Jesuits (GZ) pride themselves on being the educational choice for rich and powerful Catholics.

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Anonymous wrote:I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.

Gonzaga is as far from a public school as you can get. Not sure where pp is getting this impression. First of all, it is single sex. I have, however, heard of SJC getting that description. DS shadowed there, and he said it felt like public school with uniforms.

What makes it feel 'public' (that needn't be a slur, btw)? Is it the chapel, the prayer to start each class and sport/activity, the monthly mass, the mission trips, the peer ministers, or the FA for those less fortunate? I'd like to know.

I think what makes it feel more public than Gonzaga is the fact that it is co-ed, and everything is under one roof. Gonzaga (which is all boys) has several buildings with a courtyard in the center. It feels more private in that sense. More like a very tiny college campus. That coupled with the fact that it includes a chapel AND a church makes it feel more Catholic. Finally a homeless shelter in the basement of the church gives the boys ample opportunity to serve the underprivileged without ever leaving the school grounds.

What makes it more like a public school is the fact that there are black students.

Every single person that makes that comment to me is from a Lilly white life.

Why would having black students in a school make it more like public? The public schools in our area have very few blacks...mostly white and Asian. In fact the Gonzaga percentage of blacks to whites is higher than in our local pubic school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.

Gonzaga is as far from a public school as you can get. Not sure where pp is getting this impression. First of all, it is single sex. I have, however, heard of SJC getting that description. DS shadowed there, and he said it felt like public school with uniforms.

What makes it feel 'public' (that needn't be a slur, btw)? Is it the chapel, the prayer to start each class and sport/activity, the monthly mass, the mission trips, the peer ministers, or the FA for those less fortunate? I'd like to know.

I think what makes it feel more public than Gonzaga is the fact that it is co-ed, and everything is under one roof. Gonzaga (which is all boys) has several buildings with a courtyard in the center. It feels more private in that sense. More like a very tiny college campus. That coupled with the fact that it includes a chapel AND a church makes it feel more Catholic. Finally a homeless shelter in the basement of the church gives the boys ample opportunity to serve the underprivileged without ever leaving the school grounds.

What makes it more like a public school is the fact that there are black students.

Every single person that makes that comment to me is from a Lilly white life.

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Anonymous wrote:All I can offer is that the Episcopalians that I knew applying from Catholic Arlington Diocese schools did not get into either G. or SJC

Based on those of Episcopal and other faiths (including Muslim and Jewish) who were accepted, I think it helps to demonstrate that your child could thrive in a spiritual environment. That might mean attending church, mosque, or temple services or attending a religious or faith-based school. It is a common thread I see in those who were accepted, but it is just a guess.

Forgot to say it's true, kids I'm thinking of were from DC, MD and NoVa.

Anonymous wrote:All I can offer is that the Episcopalians that I knew applying from Catholic Arlington Diocese schools did not get into either G. or SJC

Based on those of Episcopal and other faiths (including Muslim and Jewish) who were accepted, I think it helps to demonstrate that your child could thrive in a spiritual environment. That might mean attending church, mosque, or temple services or attending a religious or faith-based school. It is a common thread I see in those who were accepted, but it is just a guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.

Gonzaga is as far from a public school as you can get. Not sure where pp is getting this impression. First of all, it is single sex. I have, however, heard of SJC getting that description. DS shadowed there, and he said it felt like public school with uniforms.

What makes it feel 'public' (that needn't be a slur, btw)? Is it the chapel, the prayer to start each class and sport/activity, the monthly mass, the mission trips, the peer ministers, or the FA for those less fortunate? I'd like to know.

I think what makes it feel more public than Gonzaga is the fact that it is co-ed, and everything is under one roof. Gonzaga (which is all boys) has several buildings with a courtyard in the center. It feels more private in that sense. More like a very tiny college campus. That coupled with the fact that it includes a chapel AND a church makes it feel more Catholic. Finally a homeless shelter in the basement of the church gives the boys ample opportunity to serve the underprivileged without ever leaving the school grounds.

All I can offer is that the Episcopalians that I knew applying from Catholic Arlington Diocese schools did not get into either G. or SJC

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Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga is 78% white and only 12% African American.

Not sure what you mean to imply by "only" 12%. That's over 250% greater portion of African Americans than there are African Americans that are Catholic. I wish more were Catholic, but they are not. And what is meant by "white"? Everybody else?

Greatschools website lists Gonzaga as 80% white, 12% African-American, and 6% Latino. By any measure (i.e., for a Catholic high school, an independent school, a school in DC, or even a suburban school district), that is a pretty awful record on student diversity---and that's not even addressing, of course, that there are zero girl students.

And the problem can't be that most African-Americans (like most whites) are not Catholic. Other DC Catholic high schools have more diverse student bodies, and Gonzaga admits significant numbers of non-Catholic students. Why still so white in 2016?

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga is 78% white and only 12% African American.

Not sure what you mean to imply by "only" 12%. That's over 250% greater portion of African Americans than there are African Americans that are Catholic. I wish more were Catholic, but they are not. And what is meant by "white"? Everybody else?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.

Gonzaga is as far from a public school as you can get. Not sure where pp is getting this impression. First of all, it is single sex. I have, however, heard of SJC getting that description. DS shadowed there, and he said it felt like public school with uniforms.

What makes it feel 'public' (that needn't be a slur, btw)? Is it the chapel, the prayer to start each class and sport/activity, the monthly mass, the mission trips, the peer ministers, or the FA for those less fortunate? I'd like to know.

Gonzaga is 78% white and only 12% African American.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.

Gonzaga is as far from a public school as you can get. Not sure where pp is getting this impression. First of all, it is single sex. I have, however, heard of SJC getting that description. DS shadowed there, and he said it felt like public school with uniforms.

FYI, they outlawed prayer in public school years ago. They've also increased class sizes, eliminated class retreats, and stopped major investments in athletic facilities. Oh, and the public HS floors and grounds aren't so clean you could eat off of them. SJC does not feel like a public in those ways. However, in the spirit of Saint John de la Salle, SJC is committed to serving the entire DC community. That includes SE. Is that what made it feel like a public school?

Anonymous wrote:I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.

Gonzaga is as far from a public school as you can get. Not sure where pp is getting this impression. First of all, it is single sex. I have, however, heard of SJC getting that description. DS shadowed there, and he said it felt like public school with uniforms.

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Anonymous wrote:These schools are flooded with applicants. Even siblings are not a lock as they once were. Can make the admissions process seem very random when they have so many qualified students to choose from.

This ^^. I heard this from many people - sleepy little private schools that every 5 or 6 years ago always had open seats are now full up. Who knows why, but the demand certainly seems to be up for private schools.

Agree. We got lucky. DS (who is at Gonzaga) came from public with high scores and grades. But he is Catholic and was able to get recommendation from our priest and others. I know of one kid who is Catholic and from wealthy connected family that did not get in this year. It is getting harder and harder to get into Gonzaga.

Tuition is 21.5 at GZ and 18.5 at SJC. With the level of demand they have, you'll have 5% hikes forever. [/b]They'll both be into the 30's in 10 years.

Hopefully not, or they will completely price out middle class / upper middle people. Does Gonzaga charge for books and lunch on top of their tuition or is that fee all-in?

[/b]

Most independent privates are $35K - $42K per year, so even $30K is reasonable when compared to independent schools. So, not priced out for middle/upper middle unless you have 2 or 3 kids to put through non-public schools.

I question your assertion that 30k is reasonable. For a family earning $150k or so that is a lot to cough up.

I have always viewed Gonzaga as a gloried public school.

It is not nearly as Catholic as you think.