The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, private, day and boarding

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher educatio ...

for

girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxi ...

, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing.

History

Originally located on 19th Street near

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...

in Washington, D.C., it was founded by Lucy Madeira Wing (1873–1961) in 1906 and moved to the

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

suburb of McLean in 1931. Since 1931, its campus has grown beyond the original campus buildings—Main, the dining hall, Schoolhouse, East, West, and North South Dorms, The Land, the Annex (infirmary), and the two gatehouses at the entrance to the Oval—to include the Chapel/Auditorium, the indoor riding ring and Gaines Hall, the science building, a renovated and expanded dining hall, Hurd Sports Center, and Huffington Library. In 1973, a fourteen-year-old student was found dead on the school grounds due to shock and exposure. An individual, already convicted two years earlier for another sexual assault perpetrated at the school, was eventually convicted of first degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in connection with the death. In 1980 the then headmistress

Jean Harris Jean Struven Harris (April 27, 1923 – December 23, 2012) was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia, who made national news in the early 1980s when she was tried and convicted of the murder of her ex-lover, Her ...

was convicted for the murder of Herman Tarnower.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 310 girls enrolled in 2013–2014 was: * Native American/Alaskan - 0.7% * Asian/Pacific islanders - 21.6% * Black - 13.9% * Hispanic - 3.5% * White - 55.5% * Multiracial - 4.8%

Campus and facilities

The campus is on overlooking the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

(McLean, Virginia) and consists of 34 separate buildings.

Public access

The Madeira school has had many disputes over the use of its land. In 1966, Fairfax County proposed the turning of 208 of Madeira's privately owned into public park land. In 1991 Madeira gave a trail easement along Georgetown Pike, as well as $89,000 for that trail construction to complete the Potomac Heritage Route without visitors entering the main area of the campus. However, this trail was never completed by the park officials. In 2008, the

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...

government attempted to obtain from Madeira an

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

near the Potomac River to permit the completion of a loop of walking trails as a condition of approval for the school's proposed expansion plans. This one-mile (1.6 km)-long trail section through Madeira's property would connect the county's Scott's Run Park to

Great Falls National Park Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service (NPS) site in Virginia, United States. Situated on along the banks of the Potomac River in northern Fairfax County, the park is a disconnected but integral part of the George Washington Memorial ...

. The Madeira School declined this easement, citing concerns about safety and environmental impacts.

Notable alumnae

Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John ...

, philanthropist, socialite, and writer * Mary Lincoln Beckwith, descendant of Abraham Lincoln * Stephania Bell, physical therapist and commentator * Christina Bellin, model and socialite * Clara López, former Colombian minister of labour. *

Blair Brown Bonnie Blair Brown (born April 23, 1946) is an American theater, film and television actress. She has had a number of high-profile roles, including in the play '' Copenhagen'' on Broadway, the leading actress in the films ''Altered States'' ...

, actress * Campbell Brown, anchor and news reporter *

Mika Brzezinski Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (; pl, Brzezińska; born May 2, 1967) is an American talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show ''Morning Joe''. She was forme ...

, journalist, talk show host, commentator, and author * Charlotte E. Carr, labor activist and state official * Stockard Channing, actress * Penny Chenery, sportswoman * Julia Collins, most successful female

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given gene ...

contestant * Hope Cooke, Queen consort of the 12th Chogyal of Sikkim * Kathryn Wasserman Davis, philanthropist and scholar of world affairs * Helen T. Edwards, physicist *

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...

, publisher *

Mary Helen Wright Greuter Mary Helen Wright Greuter (December 20, 1914 – October 23, 1997) was an American astronomer and historian, who wrote and edited on the history and methodology of sciences, including anthropology, archeology, mathematics, and physics. Early yea ...

, astronomer and historian *

Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Cecil Bulkely-Johnson Goodsir (August 22, 1900 – February 7, 1976) was an American born heiress and member of the Vanderbilt family who inherited the Biltmore Estate. She was known for her eccentric behavior. Ear ...

, heiress *

Rory Kennedy Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy (born December 12, 1968) is an American documentary filmmaker who is the eleventh and youngest child of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel. Kennedy has made documentary films that center on social ...

, documentary filmmaker *

Kui Kinyanjui Kui Kinyanjui is a Kenyan journalist and media relations executive. She most recently worked at the Kenyan newspaper ''Business Daily'' where she covers the information, communication and technology beats. Early life and education Kinyanjui w ...

, journalist * Alex Kuczynski, author and journalist * Eleanor de Laittre, artist *

Diana Oughton Diana Oughton (January 26, 1942 – March 6, 1970) was an American member of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Michigan Chapter and later, a member of the 1960s radical group Weather Underground. Oughton received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr ...

, social activist * Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, art collector and philanthropist * Naomi Pierce, evolutionary biologist *

Martha Reeves (anchorite) Martha Reeves (born 1941) is a vowed Anglican solitary (or anchorite), with Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, as bishop-protector. A graduate of the Madeira School (Class of 1959), she is also a Stanford-educated professor of th ...

, Anglican solitary and author *

Alice Rivlin Alice Mitchell Rivlin (born Georgianna Alice Mitchell; March 4, 1931 – May 14, 2019) was an American economist and budget official. She served as the 16th Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1996 to 1999. Before her appointment at the F ...

, economist and budget official * Carrie Southworth, actress and model *

Frances Sternhagen Frances Hussey Sternhagen (born January 13, 1930) is an American actress; she has appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on TV since the 1950s.Joy, Car"Frances Sternhagen in Talks to Join Company of Broadway Magnolias" Broadway.com, Nov ...

, actress * Ruth Carter Stevenson, patron of the arts * Lally Weymouth, journalist * Meredith Whitney, businesswoman

Notable faculty

* Kate Clifton Osgood Holmes, painter * Anne Truitt, sculptor and author

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madeira School, The McLean, Virginia High schools in Fairfax County, Virginia Private high schools in Virginia Boarding schools in Virginia Preparatory schools in Virginia Girls' schools in Virginia Independent School League * Educational institutions established in 1906 1906 establishments in Virginia