Sports are a meritocracy of sorts: if you can play you can play. Originally in US Irish were discriminated against. My Irish dad ( he would be over 100 if alive today) got into big time university only because he was a great football player and track star even though he was a very bright student. He was one of the very few Catholics at that time. I have made sure my daughters and grandkids try all kinds of sports and develop the ones they like, just like I want them all to play a musical instrument and learn a foreign language. Sports can contribute to self-confidence and learning team work. And if a team looses they help learn resilience.

Anonymous wrote:GP's tuition is not going down. Only going up just like 99% of the schools in this area.

There's no structural reason that Prep can't be the same price as Gonzaga. Prep owns it's property.

They just have to pay-off the construction related debt and live less extravagantly and build up the endowment.

Regis HS, a Jesuit HS in NYC, is free.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Catholic school for three years. What's the deal with Catholic school and sports? How did athletics get to be so defining. It is not just a dc thing. It's true in NY, NJ, California, etc...

It's a cultural thing.

Ever been to Ireland? They are sports-mad there. Not only do they love their sports like Soccer, Rugby and Hurling, they also follow American sports.

I had a guy in a pub in Western Ireland give me a run down of NFL teams that showed a tremendous knowledge of them. "We watch the Sunday games here in the evening (They are 6 hours ahead)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The basic question of Sidwell vs. Prep seems to me to suggest a very low level of understanding of private school alternatives here in the DMV."

Wrong. I have had kids in both schools and they are the two I prefer out of the privates in DC/Maryland for this reason: they both emphasize development of the whole student. Sidwell does this and believe it or not Quaker principles make a difference... the kids are very respectful of each other and the economic differences of the students makes very little difference socially. Prep does it through Jesuit philosophy and Catholic principles and kids are very respectful of each other and the economic differences in the status of the students makes very little difference socially. I would never send a kid to STA/NCS or Landon and Bullis would be a stretch for me. When i visited those schools I felt like a FA student would not fit in well, and that there were no set of basic values that underpinned the academic programs. I also visited Gonzaga, which I liked and Burke, which was a little too unstructured for my personal preference. I don't understand why you think Prep and Sidwell have nothing in common, most religions have basic principles in common.

So your son is a non-Catholic athlete who is at Prep on FA and no one there seems to care about economic differences. Your point is that both schools are similar because they treat all students respectfully and share a religious underpinning.

Well, that certainly is a comparison of the two based on criteria that not many on DCUM are going to have at the top of their lists. But I can see why you feel they are so important.

Yes. You got it. Thank you. For me as a parent of kids on FA, they way they are treated on campus, i.e. included and even looked to as leaders based on their own merits rather than who their parents are, is very important. This is because development of confidence and leadership skills and all around good mental health is more important to me than straight As or getting into any particular college ( although one of my kids goes to HYP). I know first hand that both schools cna be good places for high school depending on your child's interests and abilities, as well as personality. Sidwell has world class academics. Prep has very solid academics and world class sports facilities. Both are good places to go to school if you are not wealthy and want a environment that develops the whole child. I believe many DCUMers single mindedness on academics as a way to amass wealth and power is not conducive to raising a healthy child. To the parent who asked the original question, the schools are not polar opposites in terms of the values that underpin their religious perspectives. Take your son to visit both, and see where he feels most comfortable.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Catholic school for three years. What's the deal with Catholic school and sports? How did athletics get to be so defining. It is not just a dc thing. It's true in NY, NJ, California, etc...

Very true. Where I grew up every Irish Catholic dad lived to get his son involved in as many sports as possible. Most of the dads helped coach if they could and all just lived to hang out with each other and their boys. It's the Irish Boy Scouts. I loved it. It was also a healthier parent attitude then and that has been lost to an extent.

I went to Catholic school for three years. What's the deal with Catholic school and sports? How did athletics get to be so defining. It is not just a dc thing. It's true in NY, NJ, California, etc...

GP's tuition is not going down. Only going up just like 99% of the schools in this area.

In that NE league there are a few non-PG schools like Kingswood and Brunswick, but your point is a good one. You post is on point: this school should have more of a focus on community and be in the affordable range of $20K like other day Jesuits.

Anonymous wrote:This is a potentially toxic thing to suggest, but if Prep really wants to get with the times like the Founders league boarding schools, they should raise or borrow the dough to build a dorm for 30-40 PGs. It would totally screw the local kids out of being the stars or even being on the field in some varsity sports, but it would be a HUGE money maker. Deerfield has averaged 9 lacrosse PGs a year over the last 7 years. Totally f's the kids who go there as 9th graders waiting for their chance as they grade up, but every PG is full pay and most are panic need to repeat a year because the school they committed to either didn't accept them or urged a PG year for recruiting spacing purposes. It is the lowest of the low, but the money is good.

It's an interesting suggestion, but it's got a fatal flaw. There's no schools to compete with. There's no other schools here that offer a PG year, that I know of.

In New England and in NJ (Lawrenceville, Peddie, Hun, Blair Academy, Hill outside of Phila) there are enough schools with PG programs that these schools can play one another and even then there are limits as to how many PGs they can have.

Prep already has the Tennis bubble. Someone suggested a hockey rink given the demand for ice time by youth, high school and adult programs. At a point in time, the campus starts to take on the appearance and feel of a State Fair with all these separate franchises running.

Sooner or later they are going to have to put on a major fund raising effort to get the school back to what it used to be - a school for the smart Catholic boys with a reasonable price tag and a big enough FA budget to assist those in their community that need it.

Who knows, if they can get the price down low enough they can stop pretending to be St Albans or Landon, and move to the Catholic League (WCAC) and be the "Duke" or "Northwestern" of that Conference.

This is a potentially toxic thing to suggest, but if Prep really wants to get with the times like the Founders league boarding schools, they should raise or borrow the dough to build a dorm for 30-40 PGs. It would totally screw the local kids out of being the stars or even being on the field in some varsity sports, but it would be a HUGE money maker. Deerfield has averaged 9 lacrosse PGs a year over the last 7 years. Totally f's the kids who go there as 9th graders waiting for their chance as they grade up, but every PG is full pay and most are panic need to repeat a year because the school they committed to either didn't accept them or urged a PG year for recruiting spacing purposes. It is the lowest of the low, but the money is good.

Anonymous wrote:Prep has a boarding component. Why wouldn't they try and fill the slots of the dorm rooms with international students who CAN WRITE A CHECK.

Clearly Prep can't fill the dorms right now with domestic applicants, hence the shift in policy.

I applaud them for getting with the times has the New England boarding schools have been doing this for years.

They would, as you seem to be suggesting, prefer to fill those slots in the boarding program with domestic students. Failing that, they would want students from Western Europe.

But the demand and the money are in Asia. And this comes with its own set of problems. But this is part of the result of Fr. George's profligate spending and forecasts of operating expenses based on very optimistic assumptions.

Prep has a boarding component. Why wouldn't they try and fill the slots of the dorm rooms with international students who CAN WRITE A CHECK.

Clearly Prep can't fill the dorms right now with domestic applicants, hence the shift in policy.

I applaud them for getting with the times has the New England boarding schools have been doing this for years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having Chinese students raises the academic profile for Prep

Please explain how having Chinese students raises Prep's academic profile.

The large number of Asian students that are boarding students at Prep has absolutely nothing to do with Academic Profile.

It has everything to do with the tuition and boarding revenue.

During the Summer, Prep offers an International Program for kids from around the globe and it's supposed to be an English Immersion experience.

What they discovered in running this program is that there are a large number of students in Asia who are very interested in going to high school in the US and for whom money is not a problem. They are from very rich families. There are so many of these prospective students in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, etc. that they could fill the whole school with them, if they wanted.

If Prep could fill the boarding program with students from around the US, they would do it. Instead, they make recruiting trips to these countries to fill these slots.

PP. I think your tone and the subjects you decided to single out pretty much summed up the differences in attitude and substance between the two schools. Thanks for the insight into GP.

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is in NW DC. Prep is on Rockeville Pike
Sidwell has a few Quakers. Prep has lots of Catholic families
Sidwell pride is focused on academics. GP pride focused on sports.
Sidwell is co-ed. GP is single sex/male
Sidwell is pk-12. GP 9-12

They seem to be really different schools to me. But not the most polar opposite in the area. Sidwell in its own way is traditional and very buttoned down, as I'm sure GP is.

So Sidwell has "a few Quakers"? Tells it what the school doesn't have. But what do they have? I'm pretty sure the answer to that question is that the school population is heavily Jewish and Protestant. Right?

Prep, of course is heavily Catholic and it's student body is drawn from the families of Catholic professionals and business owners. The families and student body are generally politically Conservative. Prep graduates tend to select Catholic colleges after graduation with students turning down Ivies to go to Georgetown and Notre Dame.

Prep serves an entire community and has students across a wider spectrum of academic ability and interest. The significant emphasis on sports success reflects community and the alumni interest.

Sidwell also serves the interests of its community which includes academic achievement and admission to select colleges, especially the Ivies. Liberalism is the dominant philosophy. The school does sponsor sports teams, but in a less competitive conference. Nothing at Sidwell would approach the magnitude or intensity of a Prep v. Landon lacrosse match. I don't think the Sidwell people see that as a problem.

Either school is a fine choice for the right student. But I don't think there are many 14 year olds or their families that would feel equally comfortable at either. The teen years are hard enough already.