By Mairin Hoffman and Sloane Walsh ’25
Once you arrive on campus, you immediately look at all the beautiful buildings that match.You then notice Emerson, a two-story dormitory slightly hidden by trees and TPACC. Emerson is a sophomore girls’ dorm generally seen as an out-of-place dorm because of its shape. It was built in the 1960s as a boys’ dorm and was supposed to be a temporary dorm as another was being built, which is why it can be called the “paper dorm” by past alumni. In recent years, it has housed 16 boarding girls, and most rooms have had a day student assigned to them.
Two RA’s, Mairin Hoffman and Mia Merrill, help keep the dorm in check. Mia says, “Being an RA in Emerson is a lot of fun and a great opportunity to get to know all the girls in the dorm very well.” The RA’s welcome new students into dorm life and get to know all the girls there. Mairin says, “Because of the unique layout of Emerson, where the rooms all open up into the common room, the dorm feels like a connected community, and we all have learned our boundaries and how to respect each other, which is truly fundamental in a boarding school community. Though the walls are thin, we are all mostly quiet and represent the sophomore class well.”
The dorm has four house parents: Mrs. Lyon, Mrs. Theobald, Ms. Hart, and Mrs. Bell, but Mrs. Lyon is the only house parent that lives in the dorm. Mr. Milano and his family live behind Emerson but do not act as house parents for the Emerson girls. Mrs. Lyon is the primary house parent of the dorm and lives in the dorm as well. “I think Emerson is the best because it has the best community atmosphere, an open common room, and everyone has to come out and see each other. My favorite thing about being a house parent is connecting with the girls and having good laughs in the common room. Snacks are a MUST. We have to have snacks.” Mrs. Lyon says enthusiastically.
