Living on campus gives Madeira students the opportunity to manage the demands of an ambitious academic program while developing lifelong bonds with teachers, mentors, and friends from around the world.
It creates quite the family atmosphere, where you’ll always have someone to support you, cheer at your games, host you for the weekend, or join you in exploring one of the greatest cities in the world (Washington, D.C. of course!).
Are you ready to see what it’s like to live the Madeira life?
Boarding Benefits: Life at Madeira
Boarding girls live in the center of campus in six dorms that each house around 25 students. Madeira’s dorms are all relatively small, especially compared to those at other boarding schools, and we offer a mix of doubles and singles. The dorms provide plenty of opportunities to build community, study hard, and have fun. Dorm Faculty – a group of four Madeira faculty or staff – supervise.
Roommates
As a new student before you move in, you complete a questionnaire for the Dean of Student Life & Culture Office, sharing your habits, interests, and activities which allows them to better match you with a roommate. After your first year, you can choose your own roommate and participate in the housing lottery at the end of each school year. While simple, this process has been successful resulting in most boarders choosing to continue living with the same roommate.
Dorm Adults
Each dorm has two Madeira adult members who live in separate apartments in the dorm building, and two other Madeira adult members who are each dorm’s adult team. This team serves as the adult leadership in the dorms. In addition to our adults, there are three students who serve as resident advisors who help curate the community of the dorm. Together this team and the boarding committee help the boarding students make lasting relationships!
Day Students
Day students each have a dorm affiliation and are always encouraged to attend & participate with their dorm.
On and Off Campus Activities
On campus activities range from karaoke night to the annual Pillsbury Bake-off and often count for coveted dorm points (an inter-dorm competition). Day students each have a dorm affiliation and are always encouraged to attend. Movies on the Oval, dance recitals, monthly mixers, and trips to Tyson’s Corner, Georgetown, Baltimore, and Kings’ Dominion (all with other schools) are favorites. Each dorm sponsors a campus-wide activity, such as the campus-wide scavenger hunt. We take full advantage of our proximity to Washington by regularly planning trips to museums and galleries, concerts and plays, professional baseball and basketball games, and more.
