Hi! Im currently a student at Loomis and I love it. If you are an incoming freshman there aren’t many different choices for classes unless you have credits from another school that transfer. Just a few of the many classes I know people really enjoy are “Germany and the Holocaust”, “Intro to Ethics” and “Psychology of Loss’ (which is only for juniors/seniors). There is definitely a good amount of work, but everyone handles it well. With daytime study halls (new students only), daytime frees, and nighttime study halls (underclassmen) you get your work done. Classes are 75 minutes long I believe with 4 classes a day. You can be in 5 1/2 courses per year, and in May you will receive an email and you can input your course requests. You can pick both year long and term courses. For underclassmen you have a 2 hour study hall every night with your phone outside of your room and your door open. This sounds annoying but it really helps you focus and get your work done.
Socially, I find that all students are friendly with each other usually and everyone seems to have someone to talk to at all times, whether you are in a class, the dining hall, or dorm. Repeat grade students mix in perfectly with the rest of the grade, and most of the time you don’t realize who is a repeat or not. There are friend groups and most people have a circle of close friends, but people interact with different groups and will not isolate other people. There is not a big dating scene, but like most high schools there is a hook up culture, which is acknowledged by even the faculty. There definitely are people who are in relationships though.
Some of the more popular sports are soccer, hockey, and lacrosse, but there are many people in each sport, including club sports. Practice times will depend on your sport and level. Varsity practices will run up to 2 hours or maybe more, but club teams will practice for about an hour. JV and thirds fall in between 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours, depending on the sport.
The break travel programs are popular and seem a lot of fun. I’ve never been on one so I can’t speak much about it, but I know everyone who goes enjoys them. The work job program is very important at Loomis. Every student has a work job in the community, and boarders have dorm work jobs on top of that. Some work jobs are working the bookstore, helping in the mail room, cleaning classrooms, tour guides, prefects/RA’s, and dining hall cleanup but there are many more. Some meet before classes, during a free, or after school.
I think most people manage their stress well. There are so many resources at your advantage, and there is always someone to helming you out if you feel stressed. The majority of LC students have seen, will see, or see the counselors on a regular basis. They are a great resource and can help you out if you feel stressed. On average, as a freshman I get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep, but I could get more if I went to sleep earlier. With homesickness, I feel like everyone experiences a little at some point. The counselors can help, or a dorm head, prefect, or friend.
The food isn’t great this year, but that is partially because the dining hall is under construction so we have a makeshift dining hall in a gym. I cant speak for other years, but hopefully it will improve next year. We also have a new food provider so they are new with the school. Dorm life is great. You live with many of your friends and it is so convenient living on campus. The beds aren’t uncomfortable, but many people purchase mattress pads to put on top of the mattress. The bathrooms in the new dorms are very nice, and the older dorms are good too. If you want some alone time you can just go to your room. For laundry, you can either do your own in your dorm or send it to a laundry service for a fee. If you choose to do your own you can buy and load a laundry card in the gym to use on the machines.
I hope I answered your questions well and if you have any new questions feel free to PM me! Also, if you can, try to go to a revisit day! They seal the deal for many people and are very fun. I hope to see you around the island this fall! (also I apologize if some of this doesn’t make sense or has grammatical errors, I wrote it in my notes and it was hard to proofread(: )
