Choate is one of those “physics-first” schools. From the curriculum guide:
The idea is that students will get more out of the later chem and bio courses at a deeper level if they start with physics. Our son had a bear of a teacher his first year who also taught in a very conceptual, not-always-by-the-book way. It was brutal at first but, by the end of the year, everything had fallen into place for most of the students as they learned to think about concepts and the problems they were trying to solve without jumping into a formulaic toolkit first. Many students come to BS sciences and math expecting to learn the tools/process first and then be able to decide later on tests which of those formulas best fits the pattern of the question asked. The Choate method was to throw that limit out and break students of rote behavior. It definitely took our son waaaaay out of his comfort zone. He found that he could still get points on a test by describing in detail how he would break down and go about solving a problem he didn’t necessarily have all the parts at his mental disposal to apply. Even later when he had better mastery of those tools, he’d still inject his comments when he knew he was somehow going astray, and that was often the difference between a zero and partial credit. The purpose of the class was to teach students how to think about physics and supply the hammers later.
Now, if every single student in your child’s class is experiencing the same frustration, then this class is not what I’m describing above, and other posters have made some excellent suggestions. I will also add that your first point of contact at BS is your daughter’s advisor. That person not only has a daily eye on your kid and knows her courses and teachers but will also give you some honest feedback about the teacher or whatever s/he feels the real issue is and advise you where to go from there.