McDonogh School

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McDonogh School
Allan Building on the school campus
Address
8600 McDonogh Road Owings Mills , Maryland 21117 United States
Coordinates	39°23′40″N 76°46′40″W / 39.39444°N 76.77778°W / 39.39444; -76.77778
Information
Type	Independent School, Boarding
Established	1873 (1873)
Head of school	David J. Farace
Grades	Pre-K to 12
Enrollment	1,431 (2020–2021)
Color(s)	Orange and Black
Mascot	Eagle
Endowment	$80 million
Tuition	Pre-Kindergarten $22,250; Kindergarten and Pre-First $32,100; Lower School $34,800; Middle School $36,850; Upper School $38,750; Upper School Five-day Boarding $52,250 (2023–2024)[1]
Website	www.mcdonogh.org

McDonogh School is a private, coeducational, PK-12, non-denominational school situated on an 800-acre campus in Owings Mills, Maryland. McDonogh enrolls 1,460 students, approximately 75 of whom participate in the Upper School's five-day boarding program.^[2] The school employs approximately 190 full-time faculty members, more than 67% of whom hold advanced degrees and more than 50 of whom live on-campus.^[2]

Founded in 1873, McDonogh has a long legacy of delivering educational excellence. It is regarded as one of the Baltimore region's most prestigious preparatory schools and has been called a "Power School" by Baltimore magazine.^[3] The school's students frequently matriculate to Ivy League and other top-ranked colleges and universities.^[4] McDonogh's athletic programs have also seen widespread success, particularly in lacrosse, soccer, wrestling, track, and football, where the school's teams have been nationally ranked in recent years.

The school is a member of the Association of Independent Maryland Schools and the National Association of Independent Schools.^[2][5]

The school was established outside of Baltimore, Maryland in 1873 and funded by the estate of John McDonogh (1779 - 1850), a former Baltimore resident and enslaver.^[6][7] The McDonogh campus encompasses 800 acres of land and houses more than 15 educational buildings including a new home for the middle school, The Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Building.

McDonogh was established as a semi-military school for orphan boys who worked on the farm in exchange for their tuition, room, and board. Paying students arrived in 1922, and day students in 1927. The first African-American student was admitted in 1959, eight years after Brown v. Board of Education outlawed school segregation.^[7] In 1971, the military traditions of the school were discontinued.^[8] The school became coeducational in 1975. McDonogh School's annual tuition ranges from $23,550 for Pre-Kindergarten students up to $41,050 for students of the Upper School.^[9] Financial aid continues to this day, with $7.1 million in need-based aid awarded in the 2023-2024 school year.^[2]

David J. Farace, the present head of school, is the 13th person to hold this position. He assumed the role in 2018, succeeding Charles W. Britton.^[10]

McDonogh's curriculum is centered around LifeReady, the school's distinctive academic framework that elevates programs with enhanced rigor and ignites creativity in its faculty, empowering students to excel and distinguish themselves as self-reliant, critical thinkers ready to make a meaningful impact in an ever-evolving world. LifeReady classrooms are vibrant spaces of inquiry, analysis, and understanding where students take an active role in their learning.^[11]

The Upper School offers a college preparatory curriculum that includes English, world languages, social studies and history, mathematics, science and computer science, visual and performing arts, debate, wellness, and physical education courses. Honors or Advanced courses are available in all academic departments.^[12] Upper School students must also complete a community service requirement. All students perform an academic project independently or in small groups during the final three weeks of their senior year.^[13]

At every grade level, students grow from purposeful character education and are guided by the virtues on McDonogh’s Character Compass: honesty, kindness, respect, responsibility, and service.^[14]

Academic and personal integrity is emphasized in the Middle and Upper School's Honor Code, which a student-run Honor Council enforces. The Honor Code reads:

I will not lie, cheat, or steal. I will respect the rights and well-being of myself and others.^[13]

Greatest Good McDonogh, the school’s signature social impact program, teaches students from prekindergarten through twelfth grade best practices in service-learning, philanthropy, community engagement, and social innovation through integrated coursework and experiential learning. Inspired by the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland and aligned with McDonogh's LifeReady Academic Plan, the program is designed to help students find their purpose, grow their empathy, and realize their power and potential to do the greatest good in the world.^[15]

Led by David Rothschild (alumnus, 1982), the Rothschild Foundations — which are committed to advancing educational initiatives that inspire philanthropic and social engagement — catalyzed the 2019 launch of Greatest Good McDonogh with an endowed commitment and partnership support.^[16]

Roots Farm started as a community garden in 2009 and is now a 10-acre vibrant outdoor classroom on the edge of McDonogh’s campus. With an ever-changing landscape, two barns, a greenhouse, 10 beehives, chickens and turkeys, and a culinary kitchen and outdoor brick oven, Roots is a teaching and learning space used by faculty in all disciplines.^[17]

In keeping with the school's commitment to "do the greatest amount of good," the bulk of produce harvested by students and community volunteers is donated to the Maryland Food Bank’s Farm to Food Bank program. The produce is also served in the School’s dining halls, and a portion is sold to local restaurants with proceeds supporting our seed-to-table program. In 2023, the farm donated 6,685 pounds of produce to the Maryland Food Bank.^[18]

Roots Farm also hosts Honey of a JamFest, an annual celebration held usually in late September. It includes a corn maze and farm games such as outdoor Connect 4.^[19] In 2024, the event was postponed from late September to mid-October due to rain from Hurricane Helene.

• David Adkins,^[20] actor and playwright
• Grant Aleksander (1978), actor and director
• Nina Basu (1998), arts administrator and attorney
• John R. Bolton (1966), National Security Advisor of the United States
• Edward Marshall Boehm (1929), sculptor
• Wallace E. Boston, Jr., president and chief executive officer, American Public University System
• Luke Broadwater (1998), journalist, Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award winner^[21]
• Henry G. Chiles, Jr. (1956), former commander-in-chief of the United States Strategic Command
• Ken Cloude, former professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners^[22]
• Jazwyn Cowan, professional basketball player.
• Taylor Cummings (2012), women's field lacrosse player for the University of Maryland, first person to win the Tewaaraton Award three times
• Bruce Davidson (1968), world champion equestrian, Olympic gold medalist
• Dani Dennis-Sutton (2022), college football defensive end for the Penn State Nittany Lions^[23]
• W. Timothy Finan, Maryland state delegate and judge^[24]
• Henry Gantt (1878), mechanical engineer and management consultant, most famous for developing the Gantt chart in the 1910s
• Darrius Heyward-Bey (2005), 7th pick of 2009 NFL draft and former University of Maryland wide receiver, current NFL wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Louis Hyman (1995), economic historian
• Curtis Jacobs (2020), college football linebacker for the Penn State Nittany Lions^[25]
• Eric King (2000), defensive back for the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans
• Kayel Locke, professional basketball player.
• Myles Martin (2015), freestyle and collegiate wrestler, NCAA champion
• James McDaniel (1976), actor, played Lt. Fancy on NYPD Blue
• Ben Queen (1992), screenwriter, television producer, wrote Disney/Pixar's Cars 2 and Cars 3
• Pam Shriver (1979), former professional tennis player and current sports broadcaster
• Frederic N. Smalkin (1964), Maryland's Chief Federal District Judge and brigadier general^[26]
• Giles Smith (2009), competitive swimmer, Pac 12 Scholar athlete of the year,^[27] NCAA medley champion,^[28] 2015 Pan American Games gold medalist in 100-meter fly with Pan American Games record time.^[29]
• DaJuan Summers (2006), former Georgetown University basketball player, drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2009 NBA Draft
• Evan Taubenfeld (2001), Sire/Warner Bros. recording artist, EMI professional pop staff songwriter; Avril Lavigne's lead guitarist from spring 2002 to September 2004
• Joseph D. Tydings (1946), former senator for Maryland, 1965–1971
• Jenn Wasner (2004), indie rock musician
• Josh Woods (2014), professional football player for the Chicago Bears^[30]

• McDonogh School official website