Specialized British Program at Potomac High School

For most students, and parents, the phrase "picking a school" only refers to the college process as students labor over pro con lists when deciding where to continue their higher education.

But for Prince William County students, choosing a school can begin as early as middle school considering each high school in the county offers a specialty program. Some programs are offered twice, once at a school in the western end of the county and again in the eastern area, while others are only available at one location.

Since students in the Woodbridge area can choose from seven different specialty programs, Woodbridge Patch has decided to take a look into each program to help students and parents fully understand all their options.

Part VI: Cambridge Program for Mathematics and Physical Sciences at Potomac Senior High School

The Cambridge program is an advanced studies program offered through The University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The program has existed in the United States for over 20 years, but was mostly popular in Florida schools.

Potomac is in its 10th year of hosting the Cambridge Program; it is one of two schools in Prince William County that hosts such a program. Though there are not rules barring a student from the Western end of the county choosing Potomac for the Cambridge Program, Cambridge Coordinator Courtney Wilkerson said that most parents tend to choose a school based on location.

The program currently has approximately 725 students participating and "offers an international, pre-university curriculum and examination system that emphasizes the value of a broad and balanced study for academically able students," according to its website.

Students can choose courses that are an extension of the basic high school curriculum such as international history, foreign literature courses (French, German or Spanish), music theory and art and design. Juniors and seniors of the program will take a series of externally evaluated collegiate level exams to assess their skills.

A unique aspect of the Cambridge Program as compared to other specialty programs in PWC is that students only have to enroll in one Cambridge course to be considered a part of the program.

"This allows students to be involved in an advanced studies curriculum based on their strengths and interests, whereas programs like or are more of an all or nothing scenario," said Wilkerson.

Cambridge students are also limited to three advanced studies courses at a time unless they have gotten specific permission from both Wilkerson and the teacher of the course, to ensure that students don't take on too much at once.

"We want to make sure our kids have more than enough room to address electives and interests without being overloaded," said Wilkerson.

The disadvantage of being a fairly new program is the struggle with awareness. Since it is not as widely known and understand as programs such as AP and IB, students in the Cambridge Program can be frustrated with the process of trying to get their university to accept course credits.

However, Wilkerson said they are actively working on increasing awareness of the program and that the VA universities, as well as Florida institutions, now all accept Cambridge credits.

Wilkerson sees all the specialty programs offered in the country as providing students with a strong education and believes the differences lay in the specifics of the programs.

"Participants in any of the PWC specialty programs are going to come out very well prepared, because that is the nature of these programs," said Wilkerson. "The difference are in what they are exposed to in the process, and with a very broad program like ours, students are exposed to much more diverse material."

While Wilkerson does not see a lot of her students applying to Cambridge University, she does believe they would have a leg up in the application process if they choose to because they have already proved they can handle university material.

"I recommend the Cambridge Program to any students who is looking for a challenge, or has a strength in one area that they wish to challenge themselves in. They can then explore challenges in other areas as they improve," said Wilkerson.