Student Life

WELCOME FROM OUR UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Dear Villa Duchesne Community,

I want to welcome each and every one of you to the 2024-25 academic school year. My name is Allison Schneithorst, and I am blessed to have been elected as the student body president of Villa Duchesne.

Each year, we have a theme that has a special meaning to our school, helping us learn the importance of different lessons that surround our mission, to transform the world one child at a time. This year’s theme, Through Adversity to the Stars!, has been chosen because as we are put through hardships, challenges, and struggles, we learn and grow from these experiences and come out even stronger together as one community. Goal V of the Goals and Criteria of the Sacred Heart states that, “Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.” As we set ourselves forward on this journey, we must look up to our Sacred Heart educators for guidance and also know that God has given us each gifts, including the strength and capability to overcome any obstacles we may face. 

Part of what makes our school year so special is the many traditions that we cherish. From the house system to Phily Week, our week of philanthropy and embracing Goal III, and from Goûter to Congé, a surprise day of building community with classmates by living Goal IV, we truly are gifted by God to live through these experiences. As Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne once said, “Do not look back to the past, nor forward to the future. Claim only the present, for it holds God’s will.” We must live in the present because our time here at Villa is valuable and sacred. Enjoy each and every moment that you have because as I am going into my senior year I have learned that time really does fly by. 

I am looking forward to welcoming our new and returning students, faculty, and families into our community. Since the moment I first walked through these doors, Villa has always been a place that I have called home. It is a place that has challenged me to become my best self whether that has been through academics, sports, or leadership. I have created friendships and bonds with students and teachers that will last a lifetime. I have learned and grown tremendously, and I am more than grateful to spend my thirteenth and final year as your student council president.

Sincerely,

Allison Schneithorst '25
Upper School Student Council President