Loomis Chaffee - Review #26

Though some other schools advertise writing improvement, Loomis provides a legitimate writing program designed to cultivate true mastery of the written word. "Writing workshop" starts Fall of Sophomore year with grammar and individual sentence structure. By the next semester, essays are the norm. A foundation could easily lay barren; Loomis, however, continues to build, year by year, until the structure is complete. I have found college teachers hoping for mere competence on Freshman papers. Actual finesse startles them. Having such a skill significantly smoothed a historically bumpy academic transition into college.

If I did not leave my local high school for Loomis after freshman year, the scholarship that lured me to Davidson, my well-developed self-awareness, my ability to communicate with peers, adults and even kids - none of these opportunities and skills would exist. A mixture of leaving home and the culture of Loomis cultivated my innate abilities while instilling in me new ones. My Loomis career culminated in my appointment as Head Resident Assistant senior year. Compare my senior self with the egotistic, frightened student of sophomore year and the benefits of Loomis emerge.

When I first arrived at Loomis, I believed I had to make a choice in the first few months: academics or social life. I chose academics in an effort to right myself from the slide (a relative slide, from A's to B's) I began to experience in high school. Yes, I did right myself, but I was not socially satisfied. I felt somewhere between content and melancholy. The balance between the two, or the realization that both were important came at the end of Junior Year. Had I realized there didn't need to be a tradeoff between the two earlier, perhaps those first semesters would have more enjoyable.

When looking at schools, the level of academic rigor hits a certain height at Loomis that differs greatly from lower schools, but in comparison to the Deerfields, Choates and Hotchkisses, varies very little. How Loomis develops the emotional intelligence of its students really raises its standing among its competitors.

Dorms have faculty on duty every night. Some are known to have food. Find out who these faculty are, what night they work, in which dorm, and finally, find a way to curry favor with these people. Your late night cravings depend on it.

Beware Student-Teacher ratios. Fractions offer little insight into actual relationships. At Loomis, professors will be involved in most all aspects of boarding school life, and most importantly in the classroom. Learning under someone who comes to watch your lacrosse games or supervises the dorm every Thursday fosters interest in the classroom, regardless of the subject matter. These relationships make for a friendlier, less competitive environment. Teachers push every kid to excel; Loomis celebrates the success of the class, the average for a test, for example, more than the excellence of the top student.

Not to keep returning to the human aspect of Loomis, but I found the shining attribute of the school's athletics rested in the coaches. Teams continue to win Founder's League and New England Championships with a different set of athletes each year. Knowledge and personality combined in my coaches to create a true general who I willingly followed. Friendships are not relegated to between the athletes themselves.Not every sport I participated in required a coach, however. Students are required to participate in one activity a semester - be it yoga, Club B Basketball or Varsity Lacrosse. The support of varsity sports extends to the lower levels of fitness, leading to an active, energized student body.

I did not participate in the Visual Arts or Theatre program, but because of my friends, my monthly schedule invariably included an art opening or school play. Excellence in the arts does not go unnoticed at Loomis. The student body will sing the praises of those involved with that weekend's production of Hamlet or a street-artist rendering of Bob Marley. Athletics might have the trophies, but the arts earn just as much respect.

A hallmark of Loomis would be the diversity of opportunities available. I didn't realize the work that went into creating the Log, our school paper, until Senior year, when my friends were the editors. The same applies to the Yearbook. With this required dedication comes fulfillment. Couple these publications with the school literary magazine and students have an outlet for any creative activity. Editing not your calling? Try going out every Sunday and building a house on one of Loomis' land holdings. Canoe on the Connecticut river. The opportunties are there. Take advantage of them.

Dorm life as a topic raises the debate concerning boarding vs. day students. The 60/40 ratio, advantage boarding, creates some divides. Both being at home and living in a dorm have advantages and disadvantages-having a near equal distribution of situations on campus highlights these differences. Home cooked meals or the bond of living and getting in trouble with your best friends? Having a car or not needing one? The debate rages on.I lived in a dorm, Flagg for 10th and 11th grade, and then Batchelder for Senior Year. The camaraderie in the dorm mirrors college. Each room has a different flavor, whether because of set-up or its inhabitants, and on any given night, four or five kids could be in any given room. The longer you are at school, the more you will learn about ideal room arrangements.

Upon leaving the dining hall, every article of your clothing will emanate that days menu. Why would I start with such a negative sounding statement? Such a fact illustrates the dining hall as a place of relaxation, a place where we take our time in eating, enjoying the the time off. In a day where free time seems to be a premium, we relish our meals.The biggest complaint about the food would be the appearance. I am an adventurous eater so I found out the secret early into my first year: the food may look unappetizing, but turns out, it tastes pretty good. Pizza and ice cream will seem the easiest options for good food, but try the regular food, and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Loomis is called an island for two reasons: the annual flood cuts off the school from the outside world and Windsor is not much of a town. A train station, a CVS, and two pretty good restaurant are really all we visited. What Windsor does offer is the opportunity to extend the academic culture of Loomis to kids in the surrounding area who might not be growing up in the best circumstances. We offer extra help on homework and friendship, a powerful combination, in our community outreach programs.

The weekends require a certain amount of initiative by the students, as dances are not every weekend. Some may go to a day student's house, while those on campus congregate in the SNUG(I agree, the name must be changes) and the night stems out from there. Such freedom and the need to have fun gives students at boarding school, and specifically Loomis, the stories that they look back on fondly.