Type Private, All-Girls Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic School number (314)-625-9100 Phone +1 314-625-9100 | Motto Live + Jesus Established 1833 Tuition About $18,680 Average ACT scores 29 | |
Founder The founders of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary are St. Jane de Chantal and St. Francis de Sales Address 3020 N Ballas Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131, USA Principal Barbra McMullen (Upper), Margaret Karl (Lower) Similar De Smet Jesuit High School, Mary Institute And St Lo, Villa Duchesne Oak Hill S, John Burroughs School, Saint Louis Priory School Profiles |
Visitation Academy of St. Louis is a private, all-girls, Roman Catholic high school in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis.
Contents
History
Visitation Academy was established in Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1833 by a group of sisters from the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. The group originated from the Georgetown Visitation Monastery in Washington, DC, and were invited by Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis to start a school in the region.
The school moved to St. Louis in 1844, in part due to flooding in Kaskaskia. The school moved again in 1892 and moved once more to their current location in 1962.
Schools
Visitation Academy is divided into three parts, the Lower School, the Middle School, the Upper School. The Lower School comprises preschool through fifth grade;The Middle School is for 6th through 8th grade;the Upper School is for 9th through twelfth grade. The school is co-educational in the preschool, which uses the Montessori method, and is single sex (girls) in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The Lower School is the only all-girls school in the St. Louis region.
The school is known for its small size. The Lower School has approximately 200 students; the Upper School approximately 500.
Academics
Visitation is known regionally for its rigorous academics. Students participate in the Advanced Placement (AP) program and in St. Louis University's 1818 college credit program.
The school offers classes in Latin, Spanish, and French. Lower School students receive instruction in both French and Spanish. In seventh grade, all girls take Latin; in eighth grade, they choose to pursue either Spanish, Latin, or French for the remainder of their education.
Athletics
The Lower School competes in the Catholic Youth Council of St. Louis (CYC) in soccer, basketball, and volleyball.
The Upper School participates in the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA). Sports for fall include golf, tennis, softball, cross country, and field hockey, and volleyball. Winter sports include swimming, diving, racquetball, basketball, and cheerleading. In the spring, lacrosse, track and field, and soccer are played.
Fine arts
The Upper School stages several plays throughout the school year, including musicals, dramas, and student-directed plays. The theater program auditions boys from area boys' schools or co-ed schools for male parts, and sometimes recruits girls from the Lower School for child parts, e.g. for the orphans during a staging of Oliver!.
The music program in the Upper School includes a vocal choir, a handbell choir, and a liturgical choir. Two concerts are staged each year, one in the spring and one at Christmas. The Lower School also holds Christmas and Spring concerts.
The school has an art gallery where student work is displayed and, sometimes, sold. Art shows are also held in conjunction with the Upper School Spring and Christmas Concerts.