Parents of current McDonogh students may sign up for website accounts. Signing up for an account allows a parent to access the online directory, DASH, and your customized parent Personal Page.
Alumni can create an account in order to take advantage of McDonogh Connect or Pledgemail.
McDonogh’s signature five-day boarding program offers a unique blend of structure, independence, and meaningful family time.
During the week, Upper School boarding students immerse themselves in campus life—participating in extracurricular activities, accessing academic resources, and engaging with our vibrant community. They develop the independence, resilience, and leadership skills colleges and employers highly value—all while spending time at home on weekends.
Our program is thoughtfully designed to prioritize student well-being and forge genuine connections, featuring a consistent routine, built-in support systems, shared meals, and opportunities for physical activity. Through this immersive experience, students form lasting friendships and develop interpersonal skills in person—moving beyond screens.
Five-day boarding is a practical solution for families with long commutes, demanding work schedules, or packed extracurricular calendars. It provides peace of mind without the full commitment of a traditional boarding program.
McDonogh families can choose from year-round or term-by-term boarding options. Ready to get started? Complete the application.
Boarders truly live where the McDonogh action is. Living on campus makes participating in activities and events easy and convenient. From athletics to the arts to student leadership, students can experience the best of McDonogh right outside their dorm door.
Students experience the best of both worlds—spending five days engaging in all that the McDonogh campus has to offer and two days focusing on family life at home. This dynamic prepares students for college life as they learn to manage their time and freedom as individuals before returning to the comforts of home.
Living on campus during the week gives me more time to focus on school work and participate in extracurricular activities.
Students who live on campus benefit tremendously from the many opportunities to study and collaborate with their peers. Daily study hall provides structure in completing their assignments, and face-to-face interaction with residential faculty members enhances their academic experience.
Residential students thrive in the special community that living on campus provides. The experience of living, eating, studying, and celebrating with fellow students helps foster lifelong friendships. Boarders also develop personal connections with Campus Parents who provide constant support and make the residential community truly a second home.
7:30 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. Breakfast in the dining hall.
8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Students are in class.
3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. This time is for tutoring or spending time with day students before the buses leave.
4:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Many students participate in extracurricular activities or get a head start on their schoolwork for the evening.
6:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Dinner brings boarders and campus families together for a meal in the dining hall.
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Study hall takes place in dorm rooms. Faculty on duty, houseparents, and R-L senior leaders are scheduled daily to supervise and maintain a quiet atmosphere. A faculty member and peer tutors are also scheduled each evening to provide additional academic support.
9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Activities depend on the night and what is available on campus. Students participate in open gym, activities with campus parents, snack times, and movie nights, among many other things.
10:30 p.m. Students are required to return to their respective dorm buildings so that the dorm parents can lock the doors and set the alarms.
This schedule can also change according to a student's personal interests, such as play rehearsal, peer tutoring, watching or performing in a band concert, working a campus job, or babysitting for a campus family. Life never ceases to be busy for boarders.
Traditions and celebrations spice up campus life and create lasting memories for members of the campus community.
Community Dinners: Every Monday evening, boarders dine with campus residents and their families in Paterakis Dining Hall. After community announcements, birthday celebrations, and a moment of gratitude, tables engage in thoughtful and inclusive conversation based on suggested topics.
Campus Parents: Throughout the year, boarders visit the homes of campus residents on Thursday evenings from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for a late-night snack, activity, game, or show. This is the highlight of everyone’s week. Popular entertainment includes painting pumpkins, building gingerbread houses, decorating cookies, making slime, playing Catch Phrase, Scattergories, or Empire with an NFL, college basketball, or Orioles game on the TV.
Pre-Holiday Dinners: The dining hall prepares a banquet-style feast for the boarders and campus families. Students dress up and eat together in a "fancy" but comfortable atmosphere, reminding each other to be grateful for the opportunities they have been given.
Halloween: Boarders and younger campus residents dress up in costume for the annual Halloween costume contest at the boarder dinner in Paterakis Dining Hall. Afterward, everyone goes trick-or-treating in the campus neighborhoods.
Winter: Students can choose to take part in a variety of festive activities, like making gingerbread houses, drinking cocoa with their campus families, watching holiday movies in the lounge, making cards for their secret elf, and much more.
Snow Days: The dorms are a great place to be on snow days. Students spend time sledding with the campus residents on McDonogh's sloping hills, watching movies in the Klein Lyceum, and participating in other fun activities.
Evenings at the Head of School's House: Every couple of months, the Head of School and his family open their home to the boarders for a relaxing evening of good food and camaraderie. Students spread throughout the living areas and enjoy the company of their peers.
Coed Events: Dorm faculty and student leaders plan a couple of events each term to give residents of the girls' and boys' dorms the opportunity to interact. Past activities have included bonfires complete with s'mores on the spacious Dorm Patio, volleyball games, trivia night, BINGO night, movie night, corn hole tournaments, snowball fights, and flashlight tag. Off-campus trips include Orioles games, bowling, Field of Screams, visits to local restaurants for a quick bite or sweet treat, and a trip to the Hampden neighborhood in Baltimore to view holiday lights.
Boarder Birthdays: Every boarder with a birthday during the school year knows that part of the day's festivities will be a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" during boarder dinner in the dining hall. Often, friends will buy a cake and start a small birthday party that will grow to include the whole dorm and the dorm faculty, starting after study hall and running until bedtime.
Seniors’ Last Night: On their last night in the dorms, the seniors gather with campus faculty in the dorm quad for a bonfire with their friends. A crab feast, music and s'mores accompany the reminiscing as the soon-to-be graduates prepare themselves to leave McDonogh. It is a beautiful way to bring an end to a year spent in the community they have grown to love as a second home.
Associate Head of School Kate Mueller and Head of Upper School Merritt Livermore have overall responsibility for the boarding program. Three dorm faculty in Jane Bay (the female dorm) and four in Rollins Hall (the male dorm) are responsible for supervising the boarding students on a daily basis. Dorm faculty live in apartments in the dorm buildings.
Faculty and staff who live on campus enjoy the opportunity to form new friendships with boarders during breakfast or dinner in the dining hall, during weekly dorm duty, or on other occasions when hosting students in their homes or chaperoning events.
A select group of seniors within the boarding community are the Rollins-Luetkemeyer (R-L) Leaders. After applying, 12 students are selected to live in the dorms during their senior year and participate in a leadership training program. With guidance from program advisors, the R-L Leaders learn how to apply leadership skills in their community.
Before the school year begins, the R-L's participate in a leadership retreat so that by the time classes start they are a close-knit group. Their peers look to them as role models and the faculty look to them as representatives of the student body. With their boarding expenses paid, these students are expected to take an active role in boarding life, planning events for their dorm-mates and finding ways to enhance dorm life.
To qualify for boarding, a student’s primary residence must be within 90 miles of the McDonogh School campus in Owings Mills, Maryland. Exemptions may be made if the applicant has a relative (by blood or marriage) within the 90-mile radius and that family member agrees to serve as a local host family on weekends and in cases of emergency. Due to the nature of our five-day boarding program, students must return home on weekends, and sometimes more frequently due to holidays, weather events, or illness. To learn more about the exemption application process, please contact the Director of Enrollment Management.
Download the application.
What inspired you to join the dorm faculty and become part of the boarding community?
Before joining McDonogh, I worked at a small independent high school in Vermont and was involved with the boarding program. With my own children grown, I was excited when the opportunity to rejoin a boarding community arose at McDonogh. The home-like environment in the dorm fosters lasting relationships and provides a meaningful opportunity to be a positive influence and mentor to students.
What do you find most rewarding about this role?
As Chief Human Resources Officer at McDonogh, my role primarily involves interactions with adults. Being a member of the dorm faculty allows me to forge meaningful connections with students. The positive energy and joy in the dorm rejuvenates me after a long day at the office.
How do you connect with and engage students who live in the dorms during the school week? What is your favorite activity?
The dorms are always lively. In Rollins, sports often play on the TV while trivia games are popular in the lounge. In Jane Bay, the movie room is well-used for film nights, dance-offs, and time spent talking with each other. The best evenings are filled with chatter, random questions, lots of laughter, and delicious food!!
What do you hope students will take away from your mentorship?
My goal is to be a trusted adult, known for kindness, empathy, care, and compassion. I always want to be present and available to help problem-solve, give thoughtful advice, or just listen.
What is your favorite place on campus and why?
The new Boarder Quad patio is a great space; I especially enjoy relaxing around the fire pit having conversations and roasting marshmallows!
What inspired you to join the dorm faculty and become part of the boarding community?
I lived in the dorms for four years as a student here. I often reflect on the positive experience it had on me, and now I am in a position to be on the other side of those relationships.
What do you find most rewarding about this role?
Living in the dorms as a middle school teacher gives me the chance to get to know students and build relationships across multiple divisions. Spending time bonding with and supporting the boarders is a fulfilling experience.
How do you connect with and engage students who live in the dorms during the school week? What is your favorite activity?
My favorite activities are playing group games with the boarders, whether a board game or sports activity.
What do you hope students will take away from your mentorship?
I hope the boarders remember how to foster a positive, trusting, and safe environment for those around them.
What is your favorite place on campus and why?
Roots Farm is my favorite place because it’s so peaceful. It’s even more special to me because I’m getting married there later this year!
What inspired you to join the dorm faculty and become part of the boarding community?
I love being involved in the McDonogh community—there's always so much going on! Before living on campus, I had such FOMO because I couldn't do everything. Being a part of the boarding program ensures I can continue fostering connections beyond the classroom by attending games, concerts, plays, dinners, and other events.
What do you find most rewarding about this role?
Living in the dorms has really helped me get to know students I wouldn't have met otherwise as a teacher and coach.
How do you connect with and engage students who live in the dorms during the school week? What is your favorite activity?
During the school week and after study hall, it's great to relax and chat with everyone about their classes, teams, pop culture, or anything, really! My daughters, Calliope (4) and Sophie (1), sometimes make an appearance and provide entertainment!
What is your favorite place on campus and why?
Child's Memorial Terrace is my favorite place on campus; it holds such an intense quiet, meditative power. The way the sunlight filters through the leaves adds a little liveliness. It's the perfect place to reflect.
What inspired you to join the dorm faculty and become part of the boarding community?
I lived on campus when I first started teaching and always thought it would be fun to live in the dorms.
What do you find most rewarding about this role?
What I find most rewarding about being a dorm parent is impacting the students’ lives beyond the classroom or field and making the dorms truly feel like a home away from home.
How do you connect with and engage students who live in the dorms during the school week? What is your favorite activity?
There is nothing like hanging in the lounge watching sports or playing a game with the boys in Rollins. The banter back and forth is what builds our sense of community.
What do you hope students will take away from your mentorship?
I hope that the students remember the importance of treating everyone with respect and keeping everything in life in perspective.
What is your favorite place on campus and why?
My favorite place is the training room because that is where I met my wife!