Every fall, as students settle into the school year, the Loomis Chaffee Summer Program Department already begins to prepare for the following summer. Come spring, the Summer Program Department’s months of dedication and hard work come to life, and the Island readies itself for a fresh wave of students just as Pelicans depart for the summer.

“We begin thinking about the summer as early as September,” said Mrs. Caitlyn Welch, Director of Summer Programs. “The first thing that we do is reflect on what went well and what can be improved upon from the past summer. We then get ready to open applications, which we usually start by mid-November.”

The preparation process continues until the very start of the camp. “We have to coordinate with all the different departments that support all the programs that are held on campus,” Mrs. Welch explained. “We have to make sure that there are enough dorm rooms for all the overnight camps. We rely on Physical Plant, IT, Campus Safety, the Health Center, Communications & Marketing, Flik, and Housekeeping to keep everything running smoothly throughout the summer.” 

So, what does summer at Loomis look like?

Loomis offers a variety of summer programs that offer those who attend a transformational opportunity. The program goes beyond just teaching academic excellence; it also ensures that students who attend have an enjoyable time, creating lasting memories and relationships. 

“The program includes the Enrichment Program (a four-week boarding and day program), Math Acceleration classes in Geometry, Cal A, and Cal C, and then a host of sports camps run by outside groups, including a ballet camp,” said Mrs. Welch. “We recognize that because it is summer there needs to be an element of fun and discovery throughout the four weeks. Our afternoon elective classes offer students a chance to take classes in topics that they might not otherwise get exposed to, and without the stress of homework or grades, students can truly focus on what is happening in class.”

She added, “We also plan a lot of fun activities for the afternoons, evenings and weekends, such as going to baseball games, water parks, adventure parks and hosting events on campus like outdoor movie nights, Dorm Olympics, and fire pits with S’mores. The best part of the four weeks is seeing the friendships that students form while in the program.”

Kaylee Wang ’28 and Chloe Song ’28, current freshmen at Loomis who attended the camp two summers ago, reflected upon their time in the program.

“The camp gave me a little taste of what the Loomis community was like,” said Song. “I got to take many fun classes and explore many passions while making a lot of new friends and connections, and I feel that through this, I was more familiar and prepared for life at Loomis.”

Wang added, “Now, as a student at Loomis, I feel like the way the summer program worked was similar to how Loomis is today, so I think that the camp experience gave me insight of what it’s like to be a Loomis student [even when I wasn’t] actually one yet.”

Even beyond the nine months of the regular school year, the Loomis Chaffee campus always buzzes with students from near and far. The Summer Program promises weeks of growth, excellence, fun, and discovery as students make memories they will cherish long after the summer ends.