<p>I'm considering Taft as a school to go to in 9th grade, and the pamphlet/brochure made it sounds really great. It sounds like a welcoming, motivated, positive environment. Is this true? I've heard other opinions, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some hints as to the real atmosphere of Taft. </p>
<p>One of my daughter’s friends is a Freshman there, and so far, she loves it. I also have friends with older kids there and they are equally positive about the school. One thing to consider is that the student body is heavily Fairfield County, NYC, preppy suburbs-centric. My friends (the ones with older kids) count that as a negative, even though that is their background. Sports are a big focus as well. Not knowing anything about you, I’m not sure what you’re looking for, but it’s just something to keep in mind. </p>
<p>My son got into Loomis Chaffee and Taft and chose Loomis because of its very warm and supportive environment. It was a close call though and I think both are good. I would agree with GMC that the parents/kids at Taft seem to have more of that elite, “old money” vibe … which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but you need to be confident in that setting. I highly recommend visiting and getting a “feel” for the schools. </p>
<p>@Netbang if you like Taft, you may want to consider Middlesex, St Andrew’s, and Loomis as mentioned above. If you’re willing to consider the West Coast, definitely Cate (of course ;-)) and Thacher as well. Enjoy your search!</p>
<p>I second what GMC said. I’m from one of those annoying wealthy fairfield country suburbs and I know lots of kids go to Taft from my area. BUT it is a boarding school so you’ll have kids from all over the world, and from a variety of socio-economic classes.</p>
<p>My child goes to Taft. We are neither wealthy or from Fairfield County. My child absolutely loves Taft and has been accepted by everyone. He has extremely wealthly friends from NYC as well as not so wealthily friends. You need to visit Taft; it is a great school and very welcoming to all students. What you see in the brochure is correct. </p>
<p>It has a reputation as a jock school, but I’ve heard that that’s not true.</p>
<p>From my tour there, I got the impression that it was a very traditional prep school compared to schools like Choate and SPS. Also, I agree that it’s very athletics focused. The best thing to do is tour Taft as well as other schools so you can form your own opinion.</p>
<p>thanks everyone. also, is it a big party school? lots of parties, drugs, alcohol- that stuff? </p>
<p>From what I’ve seen on facebook, it does kind of look like a party school, but I can’t say for sure!</p>
<p>every school has a “party” environment. Its just that at some schools its more noticeable and larger than at other schools. I’m not sure about Taft though. I crossed it off my list early in the process,lol 
>:) </p>
Hi @buddysmom, my daughter will be attending Taft next September as an International Student. I was very pleased to read your post where you describe the school as welcoming for everyone. As you can see from the other posts on this thread, many parents and students like @GMC2918 have the idea that Taft is a very traditional school “populated mostly by wealthy Fairfield County, NYC, preppy suburbs-centric”. It was such a relief to read your post. We chose Taft on the belief that the school has a big sense of community and a caring, nurturing environment for the students. Overall what I care about the most is if she is going to be surrounded by nice kids. In your experience as a parent have you found these characteristics in the school? Or are some of the opinions on this thread also true?
Hi @GMC2918, your post is very interesting. You say that one of your daughter’s friends is a Freshman at Taft and so far, she loves it. You say that you also have friends with older kids there and they are equally positive about the school, but “One thing to consider is that the student body is heavily Fairfield County, NYC, preppy suburbs-centric” Your friends count that as a negative, even though that is their background. Can you explain that a little further? Why do they see it as a negative even if it is their own background? Are those type of kids unfriendly ir very clickey?
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