Residential Life

A central goal of the Dana Hall curriculum is to enhance our students’ understanding of the world and its diverse cultures and customs. Our all-girls boarding experience is emblematic of that mission.

As the only girls’ boarding school in the Boston area, you’ll have the opportunity to live with students who hail from places as close by as Vermont and as far away as Vietnam, forging lifelong friendships and global perspectives through a shared living experience.

Live and learn at Dana Hall

A new kind of family

At Dana Hall, a premier boarding school near Boston, first-year boarding students are assigned roommates based on common interests and living habits, creating a home away from home in our comfortable dormitory spaces. Our skilled residential life faculty, who live on campus year-round, will guide and support you throughout your journey—whether that’s cheering you on at your soccer game or sharing words of encouragement as they proctor your evening study hall before a big test.

Through this immersive living and learning experience at our boarding school, you’ll gain independence, vital life skills, and greater awareness of different cultures, perspectives, and points of view. We can’t wait to have you join us on campus.

Our boarding students are from here, there, and everywhere

10

states

14

countries/regions

More than just a place to sleep

There are six dorms on the Dana Hall campus, with between 14 and 32 students in each dorm (each space has a house director, house assistant and student proctors). As part of our vibrant boarding school community, no matter where you live on campus, you’ll find more than a bed and a desk—this will be the space where you’ll cultivate lifelong friendships within a closely knit community, find inspiration in your courses and projects, and experience academic and social growth alongside your roommates and peers.

The Johnstons

A cluster of four dorms is located in the center of campus, each with common rooms and communal kitchens. Ninth graders may live in two of the Johnstons, along with a group of older girls who have chosen to live with new students as their "big sisters."

Wheeler

A larger house that also includes a spacious shared living area and communal kitchen, Wheeler—like Grey Lodge—also houses juniors and seniors.

Spotlight on: The Dining Hall

The Dining Hall's food is healthy and delicious.

The Dining Hall staff creates delicious meals that our entire community enjoys. Both boarding and day students can enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Dana Hall. Thursday is many students’ favorite day of the week, because classes start later on Thursdays and the Dining Hall has make-your-own-waffles for breakfast. Community Dinners take place once a month, and each dorm takes turns working with the Dining Hall to create a festive themed-dinner. Meals often incorporates different flavors and cuisines of our domestic and international students’ home states and countries.

The Dining Hall is all-inclusive, which means you don’t need to bring in lunch money. The Dining Hall staff is very sensitive to students with allergies; they label everything, provide gluten-free options, and will work with individual students who have dietary restrictions.

What's it like to live at an all-girls boarding school like Dana Hall?

From the Roar

Boarding students gather in the common space of Johnston B

Throwbacks Aren’t Just for Thursdays

There is generally something I experience in each of my days working at Dana Hall that makes me remember something fondly from my own time as a boarding student in Sedona, Arizona.

Two boarding students share a laugh in their dorm room

Paying attention to new beginnings

This year, new students from six states and ten countries will board planes, trains, and minivans to travel to their new home on the Dana Hall School campus. I can’t help but reflect on my first day as a new boarding student over 25 years ago.

Boarding School Turns Colleagues into Neighbors

People often ask me why I choose to live on campus at Dana Hall School. Certainly, the four-minute walk to my office and the fact that I rarely have to cook dinner are significant perks, but the biggest perk of all cannot be measured in the length of my commute or number of meals I enjoy at the Dining Hall.