The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is a selective

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, coeducational,

college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher educat ...

for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

students, located in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census. P ...

, seven miles north of

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

. Seventy percent of Loomis Chaffee's 726 students reside on the school's 300-acre campus and represent forty-four foreign countries and thirty-one U.S. states. 71% of Loomis Chaffee's student body are boarding students while 29% of Loomis Chaffee's student body are day students. Founded in 1914, Loomis Chaffee is a member of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization along with Choate,

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Deerfield, St. Paul's,

Hotchkiss Hotchkiss may refer to: Places Canada * Hotchkiss, Alberta * Hotchkiss, Calgary United States * Hotchkiss, Colorado * Hotchkiss, Virginia * Hotchkiss, West Virginia Business and industry * Hotchkiss (car), a French automobile manufacturer ...

, Lawrenceville, Taft, and

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

. Loomis had an acceptance rate of 18% for the 2021–2022 school year.

History

The school was chartered in 1874 as The Loomis Institute by five Loomis siblings, who had outlived all their children. Stating that it was their hope that "some good may come to posterity, from the harvest, poor though it be, of our lives," the school was intended as a memorial to their deceased children and a gift to future children. The original 1640

Loomis Homestead The Loomis Homestead in Windsor, Connecticut, is one of the oldest timber-frame houses in America. The oldest part of the house, an ell adjacent to the main house, is believed to have been built between 1640 and 1653 by Joseph Loomis who came ...

was chosen as the site for The Loomis Institute, which opened in 1914. The forty-year gap between chartering and the opening of the school was due to the estate of the Loomis siblings being reserved for the siblings' retirement. In 1910,

John Mason Loomis John Mason Loomis (January 5, 1825 – August 2, 1900) was a nineteenth-century American businessman and lumber tycoon from Chicago who was known for developing the city of Ludington, Michigan. He was involved with the Pere Marquette Lumber Co ...

's wife left over $1.1 million as an endowment to The Loomis Institute for charitable purposes. Together We Served.com, Essay This donation allowed the school to remain tuition-free for its first four decades. In addition to being tuition-free, The Loomis Institute was distinguished from other New England preparatory schools by its lack of religious affiliation, offering of vocational education alongside college preparatory courses, and admission of both boys and girls. The Loomis Institute ended coeducation in 1926 when The Chaffee School was incorporated to educate girls on an adjacent campus. In 1970, the boys and girls schools merged to form The Loomis Chaffee School. Since then, the school has expanded as its endowment, financial aid budget, faculty, and campus increased in size.

Overview

Academics

Loomis Chaffee offers courses in Arabic, Chinese, psychology, writing workshop, videography, English, Latin, Spanish, French, art, dance, history and social science, mathematics, music, philosophy, religion, science and theater arts. Noncredit diploma requirements include library skills, and physical fitness and health. Advanced Placement courses are offered in 20 subjects. The Norton Family Center for the Common Good and the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies work to engage the student body with the wider community and world by means of visiting speakers and international study opportunities.

College guidance

Five full-time college counselors guide students through the college search and application process. Eighty-six percent of the members of the Class of 2010 were admitted to colleges and universities deemed most competitive or highly competitive by Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, with sixty-six percent matriculating at the most competitive institutions. Senior Path Loomis Chaffee

Athletics

Loomis Chaffee competes in sports against schools from all over New England and adjacent states. The school is a member of the

New England Preparatory School Athletic Council The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) is an organization that serves as the governing body for sports in preparatory schools and leagues in New England. The organization has 169 full member schools as well as 24 associate ...

(NEPSAC) and competes in the Class A large school division. Additionally, Loomis is a member of The Founders League which comprises private schools located mainly in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

Fall

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

(Varsity, JV) * Boys' soccer (Varsity, JV, III) * Girls' soccer (Varsity, JV, III) * Boys' cross country * Girls' cross country *

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

(Varsity, JV) * Girls' volleyball (Varsity, JV) * Boys' water polo (Varsity, JV) * Co-ed Equestrian

Winter

* Boys' basketball (Varsity, JV) *

Girls' basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

(Varsity, JV) * Boys' ice hockey (Varsity, JV) * Girls' ice hockey (Varsity, JV) * Boys' squash (Varsity, JV) * Girls' squash (Varsity, JV) * Boys' swimming/diving (Varsity) * Girls' swimming/diving (Varsity) * Co-ed Equestrian * Co-ed Skiing (Varsity)

Spring

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

(Varsity, JV) *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

(Varsity) * Boys' tennis (Varsity, JV) * Girls' tennis (Varsity, JV) * Boys' golf (Varsity, JV) * Girls' golf (Varsity) * Boys' track and field * Girls' track and field * Boys' lacrosse (Varsity, JV, III) * Girls' lacrosse (Varsity, JV) * Girls' water polo (Varsity)

Student Publications

''The Loomis Chaffee Log''

''The Loomis Chaffee Log'' is a student-run, school-sponsored newspaper. Established in 1915, the ''Log'' is published monthly by a team of student editors. In 2015, the ''Log'' editorial staff launched an online edition.

The ''Hourglass'' and ''World Bulletin''

Th
''Hourglass'' and ''World Bulletin''
are two student-run publications. The ''Hourglass'' strives to inform the Loomis Chaffee Community of global news and their connection to the past through discussions and tri-quarterly publications where students feel informed, heard, and acknowledged. Founded in 2011, the ''World Bulletin'' is the Loomis Chaffee School's scholarly journal on contemporary politics and international relations.

Heads of school

* (1914-1949): Nathaniel Horton Batchelder * (1949-1952): William Speer * (1952-1967): Francis Olmsted Grubbs * (1967-1976): Frederick G. Torrey * (1976-1996): John Ratté * (1996-2008): Russell H. Weigel * (2008–present): Sheila Culbert

Notable alumni

References

External links

* {{authority control Boarding schools in Connecticut Educational institutions established in 1914 Preparatory schools in Connecticut Private high schools in Connecticut Schools in Hartford County, Connecticut Windsor, Connecticut 1914 establishments in Connecticut