Loomis Chaffee - Review #13

The harkness table style of teaching is super effective! It helps facilitate peer learning. The work jobs at the school are unique to Loomis and help teach responsibility throughout the student body.

The best thing that happened to me at boarding school was that I was able to grow before college. This allowed me to start college already mentally prepared for living away from home and strict academics. Loomis does a great job at teaching their students responsibility as the end goal is to mature for college life.

If I could go back and do something differently, it would be to buckle down academically early. I started focusing oil my school work Junior year which was ultimately later than I had hoped. Start early! As you get older you will grow increasingly busy and you will need to push yourself further for a high GPA as well as excelling in your extracurriculars.

What I liked the most was my friends! Every day I got to wake up and study with amazing people from all over the globe. By best friend to this day is from Hong Kong and we met at Loomis. The bonds you make at Loomis will travel well beyond your high school years.

Definitely try out the coffee shops in town! Study there when you need a break from the library. Also, take advantage of Loomis's study abroad opportunities! Few boarding schools have them.

The English department at Loomis is stellar! The harkness table really helps with peer learning and open discussion aspects of English. Furthermore, the science department is extremely hands on in terms of projects and labs. Expect to work a lot! The homework load and the extracurriculars add up. Strangely, this is what I liked the most about Loomis-- every student finds his/her niche.

Every student is required to participate in some form of after school activity. Most students will choose to participate in sports. I loved Loomis sports because it bonded you with people you normally wouldn't talk to. Also, teachers are the coaches of Loomis athletics so students also develop a relationship with their teacher outside of the classroom.

I participated in AP art and orchestra and chamber music. The art/music programs at Loomis are very engaging and students have the opportunity to get super involved. AP art had at least two shows per year, and the orchestra preformed twice a year as well. Similarly, the music program brings in guest performers for concerts about every other week.

Loomis Chaffee has many volunteer programs for students. Similarly, if you want to bring in a new program, Loomis will work with you and offer its facilities. My friends and I started a volunteer program to teach children how to swim. Loomis allowed us to use its pool and assigned us mentors to help facilitate the program. Loomis offers an orange of medical, science, community, and animal volunteer programs.

Most of your close friends will be made in your dorm. We had curfew and RAs to keep us safe, but other than that students could hang out in each others dorms and study together (unless you are a first year student). Between 7;45-9:45 students are in study hall and quiet hours are implemented. At 9:45 the dorm head puts out a snack and the quiet hours are over.

Loomis just got a new dining hall! I've heard its beautiful. The school always has options for food ranging from basic salads and pastas to the ethnic food of the day. There is also always dessert and fruit available. My favorite was the panini press machine.

The town of Windsor is extremely cute and walkable from Loomis. Lots of students go into town to hang out and study. There is a CVS for basic needs and two popular coffee shops. There are also an assortment of restaurants including Thai, Indian and American.

Kids are always hanging out on the quads at Loomis. The school facilitates lots of events to help kids meet new friends, but also the students at Loomis are naturally pretty outgoing. There was never a boring weekend when I went to Loomis. Some highlights include the school dances and ham-mocking on the quad.