Weekend time at Loomis is less structured than during the week, allowing you time to unwind, socialize, participate in recreational activities, and to catch up on academic work as necessary.

There are many options available to students for recreation and entertainment, including sporting events, cultural celebrations, student and professional performances, talent shows, dances, game nights, and club activities. While COVID protocols restricted off-campus travel in 2020–21, weekend activities also often include off-campus excursions to local shopping, popular restaurants, movies, and climbing walls, all organized by the Student Activities’ faculty and student volunteers.

Decisions are made after a careful review of your application folder and with information gathered from the housing survey you submit in June.

The deans and dorm heads make the dorm and room assignments at the end of the summer and you will receive this information shortly before arriving on campus.

Yes, in the fall of 2020 Loomis began offering an all-gender housing option.  If you are interested in all-gender housing, please note this on your housing survey. If you have any questions, please call Dean of Student Life Jess Matzkin at 860.687.6210.

Yes. Your housing assignment will include your roommate’s contact information so you can communicate before arriving on campus.

Each boarding student will be provided with a bed and mattress (extra-long: 80 inches), bureau, desk and chair, garbage and recycling cans, and closet/wardrobe. All dorms also have kitchens and common rooms, and most have laundry facilities in the building.

You provide your own linens and should bring clothing for different types of weather, including raincoats. We also suggest you bring items for extra-curricular activities such as sports and music. You should bring toiletries, towels, a desk or reading lamp (not halogen), an alarm clock/radio, and at least two blankets. A more comprehensive packing list is available on the New Student Portal which you can access once you indicate your intention to enroll at Loomis.

Given our special relationship with our boarding students we have a responsibility to make sure that we address their social and emotional needs as young adults living in our community. Accordingly, dorm faculty regularly set aside time and space for sharing information and advice that might, under other circumstances, happen among family members at home. Topics of recent presentations and conversations have included healthy relationships and good decision-making, academic honesty, responsible use of social media, good nutrition, establishing healthy sleep habits, and techniques for relaxation and stress relief.

Every student’s experience is unique, but you should know it is perfectly normal to feel some homesickness, especially if this is your first time living away from home. Your advisor, dorm faculty, and dorm prefects and resident assistants (junior and senior students) are here to help you when you are missing home. One strategy that works well for a lot of students is to stay busy — be sure to get involved on campus by joining clubs that interest you, participating in athletics as a player and/or spectator, attending evening and weekend events, and hanging out with friends.

Students have an incredible web of support at Loomis. All students have a dean and an advisor and boarding students have a dorm head and dorm faculty. Students also develop relationships with the faculty who teach and coach them, supervise their work job, and interact with them in any number of ways. Our goal is to make sure that there are many times each day when students connect with an adult at Loomis. As parents, you will also connect with certain adults, and if you feel that you need to speak with someone, there are a number of people to choose from — dorm heads can help with situations in the dorm, advisors can often speak to academic needs and concerns, and deans can help with general issues. If in doubt, start with the advisor and he or she will work to find the answer to your question.

Loomis welcomes parents to visit their children frequently; we know how important those visits can be for both you and your child. When planning your visits, please make sure they do not conflict with your child’s school obligations. Parents of new boarding students should gauge how their child is adjusting in determining when to visit. Some students benefit from visits in the first few weeks while others need a few weeks to acclimate and develop a routine before having visitors. If you aren’t sure, check in with your child’s dorm head or advisor to confer. Please note that in 2020–21, due to the pandemic and for the safety of all students, parents were not allowed to visit students while school was in session.