I have/had DC at both Gonzaga and SJC. We are very happy with both schools. You’ll find a mix of families at both, including some ‘CC’ families, but that is not a dominant culture at either school.
Both have very active and strong parent communities. Gonzaga parent community was more slightly more active and more involved in school. There were just more opportunities to be involved.

Anonymous wrote:I can barely name two dozen kids at my son's school and even fewer parents.

It's not kindergarten and bake sales anymore.

Private school? That is unusual. Private schools at least the top ones in DC pride themselves on their tight communities. I know most of thee parents on some level at my kids’ school.

I can barely name two dozen kids at my son's school and even fewer parents.

It's not kindergarten and bake sales anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have applied to local Catholics and are not interested in joining a school with a strong CC culture. What is the parent community like at…..

SJC
Prep
Gonzaga

Out of those 3 Prep is the only one with a large CC culture.

+1 It also comes through in some of the school’s communications.

Maybe OP means the vibe

Anonymous wrote:We have applied to local Catholics and are not interested in joining a school with a strong CC culture. What is the parent community like at…..

SJC
Prep
Gonzaga

Out of those 3 Prep is the only one with a large CC culture.

Anonymous wrote:huh? Parent communities at the high school level are pretty irrelevant.

At some schools it is very relevant. Family events, gatherings, socials etc...

Speaking for Gonzaga, there is very active mothers club and fathers club. If you want to get involved, it’s there with lots of opportunity to be social, or give back, or be involved at school (or any combo). It’s one of the the things I personally really enjoy, but it has no direct effect on my son’s experience (though lots of indirect effect because those groups make a lot of the great traditions run).
It’s not necessary to be involved,and lots of people aren’t.
I suppose there’s a CC subculture somewhere but I don’t think anyone would describe Gonzaga as having an elite parent vibe. I love that there are really big names from politics and media and loads of kids on scholarship. It’s a big enough school that there are all types of parents and kids.

WTF CC

CC= country club

I’m assuming in this context CC is country club and not community college, which was my first thought.

Anonymous wrote:huh? Parent communities at the high school level are pretty irrelevant.

Maybe it's different at the Big 3 or 5 or whatever, but one of the Catholic high schools we toured emphasized that the community and culture involve the entire family not just the students.

That could be a Catholic thing since tight communities are often a hallmark of the K-8 parochials.

huh? Parent communities at the high school level are pretty irrelevant.

Ha, my kid applied to two of these schools and I don't even know what CC means in this context.

OP, I think you are borrowing trouble worrying about this - for high school, the kids mostly do their own thing and "parent community" is way less relevant than in lower grades.

We have applied to local Catholics and are not interested in joining a school with a strong CC culture. What is the parent community like at…..

SJC
Prep
Gonzaga