The Madeira School | |
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Address | |
8328 Georgetown Pike , 22102 United States | |
Coordinates | 38°57′55″N77°14′6″W / 38.96528°N 77.23500°W |
Information | |
Other names |
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Type | Private, day and boarding college-preparatory school |
Motto | Latin: Festina lente (Make haste slowly) |
Established | 1906 |
Founder | Lucy Madeira Wing |
NCES School ID | 02063874 [1] |
Head of school | Christina Kyong |
Teaching staff | 50.3 (on an FTE basis) [1] |
Grades | 9–12 |
Gender | Girls |
Enrollment | 321 (2017–2018) [1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 6.4 [1] |
Campus size | 376 acres (1.52 km2) |
Campus type | Fringe rural [1] |
Color(s) | Red and White |
Nickname | Snails |
Website | www |
The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, [2] private, day and boarding college-preparatory school for girls from grades 9-12 in McLean, Virginia, United States. The school has 336 students. [3]
It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing.
Founded by Lucy Madeira Wing (1873–1961) in 1906, the school was originally located on 19th Street near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. In 1931, it was moved some 12 miles west to the Northern Virginia suburb of McLean. [4]
Buildings on the 1931 campus included 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. Buildings added later 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. [5]
In 1973, the body of 14-year-old student Natalia Semler was found bound and beaten on the school grounds. [6] [7] John Gilreath, who had been convicted of a sexual assault at the school two years earlier, was convicted of her murder. [8]
In 1980, then-headmistress Jean Harris was convicted of the murder of Herman Tarnower. [9] [10] [11]
The demographic breakdown of the 310 girls enrolled in 2013–2014 was: [12]
The campus is on 376 acres (1.52 km2) overlooking the Potomac River (McLean, Virginia) and consists of 34 separate buildings.
The Madeira school has had many disputes over the use of its land. In 1966, Fairfax County proposed to turn 208 of Madeira's 376 acres (1.52 km2) into public parkland. [13] In 1991, Madeira gave a trail easement along Georgetown Pike and $89,000 for construction so that hikers could walk the Potomac Heritage Route without entering the main area of the campus. [14] However, this trail was never completed by the park officials. In 2008, the Fairfax County government attempted to obtain from Madeira an easement near the Potomac River to permit the completion of a 100-mile (160 km) 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. The Madeira School declined this easement, citing concerns about safety and environmental impacts. [15] [16]
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Jean Struven Harris 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, Herman Tarnower, a well-known cardiologist and author of the best-selling book The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet. The case is featured on the TV show Murder Made Me Famous.
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The following is a timeline of the history of the unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) of McLean, Virginia, USA.