"Be Who You Are and Be That Well," Georgetown Visitation's Viewbook

Be Who You Are and Be That Well

GeorgetownVisitation PRE PARATO RY S C HO O L

“Be who you are...” The wise words of St. Francis de Sales, co-founder of the Visitation Order, form the heart of a Georgetown Visitation education. The high school years are a time of discovery—of knowledge and skills but also of yourself and your potential. We provide the spiritual grounding, challenging academics, plentiful opportunities, and supportive and joyous community that enable our students to cultivate their God-given gifts. And they do—with confidence, with enthusiasm, and, as with everything here, with friends.

We invite you to discover Visitation and see for yourself how it can help you be who you are.

A Powerful Education for Joyful Minds

Little Virtues.

Immense Impact.

Sisters in Spirit... and Life

Join the Tradition.

Make It Your Own.

A Capital Location.

A World of Opportunities.

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to fully realize the benefits of Visitation’s outstanding education, rooted in the liberal arts and sciences. Here writing, speaking, and thinking are intentionally fostered in every discipline— from French I to AP Calculus—and students develop the higher-level skills needed to flourish in college and in life.

I T TAKES FOUR Y EAR S

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A Powerful Education for Joyful Minds

It takes no time at all, however, to see what can grow in this uplifting learning environment. Girls delight in having similarly motivated classmates who enjoy a challenge. Though they set ambitious goals for themselves, they collaborate with one another, working together to bring the best out of all.

Our faculty are enthusiastic, too—about sharing their expertise and nurturing the young scholars in their care. Students feel it. Classrooms buzz with energy, and the deep learning that results is filled with meaning and joy.

“I wanted to be in a school that in itself was an honors program, and that’s what Visitation is.”

–STUDENT

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VISITATION VOCAB Aesthetics: Freshman courses that give students the tools to appreciate art and music and express ideas in these creative languages.

“Students marvel at the world of ideas.”

–FACULTY MEMBER

| “Happy girls do well in school, and Visi girls love it here.”

MEASURING THE FREQUENCY OF GUMMY BEARS

bear kabobs to duct tape and tap one? A wave starts. In Conceptual Physics, freshmen do just that and then measure wavelength and frequency. Amazing what you can do with a little duct tape, imagination, and the laws of physics!

Visitation takes a Physics First approach, providing ninth graders with a solid science

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WHAT HAPPENS when you stick gummy

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foundation by focusing on critical thinking and problem solving, not memorization.

Students learn to apply a set of assumptions to situations, build knowledge and reasoning, and have fun doing it.

What happens when you engage students in class? At Visitation, not only do girls learn the subject matter well, but they become primed for lifetimes of engaging, questioning, experimenting, and finding solutions—in STEM or any field. Sweet.

–ADMINISTRATOR

| “You will have intellectual conversations with everyone.” “But also fun. We’re fun people.”

–STUDENTS

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at Visitation. It is lived by the Sisters who call Visitation home and felt in halls and classrooms as well as in the Chapel and at Mass. Here prayer is as common as polynomials and participles—and as extraordinary—and teachers offer companionship on students’ spiritual journeys.

SPIRITUALITY IS EVERYWHERE

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Little Virtues.

Immense Impact.

Our focus on Salesian Spirituality makes religious exploration particularly transformative for young women. St. Francis de Sales, who founded the Visitation Order with St. Jane de Chantal, spoke of the power of Little Virtues—values like kindness, humility, simplicity, gentleness, patience, and cheerful optimism. “There is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength,” he said.

Visi girls are living proof.

Strong and gentle, proud yet humble, spirited and spiritual, our students embrace the Salesian emphasis on balance, achieving harmony as well as great things.

They grow through Christian service and retreats, and they develop passion and compassion as they discover themselves and the gifts they can bring to the world.

Encouraged to explore their faith, they deepen it.

“Students here are brought to question and to search for a deeper meaning in their lives.”

-FACULTY MEMBER

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SERVING OTHERS, SERVING GOD

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WHETHER FEEDING the area’s hungry through a mobile soup kitchen or rebuilding homes in New Orleans, students discover the rewards of Christian service. Visitation sponsors dozens of local projects and summer service trips around the country and the globe. Most bring the girls together with those they serve. At St. Francis Inn, volunteers and residents share meals and prayer, kindness and respect. Our girls go beyond merely doing service and come to understand its meaning, culminating in senior reflections on these life-changing experiences.

In helping those in need, Visitation students transform their perspectives and themselves. In serving others, they put their faith into practice.

“The Little Virtues—including kindness, concern for others, and joyful optimism—really unify the school.”

-PARENT

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VISITATION VOCAB Praxis (ancient Greek: doing): Religion project in which juniors research, evaluate, and act to combat a social injustice.

“We provide opportunities for students to investigate their faith.”

-FACULTY MEMBER

| “Spirituality is so alive here.”

-PARENT

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Sisters in Spirit... and Life and fans, classmates and teammates, companions and confidants. While striving for their personal best, they collaborate and support one another, creating a tight community where all are embraced and each can shine. Here optimism and compassion are contagious.

VISI GIRLS ARE FRIENDS

This positive tone is set by the Sisters and nurtured by teachers who are committed to understanding and educating girls in the ways they learn best—through relationships. Being in an all-girls school has distinct advantages. Visi girls are free to be whoever they want to be... and to be themselves. By trying new and difficult things, they learn how to navigate disappointment and develop the resilience that results in long-term success. They know that every girl can lead and achieve in her own way, boosted by newfound friends who become lifelong sisters.

“The girls here push me to be the best that I can be.”

-STUDENT

| “All these girls lift each other up.”

-PARENT

VISITATION VOCAB 12

Junior Retreat: Three days at Camp Maria to

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get closer to God and classmates and to... shh, the rest’s a secret.

“I have wonderful friendships with amazing, accomplished women who have challenged and supported me since our

THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE

calls itself “Nolan,” after our amazing performing arts center, and our tech crew is “the Dark Side.” Though they work in the dark, their magic is in plain view.

With a teacher-director providing guidance, each show is completely student-produced.

Its tech team, about 45 girls strong, designs, implements, and runs the entire

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AT VISITATION, our theater community

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production from lighting to props, set construction to sound effects, and more.

While they are stage managing, they are time managing. While they are building sets, they are building close bonds with one another and with the actors, whose work they bring to life (and vice versa). And while they are putting on a show, they are exploring their talent and creativity, setting the stage—literally—for bright futures.

freshman year.”

-ALUMNA

| “Being in an all-girls setting enabled me to let loose and be my goofy, best self.”

-ALUMNA

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VISITATION

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BY THE NUMBERS

OUR STUDENTS

490

young women

9:1

student-faculty ratio

15

average class size

100%

smart, motivated, and college-bound

OUR SCHOOL

9–12 grades

1799

year founded

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acres

6,000+

accomplished alumnae

OTHER EXPERIENCES

60

50+

outstanding teachers

90%

with or working toward advanced degrees

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languages spoken (+ English)

11

on-campus Eucharistic Ministers

student-led clubs

260+

student-athletes, 22 teams, 11 sports

8

consecutive years winning the Lewis Cup for best athletic program in the league (ISL)

2

productions 1 play, 1 musical

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OUR ACADEMICS

30

AP & Honors courses

4

honor societies

92%

of students scored 3 or higher on recent AP tests

Chorus members

10–15

immersion trips, South Dakota to South America

6

spiritual retreats

20–75+

annual hours of service per Visi girl

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OUR FACULTY

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means becoming part of a long and impressive heritage that began in 1799 and continues undaunted into the future. It means joining a legacy of remarkable girls who, during their time at Visitation, become extraordinary young women.

BEING A VISI GIRL

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Join the Tradition.

Make It Your Own.

Traditions are a large part of the Visitation experience. Some are exuberant and others solemn, but we relish them all and treasure them forever. One of the most cherished is Gold-White. All students—as part of the Gold Team or the White Team—take part in school-wide competitions from sports contests to Quiz Bowl.

From this friendly rivalry come indelible memories and lifelong bonds.

Our graduates maintain strong connections to their friends, mentors, and the school itself, as well as to our extensive network of Visitation alumnae, all members of a timeless community. Graduates love coming back to campus, just as they love helping one another. Once you become part of Visitation’s rich history, Visitation becomes a part of yours.

“I remember one of the Sisters telling us that they had been praying for us for over 200 years.”

-ALUMNA

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AH, MARSHMALLOW ROAST. It takes months for each of the four classes to choose a theme, write a script, create costumes, and rehearse their skit about school life, all in secret. Then at dusk one Thursday in October, the fires are lit and the roasting begins—first marshmallows, then teachers.

Anyone can get involved, and everyone loves it. But the tradition is especially poignant for seniors, who arrive together cheering. Before the winning class is announced, seniors sing their chosen class song by candlelight, hug, and cry—celebrating their last Marshmallow Roast.

“You try to explain what Gold–White is, and you sound like a crazy person because you are so emotionally invested

VISITATION VOCAB Cubs: Our mascot, composed of the Gold and White Team bear cub (Nicodemus).

in a tradition that doesn’t make much sense. But I love it.”

-ALUMNA

| “You can make your own history here.”

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Team tiger cub (Ferdinand)

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-STUDENT

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GEORGETOWN VISITATION. Our name says not only

where we are, but who we are and what we offer students.

Located in historic Georgetown and home to the Sisters of the Visitation for more than two centuries, our school is at once cosmopolitan and quiet. It is a beautiful and safe enclave central to the capital’s opportunities, and accessible from Maryland, Virginia, and the District.

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A Capital Location.

A World of Opportunities.

A wealth of stimulating experiences lie just beyond the gates of our leafy green campus. Georgetown University is right next door, enabling our students to tap into its vast resources. Throughout the year, Visitation hosts guest speakers from the university, while Visi girls are invited to its campus for workshops, conferences, research, and even classes.

Our students enjoy exploring the Georgetown neighborhood and learning firsthand at Washington museums and in corridors of power. Girls grow self-assured and independent, on campus and off.

“ O u r l o c ation allows u s to ta ke a dva nta ge of the c a pita l’s phen o men al o p p o r t u n it i es.”

-ADMINISTR ATOR

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D.C. A DIFFERENT CLASSROOM WHERE BETTER for an AP American Government class to learn how government works than on Capitol Hill? Or for art history students to understand masterpieces than by standing in front of them? At Visitation, we go deeper than a tourist’s peek at Washington’s greatest hits and bring classes face-to-face with the subjects they’re studying. Whether helping girls discover Shakespeare on the stage or economic history on the streets of Georgetown, teachers regularly use this great city as an extended campus. And students’ worldview broadens because of it.

“The location in Georgetown has an academic side—we learn how to use Georgetown University’s library—and also a

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VISITATION VOCAB Bridge Program: Advanced option that allows selected seniors to take courses at Georgetown University.

fun side—walking to a movie with friends on Friday afternoon.”

-STUDENT

| “I truly feel like I’m a part of D.C.”

-STUDENT

“...And Be That Well” At Visitation, being who you are is just a first step.

Our students go beyond developing their intellect, creativity, and talents. They develop what a teacher calls “a heart for using their gifts for others.” Our graduates speak up and give back.

Committed to authenticity and excellence, they are prepared for great outcomes in college and beyond, becoming who they are exceedingly well.

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Visitation taught me to be confident, speak up for myself, and defend my ideas, important skills that I’ve brought with me from the classroom to the office meeting room.

Ilona de Zamaroczy ’08, B.A., University of Virginia; M.Phil., Oxford; Directorate-General for International Development and Cooperation, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium

Visitation and its incredible community shaped me into a more confident and loving person and enabled me to put relationships, collaboration, and values ahead of some of the more competitive aspects of attending a rigorous college-prep high school.

Megan McAndrews ’13, B.S., Stanford University; Data Science Intern, Genentech

Academically, I felt more than prepared to tackle the challenges of an Ivy League education. I also learned to treat everyone with kindness and respect.

Christine Dalton ’09, B.A., Cornell University; Assistant Editor, Wine Spectator

I’m a darn good writer thanks to Visi! I also learned how

Visitation allowed me to pursue all of my interests. My

to communicate in other ways, to network, to meet deadlines, and to multitask. I will always be grateful to Visi for making undergrad easy and helping me become a welladjusted, well-rounded person.

success in science classes led me to be pre-med in college, and now I have graduated medical school, in part due to confidence that was instilled in me at Visitation.

Catherine St. John Carter ’05, B.A., Vanderbilt; M.S., University of South Florida; Arizona Geological Survey

Audrey Bowes ’08, B.S., Tulane; M.D., Virginia Commonwealth; Resident Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Carolinas Medical Center

Visitation instilled a love for learning and for sharing my Catholic faith with others. I learned how to work hard, manage my time, balance a rigorous schedule, conquer challenges head on, work together with others, learn from my peers, and do it all with enthusiasm.

Jill Briody ’10, B.A. and M.Ed., Notre Dame; Ph.D. candidate, school psychology, University of Maryland

”

We invite you to call our Admissions Office, get to know us at visi.org, and— most importantly—visit our beautiful campus, talk to our amazing students and faculty, and see for yourself if Visitation is where you can be who you are and be that well.

1524 Thirty-fifth Street NW Washington, DC 20007-2785 202.337.3350 www.visi.org