The Loomis Chaffee School

Located in Windsor, Connecticut, the Loomis Institute was chartered in 1874 by five siblings who had lost all their children and selflessly determined to establish a school as a gift to the children of others. Since its opening in 1914, the school has offered educational opportunities for students regardless of religious or political beliefs, national origin, or financial resources. Today’s school embraces diversity in all its forms and attracts students from around the world, all of whom possess their own unique interests, talents, experiences, and backgrounds, and are eager to pursue excellence in and out of the classroom within a supportive and welcoming community.

Learn more about the school's history and century of growth.

Our Mascot — The Pelican: While the look of the Loomis Chaffee mascot has evolved over the years, the spirit of the Pelican remains steadfast. A 1966 LOG article lauded the Pelican because of its self-sacrifice in nurturing its young. Headmaster John Ratté wrote in 1991 that the campus pelicans carved in stone "peer[ing] down at us from the pediments above doorways" ask, "How far will you go in giving of yourself?"

Our Motto — Ne Cede Malis: Yield Not to Adversity

Our Campus — The Island: The Loomis Chaffee campus is located at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut Rivers. Most springs, and sometimes even during the fall, the rivers rise and fill our flood plains — covering our playing fields in the meadows and lapping up against the main causeway leading to campus. In 1984, the flooding was so bad that the campus became a literal island. Final exams were cancelled, and students departed campus in boats, ducking as they went under the Batchelder Road railroad bridge.

For seniors only — The Senior Path: Starting with the Class of 1977, every graduating class has created a bricked section of the path that runs down the center of the school's oldest quadrangle, Grubbs Quad. Only seniors, faculty, and alumni may walk the path. And it is on the Senior Path that the seniors line up for Commencement, cheer the faculty as they pass by, and walk back down again after receiving their diplomas.

Class Bonding — The Sophomore Retreat: Every fall the sophomore class heads off campus for a retreat. This annual tradition is a great way for returning students to renew friendship and welcome new sophomores to the class. 

Need some good luck? Be sure to rub the nose on the bas relief sculpture of John Metcalf Taylor, chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1904 to 1918, as you pass by Taylor Hall dormitory. 

Celebrating a victory in athletics? Ring the victory bell located outside the Athletics Complex.

A Loomis Chaffee education is built on the pillars of excellence and opportunity. The school’s rigorous academic environment and co-curricular programming nurture students’ intellectual curiosity in myriad ways. The broad and deep liberal arts curriculum is comprised of approximately 250 courses, including almost 70 courses at the college or advanced level, and prepares students for success in college and beyond while allowing them to pursue academic areas of interest in more depth.

What helps make the educational experience at Loomis truly distinctive are the abundant opportunities for students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply their knowledge and skills in the real world to make a positive impact in the lives of others in communities near and far. Many of these opportunities are developed in and promoted by the school’s centers and in programming that bring faculty and students together from across campus to identify and address issues of common interest.

The Norton Family Center for the Common Good encourages an expanded understanding of students’ roles as citizens and leaders in a diverse democracy and fosters an active, engaged approach to citizenship. All ninth-grade students participate in the center’s Seminar in the Best Self and all 10th grade students in the Seminar in the Common Good, and the Norton Fellows program provides selected students with funding for summer projects that they design and implement in their home communities.

The Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies asks students “What will you do with what you know?” The center’s Certificate in Global & Environmental Studies, Gilchrist Environmental Fellowships, and International Education Programs provide students with many different ways to play an active role in an interconnected world.

The Pearse Hub for Innovation (PHI) and its capstone Innovation Trimester (I-Tri) encourage students to “make things and make a difference.” Much more than a maker’s space, the PHI has its own interdisciplinary curriculum with a focus on problem solving, design thinking, and entrepreneurship. Students in PHI courses identify and design solutions for problems/challenges on campus and within the local community, regularly partnering with businesses and non-profits.

Visual Arts
The Visual Arts Department a Loomis Chaffee offers a broad experience in a variety of media including drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, glass, digital photography, film and video production, digital animation and special effects in video, graphic design and digital art, and 3D fabrication and craft. The Richmond Art Center (RAC) includes multiple professional studio spaces and three galleries. Exhibits in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery show work by professional artists, and an active Visiting Artist Program brings professional artists on campus to work in the building and to serve as role models for students.

Music
The Loomis Chaffee music program includes wind ensemble, orchestra, concert choir, chamber singers, jazz band, jazz improv & theory, guitar ensemble, and chamber music ensembles as well as classes in music theory, music history, and music technology; private lessons; and student-led recitals, outreach projects, and productions. Practice and performance spaces, along with a dedicated music lab, are located in Hubbard Music Center. Students enrolled in Music Department classes and performance groups attend concerts and workshops in the Guest Musician Series and participate in on-campus projects involving music throughout the year. The Music Department also encourages students to participate in department-sponsored Recital Samplers, state and regional competitive auditions and festivals, and the Spring Student Recital Series.

Theater and Dance
Training in all aspects of theater is supported by curricular offerings in acting, directing, technical theater, and playwriting as well as an active yearly production schedule of full-length plays, musicals, and a festival of original plays written, directed, performed, and produced entirely by students. Additionally, both daytime and after-school dance programs offer training and performance opportunities in modern/contemporary, jazz, tap, ballet, and hip-hop. The state-of-the-art John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Center for Theater and Dance features a new main stage and black box performance spaces and a large dance studio.

At Loomis, our athletes are defined as much by their character as they are by their talent, and the result is a highly successful and widely respected interscholastic athletics program, and a great source of pride and school spirit for the entire community. Over the past 10 years, Loomis teams have won more than 75 Founders League championships and 17 New England or Western New England championships. Visit our team pages to learn more.

Students interested in intramural and life fitness programs will find a range of options, including soccer, tennis, squash, ultimate frisbee, cardio and weight training, jogging, and cycling. Learn more about our athletics programs and facilities at www.loomischaffee.org/athletics.

Loomis Chaffee students are smart, motivated, curious, and want to make a difference in the world. They are also welcoming, supportive, involved, and a lot of fun to be around. The result is a vibrant community that our students consistently praise as one of the defining characteristics of their Loomis Chaffee experience ― a community where individuality thrives and life-long friendships are forged. 

From breakfast in the Scanlan Campus Center to snacks in the SNUG (snack bar), from after-class club meetings to athletics and community service, from weekend activities to late night conversations in the dorms, you will be engaged in life on the Island in countless ways. Whether you live on campus or in a nearby town, you will find life at Loomis full of opportunities to get involved and have fun!

Learn more about a typical day at Loomis.

Learn more about boarding life.

Learn more about student clubs and activities.

Learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion.