The Loomis Chaffee School

The Loomis Chaffee School is a coeducational boarding and day school in Windsor, Connecticut, just north of the state capital, Hartford, at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers; the campus is known as the Island. Its predecessor, the Loomis Institute, was chartered in 1874 by five siblings of the Loomis family who had lost all of their children and founded a school as a gift to the children of others. The school opened in 1914 with 39 boys and 13 girls. In 1926 the girls moved to The Chaffee School, and in 1970 the two schools reunited on the Island campus, later forming The Loomis Chaffee School. According to the school’s key facts page, 748 students are enrolled: 519 boarders (70 percent) and 229 day students (30 percent), representing 31 U.S. states and 47 countries by citizenship and residency. International students, defined as students who need an I-20 (the school-issued document required for an F-1 student visa), number 101, or 13.5 percent. The campus covers 300 acres and serves grades 9 through 12 and postgraduates. Head of School Jody Reilly Soja became the school’s eighth head in 2024.

The Loomis Chaffee School designates its highest-level courses CL (College Level) on the transcript, and its 2026-27 school profile tells colleges it considers them AP (Advanced Placement) level or higher; faster-paced courses that go beyond normal requirements are designated Advanced. The key facts page lists 266 courses, 84 of them advanced or college-level, an average class size of 11, 199 faculty and a 4:1 student-faculty ratio. The school profile notes that Loomis runs on trimesters, does not rank students and does not calculate a GPA, and that students typically carry five courses (sophomores usually four). Loomis offers more than 50 CL courses and 15 Advanced courses, but because of course sequencing it is difficult for a student to take more than seven credits of CL courses and four Advanced courses in four years. Graduation requires four years of English, third-level proficiency in one language, two years of history and social science, two courses in philosophy, psychology or religion, three years of math (two of algebra and one of geometry), two years of science (one life and one physical) and three arts courses. Languages offered are Arabic, Chinese, French, Latin and Spanish, and Chinese placement uses writing and speaking samples. The language department notes that the fourth-year college-level courses in French, Latin and Spanish and the fifth-year college-level course in Chinese follow the AP syllabus in part, so students sometimes need extra preparation of their own for AP exams. Mathematics runs through Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra, after which students may propose an independent study. Signature programs include the ninth-grade Seminar in the Best Self, a year-long sophomore Writing Workshop, Guided Research in organic chemistry, molecular biology, environmental sustainability and the humanities, and the senior-spring Innovation Trimester and Senior Projects.

The school profile reports a Class of 2026 SAT middle 50 percent range of 610 to 750 in reading and writing and 590 to 770 in math, and an ACT composite range of 28 to 33, counting all tests taken whether or not students submitted them. Over the past five years, Loomis has graduated 19 National Merit Semifinalists and 87 Commended Scholars (National Merit is the scholarship program that selects students by their eleventh-grade PSAT scores). Class of 2026 graduates enrolled at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and USC, among others, and the list of colleges that four or more Loomis graduates attended over the past five years includes UC Berkeley and UC Irvine. The college guidance office has six professional counselors; each student is assigned a counselor in the winter of sophomore year, and all sophomores take the PSAT in October.

The Loomis Chaffee School application begins with the online inquiry form, after which families receive a link to schedule a tour and interview. Applicants then use either Gateway to Prep Schools or the Standard Application Online (SAO); the school has no preference but asks applicants not to submit both. The application fee is $75 for students living in the United States, Canada or Mexico and $160 for students living outside North America, and families seeking a fee waiver contact the office directly. Three recommendations are required, from the current English teacher, the current math teacher and the current principal or guidance counselor, along with a Parent/Guardian Statement; transcripts must include the current and prior year. Loomis has been test optional since 2020: scores from the SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test), the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) and other tests may be submitted or withheld without penalty, but every applicant must file the Test Optional Form or the application is not complete. Applicants to grades 9 and 10 who submit should use the SSAT or ISEE; the SSAT code is 4672, and scores must arrive from the testing agency by February 1. The school strongly recommends a third academic recommendation for applicants who do not submit scores. Applicants whose first language is not English and who have had fewer than two years in an English-instruction school must submit the TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo English Test. Interviews are not required but are strongly encouraged, and each applicant may have only one. Campus tours with an interview run on weekdays while classes are in session, last about 90 minutes and are offered through mid-January; online interviews include about 30 minutes with the student alone and about 15 minutes with parents. After December 1, only students who have submitted the Candidate Profile and application fee may schedule an interview. Loomis also accepts InitialView and Vericant interviews.

Applications for fall 2027 are due January 15, 2027, and financial aid applications are due January 31. Every applicant who applies by January 15 receives a decision on March 10, and admitted students must enroll or decline by April 10. Loomis does not admit students mid-year, and applications received after January 15 are considered on a rolling basis after March 10 if space becomes available. The school enrolls 20 to 25 postgraduate (PG) students each year, a PG year being an additional year of school after high school graduation, and they follow the same application process. Every ninth-grade applicant is automatically considered for the LC Scholars Program, which names about six entering freshmen each year and provides mentoring, a funded summer trip abroad between sophomore and junior years, a tuition-free four-week summer program before ninth grade, and a laptop and book stipend. The school does not publish an acceptance rate.

The Loomis Chaffee School publishes 2026-27 tuition of $77,340 for boarding students and $59,460 for day students. Additional fees are a $1,005 technology fee and a health center fee of $665 for boarders or $320 for day students; students who need an I-20 also pay a $1,140 international student fee. Optional tuition refund insurance costs 1.7 percent of net tuition, or $1,314.78 for a boarder, and the school strongly recommends it for new students. Books, art supplies and other academic materials usually cost $1,200 to $1,600 a year, students bring their own computer, and every boarder must show proof of health insurance or enroll in the school’s student accident and sickness plan.

For 2026-27, Loomis awarded $14.2 million in financial aid to 33 percent of students, with grants ranging from $1,000 to full tuition and the average grant covering 80 percent of tuition. Families apply through Clarity and must indicate on the admission application that they are applying for aid, or they will not be considered for aid in the admission process. The deadline for new families is January 31, two years of tax information are required, and aid decisions arrive with the admission letter on March 10. The school’s financial aid FAQ states that in most cases it admits only students it can fund through its aid budget; each year a small number of admitted students are placed on a financial aid waiting list, and another group is denied because the school cannot provide aid. The application page also notes that aid is extremely limited at this time. Families who enroll without aid and apply later are unlikely to have their need met, according to the school, unless their circumstances change. The school’s financial aid distribution chart shows 27 aid recipient families in 2026-27 with 2025 total income above $350,000.

The Loomis Chaffee School’s January 15 deadline and February 1 score arrival date mean that a family submitting the SSAT should finish testing by December and book a seat about two months ahead. Campus tours and interviews run only on weekdays while classes are in session and end in mid-January, so a family flying east should combine the visit and interview into one fall trip. Whether on campus or online, book the interview before December 1; after that date the Candidate Profile and fee must be submitted first. Connecticut is three hours ahead of California and about 2,500 miles from Irvine in a straight line, and the campus is 15 minutes from Bradley International Airport, which still means several cross-country flights a year. Loomis enrolls both boarders and day students and encourages new boarders to stay on campus for their first weekends, so identify a trusted adult on the East Coast before the year begins. Families who need aid should remember that the school’s aid budget can affect admission and include schools with different aid policies on their list. EDUBUS is based in Irvine and works on school selection, SSAT preparation and high school planning around this school’s published dates.