The Madeira School

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The Madeira School
School seal to be provided by Madeira
Established 1906
School type Private, Boarding
Religious affiliation Nondenominational
Head Elisabeth Griffith, Ph.D.
Location McLean, VA, USA
Campus Suburban - 376 acres
Enrollment 300
Faculty 50
Average class size 10
Student:teacher
ratio		 6:1
Average SAT
scores (2006)		 high
Athletics 21 interscholastic
Color(s) Red & White
Mascot Snail
Homepage www.madeira.org

The Madeira School is a one hundred year old boarding school for girls located in McLean, Virginia, United States. It offers a rigorous academic course.

Contents

[edit] About Madeira

The Madeira School is a private, single-sex, nondenominational preparatory school founded by Lucy Madeira Wing (1873–1959) in 1906. The school’s initial incarnation was located on 19th Street near Dupont Circle in downtown Washington, D.C. In 1931, the school moved to the Northern Virginia suburb of McLean.

Annual tuition is approximately $39,000 for boarding students and $28,000 for day students. Tuition does not include additional fees charged by the school for athletics, books, and other expenses (some financial assistance is available). Madeira's endowment is approximately $40 million.

[edit] Student body

The Madeira School teaches grades 9-12. Each grade has approximately 75 students, many of whom attend Madeira for the full course of study, four years. Total enrollment is approximately 300 students. The average class size is approximately ten students.

Students come from all over the world, represent many faiths, and the student body is international in its outlook. Madeira seeks a diverse student body and welcomes qualified students based on ability and their potential contributions to the Madeira community.

A financial aid program ensures that the students remain moderately heterogeneous; as with most of its peer Washington, D.C., schools, however, many students have parents who can easily afford the high tuition.

[edit] Madeira's co-curriculum program

The Madeira School requires students to participate in a unique internship program, called the Co-Curriculum Program, for which each Wednesday in the academic year is dedicated. Freshmen attend classes on study skills and participate in Outdoor Adventure programs like canoeing, kayaking and rappeling. Sophomores choose a community service placement, often at a soup kitchen, childcare facility or hospice. Juniors work as aides to Congressmen and Senators on Capitol Hill. Seniors pursue an internship in the field they are considering as a career, be it medicine or radio promotion.

Without question, Maderia's Co-Curriculum Program sets it apart from other boarding schools. Madeira's ready access to Washington, DC and Capitol Hill provide incredible opportunities for students to personally experience government as working members of senators and representatives' staffs.

[edit] Reputation

Because of the rigorous education, sports programs, performance programs, international diversity of the student body, and the Co-Curriculum Program, Madeira students are known for their wit, enthusiasm, maturity, and perhaps most significantly, for their active pursuit of knowledge.

One of the other fundamental strengths of the school is the potential for strong relationships formed between students and faculty. Faculty, approximately half of whom live on campus, also serve as coaches and dorm supervisors, providing a strong family atmosphere and sense of community.

Madeira's archrival is the Holton-Arms School, with which Madeira has been athletically competing with for more than 100 years. These two schools are recognized as the academically most prestigious all girls schools in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. A majority of each graduating class is offered admission to one or more of America's top 50 universities or top 50 colleges. This includes acceptances into Ivy League universities, the Seven Sisters, the Little Ivies, the Public Ivies, the Southern Ivies, and other highly selective universities and colleges in the United States. Other students gain admissions to top international universities and colleges.

[edit] Traditions

The following traditions were taken from Madeira's website, traditions:

[edit] Thirteen roses

The thirteen red roses carried by every Madeira graduate on Commencement Day symbolize the thirteen original boarding students enrolled in Miss Madeira's School.

[edit] Academic honor roles

"In this school there is no reward where either the mind or the emotions are concerned. There are rewards in the athletics but in nothing else; no honor rolls and no prizes. No girl's standing is ever known except by herself and her parents unless she tells it. She is always treated as an individual. She is never put to shame or allowed to be puffed up with pride because of her mental attainments. She is treated first and last and always as a social being..."

[edit] Founder's Day

Founder's Day evolved from the traditional celebration of Miss Madeira's birthday on May 19. Today, the Head of School, in a cloak of secrecy, chooses a day in late Spring when classes will be cancelled for a day of fun and relaxation. Strawberries and ice cream always conclude the festivities.

[edit] Motto, colors, and mascot

The Madeira School's motto is, Festina Lente ("Make Haste Slowly" attributed originally to Augustus Caesar).

[edit] Madeira's visual and performance arts programs

The Madeira School's visual, performing arts, and dance programs share a common vision of arts education. Madeira balances the student’s acquisition of technical skills with opportunities to show and share artistic expression with the wider community. There are classes for the student who wants an introductory experiences as well as classes for the student already engaged in the practice of a particular artistic medium. Area professionals give instruction for all arts classes.

[edit] Visual arts

The Madeira School offers programs in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics and art history. In all courses, students are exposed to a wide variety of styles and media through guest artists, field trips to the numerous Washington-area galleries, museums and art centers.

[edit] Performing arts

The Madeira School's Performing Arts Department is comprised of three artistic mediums: drama, music, and dance. While at many high schools these mediums constitute separate departments, at Madeira they are united. Each program maintains discipline specific performances and curriculum in addition to collaborating on two major events during the school year: Winterfest and the Winter Musical.

[edit] Dance

The Madeira School offers class instruction in dance. Teachers have included Anne Middleton, Madeira's first dance instructor and a student of Hanya Holm; Evelyn de la Tour, a former soloist with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; the acclaimed artist and dance pioneer Pola Nirenska; and American choreographer and instructor Virginia Freeman. In addition, Madeira has an association with CityDance Ensemble which provides choreographic and performing opportunities, fosters artistic excellence in dance and the performing arts and is a leading force in bringing dance to young audiences throughout the National Capitol area. In addition, Madeira continues to offer ballet instruction with Marianna Rozanova, our ballet instructor for the last seven years who teaches choreography from the Russian Kirov and Bolshoi ballet companies.

[edit] Madeira's athletic programs

The Madeira School is a member of the seventeen school Independent School League (ISL). Madeira does not recruit athletes but attracts accomplished student-athletes. The sporting pride of the school lies in the riding program.

[edit] Riding

The Madeira School's riding program has been an important part of the athletic curriculum. The goal is to develop self-assured and disciplined riders capable of participating in a wide range of equestrian activities. Madeira competes on privately owned or school owned horses in several interscholastic series including the Tri-State Equitation League, the Mid-Atlantic Show Series, and the National Interscholastic Equestrian Association. In addition, several in-house shows and special events are held throughout the year. The riding club sponsors special events like the Parents' Weekend Gambler's Choice, a trip to the Washington International Horse Show, and riding holidays abroad.

[edit] Seasonal athletics

In addition to the year round riding, The Madeira School offers the following seasonal teams:

[edit] Autumn sports

[edit] Winter sports

[edit] Spring sports

[edit] Club sports

In addition to riding, The Madeira School's athletic facilities are used for club swimming. Other club sports are available off-campus.

[edit] Campus and facilities

The Madeira School's campus is on 376 acres overlooking the Potomac River (McLean, Virginia) and consists of 34 separate buildings.

[edit] The Huffington Library

Madeira's Huffington Library supports students and faculty with access to materials that meet the educational, informational, and recreational needs of the community. Currently the Library's collection consists of approximately 22,300 items that includes videos, DVDs, CDs, audiocassettes, microforms, vertical file material and circulating audio-visual equipment.

In addition to being one of the School's most popular meeting places on campus, the Library is also home to one of the School's computer labs, classrooms, and seminar rooms. There are PCs for student access as well as a wireless network in the building allowing students with laptops to use the School's network from tables and study carrels throughout the facility.

[edit] The Hurd Sports Center and Gaines Hall

The Madeira School's athletic facilities are some of the finest in the greater Washington, DC area. The Hurd Sports Center was opened in September, 1992. This award winning facility includes a gym (side by side volleyball courts and a basketball court), weight room, competitive swimming pool, dance studio, locker rooms, athletic training room, and offices for the teaching and coaching staff. Outdoor facilities include three full size playing fields, eight tennis courts, and cross country trails.

Madeira's equestrian facilities include Gaines Hall a 100' by 200' indoor ring; two outdoor rings with sand footing, bridle trails, and a variety of cross-country obstacles. The stable has capacity to house forty-seven horses. Students may bring and board their own horses or ride one of Madeira's own horses.

[edit] The Chapel/Auditorium

Madeira's performance facilities are housed in a high quality complex called the Chapel/Auditorium. Working spaces include a 590-seat proscenium arch theater with its covered orchestra pit, an art gallery, a scene shop, a prop shop, a costume loft, a dance studio with a wooden sprung floor, choral and chamber orchestra rehearsal spaces, two classrooms, and three piano practice rooms. Madeira students have a special opportunity to learn performance skills and technical stagecraft in a professional level arts facility.

The Chapel/Auditorium is located high on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River.

[edit] Academic facilities

Madeira' academic facilities include the Science Building, Main, Schoolhouse, the new Schoolhouse II, the new Student Center (including dining hall, books store, offices, and meeting rooms). Attached to the Student Center is the art building.

[edit] Dormitories and faculty housing

Madeira has six dormitories and an infirmary. There are several facilities for faculty housing including "The Land" and "The Beeches."

[edit] Administration, faculty, and staff

The Madeira School is controlled by a board of directors, and the school is administered by a headmistress. The current headmistress Elisabeth Griffith, Ph.D. who was appointed 1988. In 2005, Dr. Griffith won The Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award for private schools.

There are approximately 170 members of Madeia's administration, faculty, and staff. Of the 50 members of Madeira's faculty, many hold a Ph.D. and approximately 80% hold advanced degrees. The student to teacher ratio is approximately 6:1.

[edit] Former heads of school

  • (1906-1957) Lucy Madeira Wing
  • (1957-1962) Allegra Maynard
  • (1962-1964) Marian W. Smith
  • (1964-1965) Allegra Maynard
  • (1965-1977) M. Barbara Keyser
  • (1977-1980) Jean Struven Harris
  • (1980-1981) Kathleen Galvin Johnson '53
  • (1981-1988) Charles McKinley Saltzman II
  • (1988-20xx) Elisabeth Griffith, Ph.D.

[edit] Faculty tidbits

  • Prior to starting The Madeira School, Lucy Madeira taught at Sidwell Friends.
  • Lucy Madeira was simultaneously the head of The Potomac School and The Madeira School when they were each located near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.
  • Jean Harris made national news in 1980 as the defendant in a high profile murder case of her ex-lover Herman Tarnower, the well-known cardiologist and author of the best-selling book The Scarsdale Diet.

[edit] Notable alumnae

Among Madeira's famous graduates/attendees:

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[edit] External links

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