We are a family from McLean (ordinary family with no connections to the school or ability to donate a science lab). The school has been very welcoming in all respects.

Anonymous wrote:It may be that children and families from a well-respected feeder school such as Beauvoir are treated more warmly. Or people who are otherwise connected with the school, such as freinds of current students, etc. Our experience was very cold as well, much as I wanted to love it there (as it was highly reccomended by one very close friend and other acquiantences whom I respect). I guess we didn't make the cut!

We are a Beauvoir family that was NOT treated warmly, fwiw.

I went to potomac and the treatment of the kids by the teachers and staff is the same as the AD treatment of the parents... warm to the "special" (star athletes, big donor families) kids and cold to the rest. not a place I would send my own kids after having attended.

Anonymous wrote:It may be that children and families from a well-respected feeder school such as Beauvoir are treated more warmly. Or people who are otherwise connected with the school, such as freinds of current students, etc. Our experience was very cold as well, much as I wanted to love it there (as it was highly reccomended by one very close friend and other acquiantences whom I respect). I guess we didn't make the cut!

Was our experience as well. If the knew you, they were warm, if not it was like you were taking up space for the ones they really cared about.

Anonymous wrote:Just ran across this thread and was unsurprised to see the reviews regarding the head of admissions... I have lived in several places and toured private and boarding schools on the East Coast and the UK. I couldn't believe how cold and unfriendly the head and front desk person were vis a vis other schools I have visited. It is more of a general attitude; there was nothing to 'judge' about us personally, we had just walked in with several other families and nobody in our party warranted a hello. I can't even begin to describe what a negative impression it sent.

Concur with this post. We were completely turned off by the AD. Very cold.

It may be that children and families from a well-respected feeder school such as Beauvoir are treated more warmly. Or people who are otherwise connected with the school, such as freinds of current students, etc. Our experience was very cold as well, much as I wanted to love it there (as it was highly reccomended by one very close friend and other acquiantences whom I respect). I guess we didn't make the cut!

I know that Beauvoir sends a steady stream of kids to the Potomac school. I suppose there is the VA resident factor, and the coed factor, but the one thing these parents say about the place is that it seems like a natural extension of Beauvoir, which I considered to be very nurturing.

Sports. And have looked at admissions twice (once for each DC). Same AD experience both times.

PP, why are you visiting so often if your kids don't go there? Seems odd.

When I go to Potomac, if I look around, it is not hard to find a large poster or board up in a classroom or hallway -- teacher or administration posting, not student work -- that contains a word that is incorrectly spelled. On school tour for LS admissions the word "privilege" was misspelled on a big poster teaching the kids the classroom rules. Just saw another "typo" on a permanent-type display when visiting a few weeks ago. That (and treatment of applicants by AD) was enough to make me balk about spending the tuition to go there.

Just ran across this thread and was unsurprised to see the reviews regarding the head of admissions... I have lived in several places and toured private and boarding schools on the East Coast and the UK. I couldn't believe how cold and unfriendly the head and front desk person were vis a vis other schools I have visited. It is more of a general attitude; there was nothing to 'judge' about us personally, we had just walked in with several other families and nobody in our party warranted a hello. I can't even begin to describe what a negative impression it sent.

(me above) also, kids tend to sit on the bus with kids their age.

The Potomac School is an amazing school. With the bus, it's really not a big problem with bullying or anything with older kids. the 18 year olds and older kids tend to drive on campus, or to the shuttle, but even then, the students aren't stupid to pick on a k student. usually, its the other way around with the younger students being energetic! the bus drivers are also good at keeping everything in line and making sure kids don't get out of hand and rambunctious. With bullying, teachers are observant and don't let things slide if somethings happening, along with other students that won't just sit by and watch. this school creates smart, independent and over all prepared students for their future.

Would love to hear more about people's experiences with young children K/1 riding the bus with older children as a previous poster mentioned. I am also interested in learning how the school schedules activities that require parental participation knowing families are coming from all over the tri-state area? Are they typically in the middle of the day, morning or later in the day?

How does Potomac handle bullying? DD doesn't stand up for herself and occasionally gets pushed/kicked on the playground. I know this can happen to any kid but she is small and I think she gets picked on because she's an easy target.