Welcome
A Visitation education provides opportunities for students to develop their creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, self-reliance, resiliency and other essential life skills through a rigorous academic experience, versatile opportunities, co-curriculars and athletics.
Welcome from our Head of School
The Sisters of the Visitation founded Visitation School 150 years ago with the focus of educating the minds and the hearts of students. This philosophy of educating students is based on Salesian Spirituality and follows the teachings of our co-founders Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane de Chantal and their focus on the little virtues: kindness, patience, joyful optimism, humility, gentleness and strength. These virtues guide us in our interactions and relationships each day and define the educational experience at Visitation School. A Visitation education provides opportunities for students to develop their creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, self-reliance, resiliency and other essential life skills through a rigorous academic experience, versatile opportunities, co-curriculars and athletics. Our students are encouraged to express themselves fully, to lead fearlessly, and to develop the heart-to-heart relationships that make Visitation a nurturing, safe and joyful place in which to learn and grow.
Visitation is also a welcoming place and we strive to make a Visitation education accessible for all students, working diligently with each family to make a Visitation education possible through our robust financial grant program.
At Visitation we say education is Non Scholae, Sed Vitae – not for school, but for life. We guide our students in their formation, an intentional process of individual growth that shapes intellectual, moral, physical and spiritual development. Visitation students go forth into the world prepared to change it for the better. They are competent, courageous, and caring. We are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of our students’ lives and formation and rejoice in watching their extraordinary futures unfold.
Rene Gavic
Head of School
Mission Statement
Visitation School provides an excellent education within a Catholic environment permeated by Salesian Spirituality and the living tradition of the Visitation Sisters.
Guiding Principles
Under God’s guiding hand, Visitation Sisters, trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, parents and students are committed to the following:
- Gentle, nurturing formation of faith and morality of students in the Salesian community toward reverent worship; responsible, global engagement; the cultivation of loving relationships; and respect for God’s creation and for the diversity and dignity of all people.
- Guidance of the holistic growth of each student from infancy toward adulthood through innovative teaching and learning that honors the educational philosophy of the Sisters and includes intentional fostering of leadership within a coed lower school and all-girls middle and upper schools; a challenging college preparatory program; vibrant and varied co-curricular opportunities; broad exposure to the arts; engaged citizenship; and inspiration to pursue lifelong learning.
- Robust governance - derived from a long, stable, independent history - characterized by expert and wide consultation, judicious discernment, Church and community collaboration, and sound fiscal policies.
Non Scholae, Sed Vitae; Not for School, but for Life.
Diversity Statement
At Visitation School, we are called by our Catholic, Salesian tradition and as people of God to hold ourselves, our school and our community accountable for sustaining an environment of respect, where multiple experiences and perspectives thrive, and where each individual in our community is treated with his or her God-given dignity and value.
Guiding Principles:
- We believe Visitation School is a place where many voices, experiences, perspectives, positions and identities come together -- and where we unite through our commitment to Catholic social teachings and our shared humanity.
- We believe diversity includes a wide range of individual characteristics. These may include race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, age, academic abilities, physical abilities and religious beliefs. Through mutual recognition and respect for one another’s unique and diverse existence, we strive to uphold a strong solidarity as members of the human family and experience.
- The Visitation Sisters and the Salesian virtues they extend give meaning and formation to our school’s work on diversity and inclusiveness. We believe that the Sisters’ history of living Jesus and their leadership with the Salesian teachings of humility, gentle strength, optimism, patience and heart-to-heart relationships guide our ongoing work.
Be who you are and be that well to give honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are.
St. Francis de Sales