Visitation Catholic School
4189 NW Visitation Road Forest Grove, OR, 97116 503.357.6990
Our Faith, Our Families, Our Future
Our Faith, Our Families, Our Future
June 2009 - Traci Vanaken, a 2004 Visitation alum and now a freshman at the University of Portland, has been named to the Dean's List for the second time during the 2008-2009 school year.
April 2009 - It’s the people who make the program. In this case, Visitation's science teacher, Mrs. Carol Funk, loves to teach her students science. Her students reflect her enthusiasm.
On April 3rd the seventh and eighth graders displayed their science experiments at the Northwest Science Expo (NWSE) at Portland State University. They presented to judges at the fair and competed against 289 middle school students throughout the state.
The seventh and eighth graders worked hard in class and at home to complete well thought-out science fair experiments and quality displays. Presenting them at the NWSE was a wonderful opportunity for our students to see a wide variety of projects and also for them to practice presenting to others.
Visitation Catholic School was named by OMSI as the “Most Outstanding Middle School Science Research Program - 2009”. This award is given “to recognize a middle school with a wide variety of well done projects.” The judges for this award interviewed students from the different middle schools including Visitation. The judges were very pleased with the quality of the Visitation projects, how articulate the seventh and eighth graders from Visitation Catholic School were, and that the Visitation science program allowed for a student/school relationship where the teacher was involved in guiding the students through the scientific method and research process.
Congratulations to Hayley Evers and Clarissa Tolan who received a second place award for their science fair experiment, H2uh-Oh, in the category of environmental science. Also congratulations to Matthew Duyck and Trevor Vandecoevering for receiving honorable mention for their science fair experiment, Bag Those Bananas, in the category of consumer products testing.
January 2009 - Visitation Catholic School held their annual Geographic Bee sponsored by National Geographic Society, Google, and Plum Creek. Students in grades four through eight competed in front of the student body to see who would be crowned this
year’s Geographic Bee champion. When the questions ended, 6th grader, Scott Lepschat, was congratulated by school principal, Ted Havens and Geographic Bee coordinator, facilitator, and 4th grade teacher, Ms. Sahlfeld. Scott then took a qualifying test,
which was submitted to the National Geographic Society. Soon after, he was notified by the National Geographic Society that he would be one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2009 Oregon National Geographic Bee held at Chemeketa Community College
in Salem on Friday, April 3rd. In each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, The Department of Defense Dependents Schools, and the U.S. territories, the national Geographic Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete on
the state level.
April 2009 - Taylor Vandecoevering and Anna Johnson, Visitation alumni, are two of 13 Forest Grove High School seniors to be named Valedictorians for the class of 2009. Congratulations for continuing the Visitation tradition of academic excellence!
February 2009 - Brian P. Bellinger, a freshman from Forest Grove, was among the 962 undergraduate students named to the Gonzaga University President’s List for fall semester 2008 and named the Cottage Grove Sentinel as the hometown paper. Students
must earn a 3.7 or better grade-point average to be listed.
One of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S., Gonzaga has grown and matured into one of the west’s premier universities. Gonzaga has a student enrollment of approximately 6,900 and offers 16 undergraduate degrees in 53 majors, 19 master’s
programs, a Ph.D. program in leadership studies and a juris doctorate through the School of Law.
March 2008 - It is no secret that Visitation Catholic School sets high expectations for their students. Visitation educates the whole person, forming both the heart and mind of its students. ‘Proof is in the pudding’ as Visitation graduates have been consistently named ‘tops’ of their high school class. Alumnae, Traci Vanaken and Karen Soto, are two of 15 Forest Grove High School seniors to named valedictorians for the class of 2008. In fact, last year, Visitation alumna, Katie Heesacker, was named Forest Grove High School valedictorian for the class of 2007. Now that is academic excellence!
August 2007 - Visitation Catholic School is proud to announce the hiring of Mr. Paul Elison. Mr. Elison holds a Bachelors in Music Education from Idaho State University and a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from Portland State University. He has worked in both public and parochial schools. Mr. Elison is the Bass Section Leader/Singer for the Portland Symphonic Choir. More information on Mr. Elison to come soon.
May 2007 - Katie Heesacker, Visitation alum, was named as one of 13 Valedictorians for Forest Grove High School. While at Visitation, Katie was active in student council, sports and a mentor to all students. We are proud of you Katie!