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Guidelines for Visitors

Altar of relics in the BasilicaWe look forward to your visit to the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton!

Sometimes students (and even adults) do not know what to expect when touring a shrine. Please review these guidelines and share these "rules" with chaperones and the students before your arrival, so that all Shrine visitors may have the same opportunity for an enjoyable visit. You may wish to copy and distribute these to all students, and have their parents initial them when they return their permission slips.

Message to Students

  • Wear your name tag.
  • Stay with your assigned group. Do not go off on your own.
  • Please:
    • Maintain quiet and calm in the museum, theater, and gift shop.
    • Be reverent in the Basilica — speak in low voices.
    • Show respect for our very old objects, walls, and floors, especially in the Stone House and White House.
    • Observe care in the Old Cemetery (many of the headstones are fragile) — and stay on the sidewalk.
  • No running in the Shrine buildings.
  • Wear appropriate clothing — school uniform/guidelines preferred.
  • Leave cell phones, iPods, CD players, backpacks, etc. on the bus. (It's a good exercise to imagine what it was like in the 19th century without them!)
  • Help us to protect our exhibits by not touching them, leaning on the walls, or using them as a backboard for writing.
  • Do ask questions. Our docents love it when someone stumps them with a good one!
  • Eating and drinking are permitted only in the snack room or outdoor picnic area.
  • Photos may be taken in the Basilica or outside grounds.
  • Make sure that the snack room or picnic area is cleaned up when you leave.

Message to Chaperones

  • Stay with your assigned group at all times and enforce the student rules above.
  • We require the following minimums:
    • K- 2: one teacher/chaperone for every five students
    • 3-12: one teacher/chaperone for every ten students
  • Entrance to the Gift Shop is restricted to the above-size groups. A chaperone must remain at the door and monitor the students entering and leaving. There should also be a chaperone available to help the students in the Gift Shop as needed.
  • Disruptive groups will be asked to leave the site.