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.
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
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
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