Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Prep is like 35% non-Catholic. I don’t know how that compares to WCAC schools, but clearly that 35% are likely not coming through those feeders.

A very large percentage of the non-Catholics at Prep are either foreign boarding students (frequently from Asia) or AA’s.

When you consider the non-boarding, non-AA population, the percentage of Catholics is probably 90% and most of these attended local parish or independent Catholic schools.

Well…the three white kids I know who attend are non-catholic and local. I guess they are part of the 10%, but seems like an odd and statistically difficult coincidence.

They are all sports recruits which might explain things.

Yup! Seems likely.

Go to Mass in the chapel and see how many do take Communion. It’s a small number.

Clarification. The whole student body attends Mass. Everyone goes to the front of the church to accept of not accept Communion. Very few cross their arms over their chest to indicate they will not receive the "Body of Christ".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Prep is like 35% non-Catholic. I don’t know how that compares to WCAC schools, but clearly that 35% are likely not coming through those feeders.

A very large percentage of the non-Catholics at Prep are either foreign boarding students (frequently from Asia) or AA’s.

When you consider the non-boarding, non-AA population, the percentage of Catholics is probably 90% and most of these attended local parish or independent Catholic schools.

Well…the three white kids I know who attend are non-catholic and local. I guess they are part of the 10%, but seems like an odd and statistically difficult coincidence.

They are all sports recruits which might explain things.

Yup! Seems likely.

Go to Mass in the chapel and see how many do take Communion. It’s a small number.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Prep is like 35% non-Catholic. I don’t know how that compares to WCAC schools, but clearly that 35% are likely not coming through those feeders.

A very large percentage of the non-Catholics at Prep are either foreign boarding students (frequently from Asia) or AA’s.

When you consider the non-boarding, non-AA population, the percentage of Catholics is probably 90% and most of these attended local parish or independent Catholic schools.

Well…the three white kids I know who attend are non-catholic and local. I guess they are part of the 10%, but seems like an odd and statistically difficult coincidence.

They are all sports recruits which might explain things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Prep is like 35% non-Catholic. I don’t know how that compares to WCAC schools, but clearly that 35% are likely not coming through those feeders.

A very large percentage of the non-Catholics at Prep are either foreign boarding students (frequently from Asia) or AA’s.

When you consider the non-boarding, non-AA population, the percentage of Catholics is probably 90% and most of these attended local parish or independent Catholic schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Prep is like 35% non-Catholic. I don’t know how that compares to WCAC schools, but clearly that 35% are likely not coming through those feeders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Prep is like 35% non-Catholic. I don’t know how that compares to WCAC schools, but clearly that 35% are likely not coming through those feeders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Maybe so. But it’s a small number.

The great majority of Prep students attended Catholic parish K8’s or Mater Dei. As the May issue of Parish Times shows—- in which these schools list the high school choices of their students —- it’s very rarely that any go to Landon.

The few Catholics that do go to Landon are usually not from this area and therefore not part of the local Catholic community.

Only recently have relations between the two schools improving after decades of quite strong negative feelings between the two schools. But lots of people remember that period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

I know many families who are at Prep and applied to Landon as well. Same type of boys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

You aren't from here are you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

This is us. Prep family. Son had also applied to Landon.

Anonymous wrote:Prep feels like an outlier…more like a Catholic independent school vs a Catholic school.

The families I know sending their kids there were more likely to consider Landon or STA as alternatives vs Gonzaga or a WCAC school.

Anonymous wrote:A Comprehensive Taxonomy of D.C.-Area Catholic High Schools Based on Reputation, Tuition, Aesthetics, Mascot Quality, and the Likelihood Your Kid Will Take Latin and Row Crew

by A Deeply Anxious Parent Armed with a Whiteboard, a Latin Dictionary, and a Stanford Application already in draft mode in the Common App

I didn’t grow up here either. I thought I could organize the D.C.-area Catholic high school landscape using something sensible, like tuition or gender or whether the school offers Model UN and badminton. I was wrong.

The truth is, school reputations here are formed through decades of whispered brunch intel, offhand comments at crew regattas, and whether the school's blazers have that one gold crest that screams "legacy." What follows is a fully subjective, deeply emotional, and somehow completely accurate breakdown of the ecosystem.

Tier I: “Legacy? Oh, we are the legacy.”

Georgetown Visitation, Stone Ridge, Georgetown Prep

Tuition: $95,000 and a solemn vow to endow a humanities chair

Gender: Yes. Absolutely. Elegantly enforced.

Reputation Score™: 9.8/10 (drops slightly if the alumni board votes to repaint the squash courts in a controversial shade of cream, or if a Supreme Court nominee is getting grilled by Congress)

Mascot Rating: Mostly decorative, like a Roman numeral clock in a powder room

These schools aren’t “chosen”—they happen to you, like godparents or orthographic spelling, and there's usually a great-aunt “Muffy” involved in the admissions process. Prep boys go to lawn parties where senators grill lamb. Visitation girls are legally required to wear pearls at least once during Spirit Week. Stone Ridge grads all go to Duke or become French Ambassadors to Luxembourg. The cafeterias serve restorative soups. Students major in equestrian diplomacy.

Tier II: “We pray hard, study hard, and our school plays your school in lacrosse.”

Gonzaga, Academy of the Holy Cross, St. John’s College High School

Tuition: Mid-to-high, includes embossed student planners and accidental varsity status

Gender: Single-sex in theory, co-ed in parking lots

Reputation Score™: 8.2–8.7, weighted by last week’s admissions into Notre Dame

Mascot Rating:

Gonzaga Purple Eagle: 10/10, majestic and mildly threatening

Holy Cross Tartans: 7.5/10, deeply Catholic plaid energy

St. John’s Cadets: 8/10, ROTC vibes, but they mean business

This tier brings academic heat and actual swagger. Gonzaga is Jesuit, gritty, and probably the only place where boys memorize Hamlet and have a cheering section nicknamed The Zoo. Holy Cross girls are sharp, stylish, and theologically literate. St. John’s is like a military meets ballet academy where half the kids are also taking AP Art and crushing it. Uniforms are immaculate. Instagram presence is strong. Homecoming is a thing.

Tier III: “We’re good people. Also, our robotics team beat your football team.”

DeMatha, Elizabeth Seton, Our Lady of Good Counsel

Tuition: Human, still expensive but not trying to be a ski resort expensive

Gender: Single-sex or co-ed, but there’s sibling crossover at youth group

Reputation Score™: 7.9–8.5, plus +1 for humility and actual socioeconomic diversity

Mascot Rating:

DeMatha Stags: 10/10, elegant, antlered, iconic

Seton Roadrunners: 7.5/10, underrated and speedy

Good Counsel Falcons: 8/10, respectable and aerodynamic

This is the “don’t sleep on us, earned not given” tier.These schools deserve more respect than they get at wine-and-charcuterie nights in Bethesda.

DeMatha is an academic and athletic powerhouse where poets, pianists and point guards coexist, sometimes in the same body. There’s brotherhood, basketball, biochemistry and a record-breaking band. Seton, unfairly side-eyed by Potomac brunch moms, is packed with focused young women who will graduate, start nonprofits, and dismantle the patriarchy by Tuesday. Good Counsel is suburban and sprawling but consistently churning out NIH fellows and NCAA prospects, sending kids to college with academic merit and a spiritual backbone.

Tier IV: “We have spirit. And a large parking lot. And that counts.”

Bishop O’Connell, Bishop Ireton

Tuition: Respectable. Possibly payable in offertory envelopes.

Gender: Coed

Reputation Score™: 6.5–7.2, adjusted for uniform fit and pep rally enthusiasm

Mascot Rating:

O’Connell Knights: 7/10, chivalrous and probably armor-clad

Ireton Cardinals: 6.5/10, dignified, though not fear-inducing

These schools are suburban solid. O’Connell has well-lit hallways, a thriving theater program, and sports teams that show up with matching socks. Ireton is Alexandria-steady: no flash, no drama, just students quietly becoming capable adults. They aren’t loud on message boards, which is precisely what makes them reliable. These are schools where kids still write thank-you notes in cursive.

Tier V: “Did someone say Socratic method and backyard sword-fighting?”

The Heights, Avalon School, St. Anselm’s Abbey School

Tuition: Reasonable, assuming you also tithe in Latin

Gender: All boys. Like very boys.
Reputation Score™: 7.3–7.8, with a +0.2 modifier if your son owns a compass (the moral kind)

Mascot Rating:

The Heights: Mascotless; relies on Thomistic virtue

Avalon: Something Spartan and dramatic

Anselm’s: Benedictine and a little wizard-y

These are schools for families who use the term “formation” unironically. Boys here grow up quoting Plato, forging knives (probably), and debating whether Cicero would’ve made varsity crew. Anselm’s is Hogwarts for the high-minded. The Heights is basically the Catholic version of Rivendell. Avalon boys can tell you the difference between honor and valor—and why both should be embroidered on your collar.

Tier VI: “We’re Catholic, yes. But also we vibe.”

Don Bosco Cristo Rey, Archbishop Carroll, St. Vincent Pallotti

Tuition: Modest, mission-driven, sometimes paired with a work-study program

Gender: Coed

Reputation Score™: 8.0–8.6 (a quiet powerhouse tier if you’re paying attention)

Mascot Rating:

Don Bosco: 7.5/10, humble and industrious

Carroll Lions: 8/10, classic, noble, surprisingly fierce

Pallotti Panthers: 7.5/10, sleek, stealthy, has opinions about Eucharistic adoration


These schools may not grace the pages of Washingtonian’s “Most Likely to Require Loafers” spread, but they are churning out compassionate leaders, community scholars, and first-generation college students. Cristo Rey integrates job experience into the curriculum. Carroll has quietly rebooted itself into a formidable force. Pallotti is a hidden gem for families who care more about substance than swim teams.

Final Takeaways

Reputation is a hydra: part fact, part folklore, part that one time a kid wore Crocs to the confirmation retreat.

Tuition is a psyop.

And inevitably, someone will furrow their brow like they’ve just tasted off-brand hummus when you mention your school list.

Anonymous wrote:I thought that SJC used to be good for academics but has become just a sports school. Is that wrong? And yes to bring a place for public school refugees! Lots of people fleeing the down county MoCo schools there.