Saint Vincent College: Challenge Program

Saint Vincent College (SVC) has been hosting the Challenge Program since 1982. The Challenge Program is a one-week summer event, held each June, for young people, ages Preschool through 12th grade, originating in the Education Department at SVC.

In the latest version of the overnight/residential program, titled, “Challenge Immersion,” young people, entering 5th through 12th grades, choose a morning and afternoon immersion (3-hour class, each of 5 days) in which to immerse themselves. Topics are as broad and varied as the young people that attend. Evening events include on and off campus offerings. The attendees stay in the Rooney resident hall and eat most of their meals in the SVC Cafeteria.

The day program runs in conjunction with the overnight program but on a limited basis.  Preschool and Kindergarten children attend M-F from 9:00am through noon, and 1st through 4th graders attend M-F from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm.  Children are grouped by age and enjoy an age appropriate version of the overnight program.

Counselors are assigned to and responsible for small groups of students from the moment they step onto campus, until the moment they are picked up by their parents. All counselors are students in good standing in the SVC Education Department, training to become teachers. Instructors are all certified teachers or professionals in their field, most are graduates of SVC and many are alumni of the Challenge Program.