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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Where to begin?

First, the Catholic locals, which is a large group of people here, would be offended by your identifying Gonzaga or Prep or even St John’s “second tier”. For this group, the Catholic schools are the top tier and they very rarely even consider sending their kids to non-Catholic private schools including the Big 3 or Big 5. These schools are where the Catholic lawyers, doctors, etc. send their kids.

From what I see, St John’s appeals to several groups:

Legacies – St Johns has a large group of alumni who have strong feelings about the school even though the St Johns of today is vastly different from the one they attended through 2000. It used to be all boys with a significant military presence. The school went into a deep dive in the 1990’s and alumni helped resurrect it. The new buildings and athletic fields bear the names of some of these people.

Catholics from local Parish schools – Who want to continue at a Catholic high school and 90%+ of them do. Many of these parishes are located in NW DC and Montgomery County. St John’s does very, very well attracting students from these parishes. The school now even challenges Gonzaga and Prep for the best students and athletes including those from families that could pay the sky-high tuition at other schools.
 
DC Residents looking for an alternative to DCPS.

Non-Catholics looking for a safety school or for a lower-priced alternative to most other private schools. (You appear to be in this group)

Through the years, St John's has done all sorts of things to make itself more attractive. They went co-ed, they have all sorts of academic programs for different kinds of students, and they have invested huge amounts of donated money in athletic fields and the sports programs

I don’t know where you are from, but most areas have large, co-ed Catholic schools that have excellent sports teams and that have a range of students attending. That's what St Johns has become.

If you live close by, go to a St, John's football game this Fall. You'll see the student body and the alumni and get a sense of the energy of the place. The experience will answer questions you wouldn't even think af asking.
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OP:  Gotcha, thanks.  Definitely didn't mean to offend anyone so glad to know that categorizing these schools as second tier could come off as insulting.  We're non-practicing Catholics from the Midwest where most of the Catholic schools are single sex.  We're in DCPS now and probably will look at local parish schools in the next couple of years.  I went to a place that seems similar to what I think I know about NCS.  Academically very rigorous, bad at sports.  Good idea on the football game.  Probably will do that![/quote]

As I wrote above, StJohn’s went co-Ed because it had allowed itself to be driven into a ditch enrollment-wise.

While others that are chiming in about the dominance of sports there, there’s more to it than that. I am always surprised to hear that kids I felt sure would end up at one of the Catholic “Big 4” (Prep and Gonzaga for boys and Visitation and Stone Ridge for girls) instead opted for St Johns.

I marvel at what the school has been able to achieve.

I admit I had to laugh at the idea of someone suggesting that Gonzaga was a second tier school in front of a group of purple-clad moms. Sort of like hitting a hornets nest with a stick.

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Good counsel also went coned around the same time. I assume same with O’Connell. There was a massive drop off in kids born in the early 70s so the school had no choice. Immaculate in dc closed entirely. [/quote]

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