The Masters School

The Masters School, known as 'Dobbs' by its alums, is a private, coeducational boarding and day preparatory school in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Originally founded as an all-girls school in 1877 by Eliza Bailey Masters, the school first admitted boys in 1996. Its 96-acre campus is located near Manhattan in the Hudson Valley in Westchester County. The Masters School is known for its excellence in academics and tradition in the fine and performing arts. Many of its graduates go on to study at Ivy League colleges and performing arts academies. Notable alumnae include Marin Alsop and Nancy Kissinger. The Masters School offers academics, sports, and boarding dorms.

tudent Body

The Masters School is comprised of 580 students in grades 5-12. The Upper School (grades 9-12) has 415 while the Middle School has 165. The school is co-educational with the exception of grades 6-8 which are separated by gender. Masters students come from 16 states and 16 countries. 14% of Upper school students are international.

Faculty

*70% have advanced degrees
*Average class size - 14 students
*Faculty/student ratio - 1:6

Athletics

The school offers the following sports each season:

*Fall: soccer, field hockey, volleyball, cross country, ultimate frisbee
*Winter: fencing, basketball, yoga
*Spring: tennis, softball, baseball, lacrosse, yoga, ultimate frisbee

In the winter of the 2007-2008 school year the Masters Varsity Basketball team won the NYSAISAA Class C State Champion title, beating second seed Loyola on March 9, 2008.

Arts and Music

Masters is known to be strong in the fields of theater, dance, music and the fine arts. Many classes are offered during the school day in these fields, and after school activities in the arts are popular.

Theater
Masters puts on three theater productions each school year, a straight play in the fall, a musical in the winter, and a night of one-act plays in the spring, which takes place at Estherwood. past productions include 'Guys and Dolls,' 'Metamorphosis,' 'Anything Goes,' and 'A Midsummer's Night Dream.' Upcoming productions include 'The Good Woman of Szechwan' and 'Urinetown.' Student members of Phoenix, the Honorary Drama Society may also direct their own shows if approved by the other members of the club. Past student productions include 'The Baby with the Bathwater' and 'Elm Circle.' Another popular club is Improv! which focuses on improvisational theater. Music
The music program offers classes and private lessons during the school day, one of the most popular being the school's chorus, known as Glee Club. Smaller a cappella groups are also popular. Students may participate in any of three groups. The Naturals, an all male group, Dohters, all female, and Dobbs 16 a coed group. Dobbs 16 has recently won many competitions including the Northeast regional of National Championship of High School A Capella 2005, and toured China in the spring of 2008. The students also participate in Orchestra and a small Jazz Band.

Dance
The dance program offers classes during the day, which count as the student's physical education requirement, and two audition-only dance companies. Muse, formally known as the Dance Company, is more traditional and performs twice a year. Urban Connection performs hip-hop style dance and step.

Visual Art
The visual arts program offers classes during the day, which can fulfill the arts requirement. Studio art minor classes are offered for one semester, and the more intensive major classes are offered for the entire year. These classes focus on a variety of mediums such as drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking. The art studio is also a great resource to all students outside of class. Open art is offered as a co-curricular and the recently created Art Club integrates art into the rest of the community.

Boarding

Masters has five dormitories which house over 145 students.
Boys dorms are Thompson and Strong, girls dorms are Ford, McCormack, and Cole.

Academics and Curriculum

The minimum course load each year includes five major courses. Graduation requirements include four years of English, three years of a foreign language, three years of mathematics, two years of lab science, three years of history (including U.S. history), religion (a one year minor), grade 9 introductory computer science course, the arts (one year humanities minor in grade 9 and one year minor in visual or performing arts for grades 10, 11, or 12), speech (one term minor in grade 11 or 12 ), health (one term minor in grade 9 and another in grade 11 or 12), and four years of physical education or other athletic credit.

Honors and Advanced Placement Courses
The Masters School offers honors sections in the sciences, mathematics, and languages. Advanced Placement courses are offered in the following areas:

"English, History, Foreign Languages:"
English Language and Composition, U.S. History, French & Spanish Language I, II, & III, Chinese Language.
English Literature and Composition, European History I & II, Latin Literature, American Studies (known as "AmStud"), American and European Literature.

"Math, Science, Arts:"
Calculus AB/BC, Biology, Music Theory
Statistics, Physics B, Studio Art, Art History, Chemistry, Psychology.

Miscellaneous Facts

Many movies and television shows have shot scenes at The Masters School, among them, "The Stepford Wives", "Michael Collins", "Law & Order", and "Lord of War".The music video "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" by Young Gunz was filmed throughout Masters Hall, and depicts high-school life. The introduction to music video "Bad" by Michael Jackson was partially filmed in the school also.

The campus includes Estherwood, a late 19th-century mansion that is the only châteauesque building in Westchester County. It and its carriage house are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

At the beginning of the 2008-9 school year, the school changed their web address to: www.MastersNY.org, and the naming convention for e-mail addresses to: [e-mail] address www.themastersschool.com as well as old e-mail addresses will continue to work for the next two years.

External links

* [http://www.mastersny.org School Website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFHbVnJQdwg Snapshots of the interior (of the old wing) and the facade of Masters Hall]
* [http://www.themastersschool.com/CityTerm/index.htm CITY Term at the Masters School]