Visitation Scholarship Program Overview
The Visitation Scholarship Program, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization since 1993, was developed in 1989 out of the Visitation community’s concern for many of its brightest graduates. Over the past twenty years the Visitation Scholarship Program (VSP) has given over 150 students the opportunity to pursue a quality high school education. It was founded in 1989 by Sister Ellen Carroll, O.P., a Sinsinawa Dominican, after witnessing the area’s promising youth fail to reach their potential. These students were at risk for academic failure because they had few options beyond enrolling in neighboring public high schools, which are commonly characterized by high dropout rates, crime, deteriorating physical plants and low academic achievement.
Visitation is located in the Englewood neighborhood, where 25% of the residents are unemployed and 36% live below the poverty level (1). The VSP was founded to give students from this neighborhood a chance to better their lives and their community through education, community service and a comprehensive support system. Included in this system is a parental component designed to encourage parental dedication to the child’s success.
The program has continuously evolved to meet the needs of the recipients and their families and expanded the services that it offers. In order to enhance the educational experience at Visitation School and bolster the success of scholarship recipients, the Junior Scholars Program (JSP) was implemented in 1996. The JSP serves as an enrichment program to prepare 5th-8th grade students for a rigorous high school commitment and to expose them to cultural opportunities that they would otherwise not experience.
The Visitation Scholarship Program maintains offices in the Visitation Elementary School building, located in the Englewood community on Chicago’s Southside; and serves low-income, mostly African-American students and their families.
Network at a Glance
Issues and Needs Addressed
The students are drawn largely from the Englewood and Back of the Yards neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side.
Population is 98.5% African American1
- 63.3% are twice below poverty level
- 76.7% of children between 1-6 years of age have heard gun shots and
- 46.7% have witnessed somebody shoved, kicked or punched
Given these statistics, the community looks to families and schools to provide nurturing and the instillation of positive values. While many families are strong and students are equipped with intelligence and resilience, the local public schools have consistently underserved students here.
High school graduation rates in the US are 86%2
Average Statistics of the three local high schools (Hope, Gage Park, Tilden)3
- Average graduation rate- 51.4%
- Average dropout rate- 44.6%
- Combined 9.6% of students that met or exceeded stat Math Standards on the Prairie State Achievement Exams
- Combined 8.1% of students that met or exceeded state Composite Standards
2 U.S. Census Bureau 2008
3 Chicago Public Schools 2009
VSP Graduation Rate is nearing 99%
All Visitation Scholarship Program recipients who complete the program graduate from high school and most go to college, including 90% in the last 5 years. VSP students have attended such schools as the University of Illinois, Notre Dame and DePaul University. We are also proudly represented by two recent graduates of West Point Academy. An increasing number are graduating from college and gaining graduate degrees.
Mission Statement
The Visitation Scholarship Program provides a comprehensive support system that enables Visitation School Graduates to live out their commitment to academic achievement and personal growth while attending Chicago and South Suburban Catholic High Schools. The Visitation Scholarship Program exists as a community committed to the development of each of its members as a whole person based upon the core values of the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation. The Visitation Scholarship Program challenges individuals towards excellence so that they are more capable of and more deeply committed to serving others.
Motto
Two VSP Recipients at the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“The gift you have received, give as a gift.” (Matthew 10:8)
A core belief of the Visitation Scholarship Program is that you must strive to give back to the community what you have received as a gift. The service learning component of the program reinforces that belief and empowers students to have an immediate effect on their community by participating in community service activities. Because of this, any support of the VSP positively influences community members immediately in addition to the long term.
