Potomac Stories

The award-winning Upper School Potomac Theatre attended and competed at The Virginia Thespian Festival at Capital One Arena in Tysons Corner earlier this month. They performed a stunning production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." For the second year in a row, Potomac Theatre was awarded the festival's top awards in Acting and Music and received the most awards of any competing independent school in the DMV. In addition to performing, theatre students also attended workshops where they participated in lighting design, choreography, script work and acting intensives. Congratulations to our incredible Potomac Theatre students for all of their hard work!

Grade 8 students completed their IS Art experience by creating spectacular self-portrait weavings. You can enjoy their finished products on display in the IS hallway! 

Grade 7 science students completed their taxonomy unit by identifying 10 fish species (samples obtained at the DC Maine Street fish market). Flounder, rockfish, and blue catfish were easy to identify, while sea bass and mackerel were more challenging!

Mrs. Jackson's second grade class kicked off our series of Service Learning visits to local assisted living facilities in the community. Second graders have been learning about the needs of older adults, particularly those who need help with daily tasks in assisted living. Last Wednesday, Mrs. Jackson's class visited Chesterbrook Residences, where they took part in a chair exercise class, toured the facility, and met several residents. Ms. Morrissey's class will visit Sunrise McLean Village this week, and Ms. Potter's class will visit Culpepper Garden next week. We are grateful for the opportunity to create cross-generational connections and bring some cheer to our elder neighbors!

Congratulations to seniors Kate Choi, Anaahita Kaashyap, and Erim Ozcan, who were named Top 300 Scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2025! All three are students in Potomac's Science and Engineering Research Center (SERC) program. This contest is the nation's oldest and most prestigious science/math competition for high school seniors. Under the mentorship of Dr. Isabelle Cohen and others, they've spent the past two years researching their projects.

• Choi is recognized for her research on "Improving Racial Equity in Skin Cancer Detection: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence-Driven Synthetic Image Generation, Cascading Convolutional Neural Networks and Affordable Diagnostic Hardware for Accurate Cancer Screening Across All Skin Tones."
• Kaashyap is recognized for her research on “Development and Evaluation of HMPB-Cur-Pip Nanoparticles as a Novel, Cost-Effective, Anti-Inflammatory Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis.”
• Ozcan is recognized for his research on “Parametric Optimization and Discovery of a Low-Noise Toroidal Quadrotor Propeller With a Leading Blade Height Offset for Responsible Wildlife.”  

Read more.

On Monday, IS French students welcomed the winter season by singing “Vive le Vent” (“Jingle Bells”) and spreading holiday cheer as they caroled through MS and LS hallways. They then offered lunchtime entertainment for younger students, who enjoyed a special French luncheon—a feast of crêpes, quiches, jambon-fromage, and other traditional fare prepared by parents and teachers. Un grand merci à Mesdames Barbee et Potter for their organization and leadership. Bonne Année et Merci à tous!