Established September 8, 1873 Head of school Rene Gavic Founded 8 September 1873 Colors White, Red | Dean Ann Feitl Phone +1 651-683-1700 Lowest grade Pre-kindergarten | |
School type Private Private, Catholic, All-Girls Motto Non Scholae Sed Vitae
(Not for School, but for Life) Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic (Visitation Sisters) Address 2455 Visitation Dr, Mendota Heights, MN 55120, USA Founders Francis de Sales, Jane Frances de Chantal Profiles | ||
gtmd11 testimonial convent of the visitation school
Convent of the Visitation School, also known as Visitation or Vis, is an independent, all-girls, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory, school in Minnesota. It is located in Mendota Heights near Saint Paul. Visitation is a coeducational school for grades PreK-grade 6, switching to grade 5 for the 2017-2018 school year, and all-girls for grades 7-12. Visitation is the only all-girls secondary school in Minnesota.
Contents
- gtmd11 testimonial convent of the visitation school
- History
- Sports
- VISTA Productions
- Notable StudentsAlumni
- References
A brother school, Saint Thomas Academy, is located right next door and many classes and after school activities involve both schools. Depending on the sport or activity, some of its rival schools are Cretin-Derham Hall, Breck School, St. Paul Academy and Summit School, and The Blake School.
History
Visitation was founded by Sisters of the Visitation in 1873, who traveled up the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri at the request of some prominent businessmen in St. Paul who wished for a strong, Catholic education for their daughters. This may have been P. F. McQuillan, whose three daughters were attended the school. It was founded in St. Paul, and later moved to it's current location. The current location of the school in Mendota Heights, MN, is the school's fourth location.
The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary was founded in France in 1610. The founders of the order are St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal from whom the order gained its Salesian spirituality.
There are sister school locations in St. Louis, MO and Washington, D.C., as well as monasteries in other areas throughout the U.S. The school is coeducational from preschool through grade 6, switching to grade 5 for the 2017-2018 school year, but becomes single-gender in seventh grade. Visitation is the only all-girls Catholic secondary school in Minnesota.
The first graduating class at Visitation had only four members; the class of 2017 is made up of 71 young women.
Sports
Visitation offers 13 varsity sports:
VISTA Productions
VISTA Productions is the combined theater troupe of The Convent of the Visitation School and Saint Thomas Academy. They put on three main productions a year, including a fall drama, a winter dance piece/improv show and a spring musical. VISTA Productions also is a participant in the Spotlight Program, a High School Theater Recognition Program sponsored by the Hennepin Theater Trust. In the spring of 2014, VISTA Productions received ten awards from this program including the award for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical for their production of Shrek the Musical. The next year, their production of "The Drowsy Chaperone" also received numerous awards from Spotlight, once again including "Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical" and "Outstanding Overall Performance of a Musical."