, this year many teachers have lost their free/planning periods because they have to sub for their colleagues who are out with COVID. This shouldn't justify returning graded work a month after the fact, though.

During the pandemic, our Upper School student at Potomac complained that several teachers were not returning tests or papers for weeks or even months at a time. We had thought that it was one of the "hazards" of Covid, but it seems to be continuing in at least several classes again now that school is somewhat back to normal. It makes it difficult for our child to know how well he/she is understanding the material and very difficult for the student to know whether his or her grade is potentially slipping. Are other Potomac parents finding this to be happening as well?