Overview

The Masters School is a coed day and boarding school that engages fifth through twelfth grade students in a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. Located on a picturesque 96-acre campus, we are just 30 minutes from New York City.  

Enrollment

Middle School (grades 5-8)

• 175 Students
• Grade 5 coeducational
• Grades 6-8 classes separated by gender

Upper School (coed, boarding and day, grades 9-12)

• 485 Students
• Students from 15 states and 31 countries

Faculty

• 118 full-time faculty members
• 75% have advanced degrees (74 masters, 8 Ph.D., 3 J.D., 2 M.D.)
• Average class size: 14 students
• Faculty/Student ratio: 1:7

 

The Harkness Method

The Masters School, the Harkness method of teaching encourages students to participate in their education by taking an active role in and responsibility for their own learning. Based around large oval wooden tables, classes are taught in a seminar format. Every student has an equal place of prominence at the table and in the interactive learning experience that ensues. The principle of teaching around tables is to engage students in the learning process by inspiring them to prepare thoroughly, participate daily, solve problems collaboratively, explore divergent ideas, challenge assumptions, and on occasion, lead class discussions. Masters School students develop outstanding listening skills and the confidence to speak with clarity and nuance. Harkness teaching is incorporated into most academic disciplines at The Masters School.  

Living at Masters

At The Masters School, boarding students from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas join day students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to feel fully at home. Our teachers, many of whom live on campus, come from all over the world, too. Students and teachers together represent an impressive variety of cultural, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and socio-economic backgrounds and comprise a community distinctive in its diversity and in its acceptance of each person in it. The Masters School offers one of the only boarding school experiences in the New York metropolitan area. Set amid 96-acres of fields and woodlands overlooking the Hudson River, our students have a scenic and comfortable environment for living and learning. The combination of boarding and day students results in an exceptionally dynamic and diverse community life where students from across the country and around the globe form strong friendships with each other and with day students. Here, there is no pressure to conform to a particular mold: Students are free to be who they are—teenagers. A thoughtfully designed residential life program ensures all the experiences that students would have at home—from nights at the movies to an afternoon trip to a Broadway Show to baking brownies with a dorm parent. Dorms feature all the amenities students need to live comfortably and thrive academically and socially. All rooms have high-speed Internet connections, and each dorm is equipped with washer-dryers and contains a number of common areas, including kitchens and common rooms. Each dorm has four “parents” who create a warm and homelike environment. Faculty are available day and night and become familiar with the details of students’ lives so they can address any issues as they arise. Students, in turn, know they can always receive sound advice from a dorm parent. In addition, each boarding student has a dedicated faculty advisor who lives on campus. Along with active guidance, faculty provide a valuable example: As professionals, parents, husbands, and wives, they model the School’s fundamental values of integrity, service, and concern for others.  

The Arts at Masters

Students with a passion for the arts find that their time at The Masters School is a chance to acquire and develop skills and understanding. It is also a time during which they find their creative voices. Students expand their minds along with their eyes and ears. They come face-to-face with the many feelings or ideas they want to express. They demonstrate through their work that they have discovered themselves. They learn to articulate joy, sorrow, and hope without words. They use their art to tell others what they have seen, heard, and felt in the world around them. Our teachers are working artists who deeply enjoy helping their students’ talents emerge. Because of the School’s location near New York City and its steadfast attention to city-based learning opportunities, the music, drama, visual arts, photography, and dance programs have long been among its biggest draws. Students in the arts often study at New York City conservatories and art studios on Saturdays.  

The Athletic Program

The Athletic Program in deeply embedded in the Masters tradition.  Through Athletics our student-athletes learn how to be responsible for not only themselves but for their teammates, coaches, family and community, preparing them for the many challenges in life. Our coaches consistently challenge our athletes while honoring participation, achievement and effort through our programs. The Masters School strives to provide a meaningful and exciting experience for all our student-athletes in a competitive setting. Our success is not measured in victories alone, but also in the individual development of each athlete. Our Athletes strive to be the best person they can be whether it’s in the classroom, on the playing field or in the community. We believe that the skills our student-athletes develop during their time at Masters will mold them into productive members of society.   Program Goals:

• Prepare our athletes for their future endeavors from the collegiate bound to the recreational

• Be recognized for integrity, honesty and caring and teach our athlete to be graceful in both victory and defeat

• Produce individuals and teams that embrace healthy competition and strive to win

• Provide elite athletic facilities that will serve the both the Masters Athletic Programs and community

• Provide a wide variety of opportunities in order for every student to be able to participate