Letter to Parents - The Loomis Chaffee School

Dear Parents of Seniors, Soon you will be the parents of a 2013 Loomis Chaffee graduate. Congratulations! You must be extremely proud and excited, and we look forward to hosting the families, friends and guests of members of the Class of 2013 for the festivities. Through the Commencement 2013 website and messages in the Parent eNews, the school has shared general information about Commencement and related activities. This letter is meant to complement that information, provide further details, and answer additional questions. Commencement Day, Friday, June 7: The ceremony will occur at 10 a.m. on the lawns of the Loomis Homestead and the Head's House, in the area directly in front of Founders Hall. The school is honored that Frank Bruni ’82, New York Times op-­‐ed columnist, will be this year’s Commencement speaker. The ceremony lasts approximately two hours and a buffet luncheon on the Grubbs Quadrangle follows. All graduates, families and guests are invited. Highpoint Pictures will photograph each graduate receiving his/her diploma. They also will be available before and after the ceremony to take family photos, and Panfoto will take a panoramic photo of the Class of 2013 before the ceremony begins. These photographs will be made available for purchase later in June. Seating for the ceremony will be available to families and guests at 8 a.m. on Friday morning. Tickets are not required and there is no limit on the number of guests per graduate. However, the school asks that families use their discretion about reserving an appropriate number of seats. In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held under the tent in the Grubbs Quadrangle, where covered seating is limited. Under those circumstances, we encourage all guests to provide preferred seating to the parents and grandparents of the graduates and others to bring appropriate rain gear. Commencement announcements have been delivered to seniors’ mailboxes. Each student received five announcements, which may be used to invite or announce the graduation to family and friends. Parents received an announcement in the mail as well. Class Night, Thursday, June 6: Class Night activities will take place in the Olcott Center. Typically, families of graduates make individual plans for dinner. A dessert reception will be held at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Class Night celebration at 8:30 p.m. All seniors, families and guests are welcome to attend the festivities. The photographers from Highpoint Pictures will be available here also to take family photos until 8:30 p.m. The formal program will last approximately an hour to an hour-­‐and-­‐15 minutes. Prom, Wednesday, June 5: Prom will be held at The Hartford Mariott Downtown Hartford. Parents are invited to a photograph session on the Grubbs Quadrangle from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. Seniors attending the Prom will be bussed back and forth from campus, and upon returning to Loomis Chaffee they will be served ‘breakfast’ that will conclude by 1:30 a.m. For more details, refer to the Prom letter provided by the deans. The LC Parents Association will host an informal reception for parents after the photograph session at 7:30 p.m. in the Rogan Atrium of the Clark Center for Science & Mathematics. Graduates’ attire for Commencement activities: Girls generally wear white or off-­‐white dresses, and boys will wear navy blazers, ties and light slacks. While Class Night ceremonies are less formal, appropriate dress is also encouraged for this event. Lodging options for guests traveling from afar: Please use the list on the Commencement web page as a resource for overnight accommodations. Note the cutoff dates for special Loomis Chaffee rates.

At the conclusion of the Commencement luncheon and after sufficient time for farewells, seniors are expected to pack up their rooms and depart campus. We look forward to welcoming them back warmly as alumni whenever they choose to visit! For additional information, please contact me at lisa_ross@loomis.org or 860.687.6277. This is an exhilarating time for you and your graduate, and we will do our best to make it memorable! Many thanks, Lisa Salinetti Ross Director of Alumni & Parent Relations