The Masters School: Three Ways to Build a Week, and One Big Question About Fit

The three models

Three ways to build a week on 96 acres

The Masters School sits on 96 acres in Dobbs Ferry, teaching 675 coed students across Grades 5 through 12. The school reports a one-to-eight student-faculty ratio and advisory groups of six to eight Upper School students.

An Upper School student can attend as a day student, as a five-day boarder who lives in the dorm from Sunday evening to Friday, or as a seven-day boarder. Masters does not publish the split.

A school-updated external profile currently reports 703 students and 31% boarding, so expect a community where most classmates go home at night and the dorm is a minority.

Day-student commute

The commute: train shuttles, private routes, and district buses

For day families, the school day runs on train times. The Hudson Line stops in Dobbs Ferry, where school shuttles meet two morning trains from New York City and one from Croton-Harmon.

In the afternoon, shuttles pull away from campus at 3:55, 4:10, 5:50, and 6:05.

Local district buses may also run for families within 15 miles who request service by April 1, though for Upper School they typically depart at 5:00. Where enrollment supports them, the school also arranges private routes with shared stops across parts of Manhattan, Connecticut, Riverdale, and Westchester.

Five-day boarding

Five-day boarding: Sunday night through Friday

Five-day boarders move into the dorm on Sunday evening and pack up on Friday. The program combines a residential school week with weekends at home, giving students evening study, dinner in the dining hall, and dorm friendships.

Residential life

Seven-day boarding, dorm life, and wellness

Seven-day boarders live on campus full time. On weekends, the school organizes trips into New York City, cultural and sports outings, and Hudson Valley excursions, alongside open gym and library hours, check-ins, and Sunday evening study hall.

Day students may join some weekend trips, and boarders have required Community Weekends marked on the calendar. The sample weekend page is undated, so ask how many students actually stay on an ordinary weekend.

Campus life rests on residential faculty: 35% of faculty live on campus and take dorm duty, helping students with schoolwork during evening study. Weekday breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided, alongside scheduled weekend meal windows.

The Health Center staff includes a doctor, three nurses, and mental health counselors. The doctor is available to boarders, and staff arrange off-campus medical and dental appointments when needed.

A 2024 student-news article described then-new dorm visitation windows with adult approval; ask for the current residential handbook rather than relying on that.

One safeguarding record belongs here. In 2019, a Jesuit province listed then-Masters teacher Robert Cornigans as credibly accused of abuse at a previous school in 1976; the allegation did not concern conduct at Masters.

Reporting at the time said he resigned and moved off campus and that Masters hired an outside investigator. The earlier allegation had been reported to the province in 2003, and he joined Masters in 2004.

The live calendar lists required employee misconduct-prevention training in September 2026. Ask for the child-protection policy, reporting channels, and what the school changed about screening and reference checks.

Academics

Harkness discussions and the shift to Advanced Studies

Most Masters classrooms gather around a Harkness table. The teacher guides the discussion, but students do the talking—asking questions, explaining ideas, listening, and building on one another's arguments.

That dynamic can be exhilarating for a curious student who feeds on discussion, but exhausting for one who needs longer processing time, dislikes public uncertainty, or is still learning academic English. A 2025 student-newspaper feature described international students adapting to Harkness, including in math.

Upper School coursework includes nearly 150 courses and WinterMission, a four-day interdisciplinary program for all students and teachers.

The curriculum is undergoing a transition: Masters will leave AP courses and launch Advanced Studies in 2027–28. Planned offerings emphasize college-level depth and sustained inquiry across English, history and religion, math, science, languages, innovation, and the arts.

Departments will decide student eligibility from performance and prerequisites. Megan Harlan becomes the school's 15th head of school on July 1, 2027, as the new courses launch.

Requirements

Graduation requirements, arts, and athletics

Graduation requires four years of English, three years of math through Algebra II and trigonometry, and three years of one language through Level III. Students also complete history, religion, science, arts, health, public speaking, and physical education.

Students entering Grade 9 owe one and a half arts credits, while later transfers owe one. Grade 9 students also take a seminar, and Grade 11 students take public speaking.

Underclassmen cannot sit out the afternoon: ninth and tenth graders must join an athletic team or approved equivalent for three of their first six seasons, with at least one season in Grade 9. Dance Company and the winter musical satisfy a season.

Upper School students also participate in year-round co-curriculars, choosing among theater, dance, service, publications, debate, Model UN, and engineering. The school fields 57 athletic teams, including 25 varsity teams.

Academic support

Learning support and its limits

For targeted subject help, Masters runs a Math Clinic four afternoons a week and a peer Writing Center supervised by faculty before, during, and after school and in the evenings. Boarders can also turn to residential faculty for guidance during evening dorm duty.

The LEAD office works with students who have documented learning differences, focusing on executive function, study skills, self-advocacy, and formal accommodations. Eligible students may meet weekly with a learning specialist when the school determines the service is needed.

The school is clear that teacher help must remain within reasonable limits. We would hesitate when a student needs intensive remediation, daily executive-function support, or a legally enforceable special-education plan.

Students need enough self-advocacy to ask for help and enough academic stamina to contribute at the Harkness table.

Cost and aid

Tuition, the all-in budget, and financial aid

For 2026–27, tuition is $65,800 for day students, $77,200 for five-day boarders, and $83,350 for seven-day boarders.

Tuition covers required academic trips, dining hall meals, athletic uniforms, and room and board for residential students. It leaves out transportation, textbooks, laptops, private art or music lessons, and college application and testing fees.

International boarders must also purchase school-required health insurance, estimated at about $2,800. Families should also budget for the application fee ($75 domestic, $150 international, with waivers available from Admission), a nonrefundable deposit, a refundable new-student enrollment fee, and a graduation fee.

The school awards more than $8.1 million in aid to 26% of students, with payments spread across one, two, or ten installments. Aid may help with books, supplies, laptops, tutoring, lessons, and transportation, though extra help is limited and not automatic.

A family that did not previously receive aid is considered later only after a significant financial change, with no award guaranteed. Appeals are due within seven days.

Upper School entry

Grade 9 expansion and transfer seats

Grade 9 is one of the school's three primary entry points. A usual eighth grade of about 60 students expands to roughly 120 to 125 ninth graders, bringing in a fresh cohort of day and boarding students.

A May 2026 student-news report described strong recent interest and crowded tours.

Masters also admits applicants into Grades 10 and 11 when seats become available outside the traditional years. There is no Grade 12 entry and no postgraduate year.

A Grade 10 or 11 applicant should ask for a written credit map before signing: what transfers, what must be made up, and whether requirements squeeze the electives that drew your child.

Day admissions

Day admission: the December 15 deadline

Day applicants face an earlier calendar than boarding candidates. The day application and financial aid request are due December 15, 2026.

Supporting records—including teacher recommendations, transcripts, and standardized test scores—must be submitted by January 11, 2027.

The application and the parent and student essays must be in before an interview can be scheduled; interviews are in person or on Zoom. Day applicants to Grades 9, 10, and 11 must take the ISEE or SSAT, with testing dated September 2026 or later.

Grade 11 applicants may substitute PSAT, SAT, or ACT scores. While Middle School admissions does not review test scores, Upper School day admission requires them.

Day admission decisions come out February 19, 2027, by 4:00 p.m. Families must accept or decline their offer by March 11, 2027.

Boarding admissions

Boarding admission: deadlines and decision dates

Boarding applications and financial aid forms are due January 15, 2027—a month after the day deadline. Supporting credentials must arrive by February 1, 2027.

Boarding candidates must also complete age verification before an interview can be booked.

Domestic boarding applicants in Grades 9 through 11 submit ISEE or SSAT scores (or approved Grade 11 alternatives). International applicants are not required to submit standardized admission test scores, though submitted scores will be evaluated; students whose native language is not English must provide an approved English-proficiency exam.

Decision notifications depend on the boarding track. Five-day boarding decisions are released February 19, 2027, at 5:00 p.m. Seven-day and international boarding decisions are released March 10, 2027, at 5:00 p.m. Both boarding groups have until April 10, 2027, to submit their enrollment reply.

Weekends, shuttles and the AP shift at Masters

Masters offers day, five-day and seven-day options and is moving from AP to Advanced Studies, so ask how both affect your child's week.