Boarding
The six dormitories at Madeira accommodate about twenty-eight students each. Over half of Madeira's students are boarders, and boarding life forms a vital and vibrant portion of life at Madeira. Most boarders have roommates, and many continue to live with that roommate each year.
Dorm Government & House Adults
Each school year every dorm elects several leaders, including head of house and assistant head of house, who organize dorm duties and activities. These students, plus another student government member, form a house council that works closely with the house adults to establish dorm rules, keep the dorm safe and comfortable, and act as friends and mentors to others. Each dorm also has trained student counselors to work with students who need support.
Technology and Activities
Every dorm also has its own technology center, called a CyberPod, that is linked to the campus network. Many students have laptop computers that can access the Internet through wireless transmitters. These transmitters are turned off during specific evening hours. Girls also spend time in the student lounge, a space where they can watch TV or movies, eat pizza or popcorn, play games, or just hang out. Dorms also have a telephone on every floor, which girls may use to call home. Many girls have cell phones, which they may use in specially designated locations throughout the campus and in the dorms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Living on campus can be a great way to learn more from other Madeira girls and become ever more self-reliant.
Q: Why be a boarder?
A: Madeira girls learn beyond the classroom and the traditional academic day. Sharing a boarding school campus seven days a week with friends, faculty, coaches, and mentors makes the difference and creates a unique and lively community. Wouldn’t you enjoy being surrounded by your best friends all the time, or seeing your teachers in the dining hall at night when you had homework questions?
Q: Who will live in my dorm?
A: Each dorm has an apartment for the residential house adult. Approximately twenty-eight students live in each of the six houses. Ninth-grade boarders are clustered in three of the dorms, but all of the dorms contain a mixture of girls from different grade levels.
Faculty and girls bring with them diverse ethnic, racial, religious, socio-economic, and cultural perspectives and share them in both academic and social settings. How much could you learn—and how much fun could you have—if you lived with girls from Bhutan, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Nigeria, and across the United States? Your character, interests, and culture are considered valuable assets that improve and enhance the overall community.
Q: Will I have a roommate?
A: All new students are paired with a roommate. There are single rooms in each dorm for older students. Returning students select their house, their room, and their roommate in the spring during room draw.
Q: What facilities will I have in my dorm?
A: Each dorm has a common room that houses a television/VCR/DVD, a Cyberpod (a group of three computers and a printer that provide access to the World Wide Web), a small kitchen with two washers and three dryers for laundry, telephones, and a storage room for luggage. Wireless Internet access is available in all dorm rooms.
Q: What kinds of activities happen in the dorm?
A: All students—boarders and day girls—can participate in off-campus activities each weekend such as trips to the local mall (Tysons Corner), McLean, Georgetown, mixers with other boarding schools, putt-putt golf, ice skating, and cultural events in Washington, D.C. While there are always impromptu activities taking place in the dorm, student leaders plan an activity for their dorm every Saturday night. Some favorites include spa night, rhinestoning, making smoothies or pizza, movie marathons, and poker night. A few times each semester there is a campus-wide Saturday night activity like Karaoke Night, the Annual Scavenger/Trivia/Treasure Hunt, or Inner Child Night.
Q: Can I have friends spend the night over the weekend?
A: Yes! You may have friends spend the night in your room during the weekend, and there are aerobeds in each dorm for them to use. Boarders commonly spend the night in each other’s rooms on Friday and Saturday, have day students spend the night, or have friends from home visit.