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Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School

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Christian Service

At Visitation, Christian service means living Jesus in service of God's creation without expectation of receiving anything back. In the Salesian tradition, it is rooted in relationship -- encounter with another in the same joyful spirit as Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth.

Each year, we sponsor dozens of service projects in the local area, across the country, and beyond our borders. These programs might include reading to children in Peru or breaking bread with the homeless here in DC. Though the school offers a diversity of service projects, students are also encouraged to find their own, with the approval of our Christian Service Director. Either way, these experiences cultivate and energize our girls’ understanding of their potential to be agents of positive change in our Church, our community, and our world. Students walk away with broadened perspectives and stretched comfort zones and a heightened sense of purpose.
 
All students complete at least 80 hours of Christian service before graduating, but many far surpass this goal. In fact, on average, our senior class offers a total of 16,000 hours of service before they leave 35th Street!
 

Header photo courtesy of the Catholic Standard.

Live Jesus at Visitation

"Let us walk with a new and lively spring in our step in the service of God and one another." - St. Jane de Chantal

16,500

hours of service each year

96

organizations served

26,000

cans of food donated

506

hours of tutoring through VAMOS

88%

students exceeding 80 hours of service

 

I want our students to know is that the work they’re doing has a purpose; I want them to see the importance of what they’re doing.

Director of Christian Service Anasofia Gutierrez

Service Projects

  • VAMOS Tutoring
  • Salesian Service in the City
  • Ignatian Family Teach In for Justice
  • VISTORY (summer service week with other Visitation schools)
  • McKenna's Wagon
  • Saturday School
  • Gold-White Canned Food Drive
  • St. Francis Inn Trips
  • Lent & Advent Drives
  • Days of Service: MLK, Indigenous Peoples' Day, 9/11

At Visitation, students learn to act and advocate for justice.

 Christian service helps me to continue to be sympathetic and aware of the people in my community who don’t have the same privileges as me 

Erica '24

Service Hours Required Each Year

Freshman Year 15 hours
Sophomore Year 15 hours
Junior Year 25 hours
Senior Year 25 hours

 I was able to see and spend time with people who are very different from me. I learned to look past what I see and instead know and listen to someone as who they truly are. Hearing their stories, struggles, and triumphs, as well as their hobbies, interests, personalities and faiths. Now that I have served these communities I feel as though I have helped them as much as they have helped me.”

Valentina '27

Campus Ministry

Visitation's Campus Ministry Office supports students’ spiritual development through Masses, prayer services, in-class talks, and retreats

Religious Education

Visitation's religion classes contemplate the relationship between faith and reason and examine the world from a Catholic perspective.

Salesian Spirituality

Salesian Spirituality is the summation of the teachings of our spiritual co-founders, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal; it encourages us to trust in God’s loving providence as we walk through our days and provides common sense guidance on how best to do this.