Gonzaga College High School
| Gonzaga College High School | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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19 "Eye" St., NW Washington, D. C. 20001 |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′06″N 77°00′37″W / 38.9018°N 77.0103°WCoordinates: 38°54′06″N 77°00′37″W / 38.9018°N 77.0103°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, college-prep, day |
| Motto |
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the Greater Glory of God) |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic (Jesuit) |
| Established | 1821 |
| Founder | Anthony Kohlmann, S.J. |
| President | Stephen W. Planning, S.J. |
| Headmaster | Thomas K. Every, II |
| Gender | Boys |
| Enrollment | 930 (2011) |
| • Grade 9 | 230 |
| • Grade 10 | 240 |
| • Grade 11 | 240 |
| • Grade 12 | 240 |
| Color(s) | |
| Song | Alma mater |
| Athletics conference | WCAC |
| Mascot | Eagle |
| Accreditation | MSA |
| Newspaper | The Aquilian |
| Tuition | $20,125 |
| Website | Gonzaga |
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Gonzaga College High School is a Jesuit high school for boys located in Washington, D.C. It is named in honor of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 16th century. Gonzaga is the oldest boys' high school in the District of Columbia and also the oldest college in the original federal city of Washington.
Gonzaga was officially founded by Fr. Anthony Kohlmann, a Jesuit, in 1821, though there is some evidence the school began a few years earlier. It is the oldest educational facility in the original federal city of Washington and was at first called Washington Seminary, operating under the charter of Georgetown College (now Georgetown University), which was becoming too crowded for its space at the time. Gonzaga's original location was on F Street near 10th Street, N.W., in a building adjoining Saint Patrick's Church. The school was immediately popular among Catholic families and was well enough known in its early years to attract the attention of President John Quincy Adams, who visited the school to test the boys' Latin and Greek. However, there were financial problems that caused the Jesuits to withdraw in 1827: their order prohibited the charging of tuition at a day school for youth. It continued to be run by laity until the Jesuits returned some twenty years later (with the ordinance regarding tuition changed); President Zachary Taylor presided at the commencement exercises in 1849.
In 1858, Gonzaga was granted its own charter by Congress as a college empowered to confer degrees in the arts and sciences, which accounts for its name (Gonzaga College) to this day. Although some students did receive bachelor's degrees in the 19th century, Gonzaga no longer confers degrees, other than honorary doctorates presented to commencement speakers or other notable guests. In 1871, the school moved to a building (now called Kohlmann Hall) in the Swampoodle area north of the U.S. Capitol, just down the block from St. Aloysius Church – built in 1859 and now on the U.S. Register of Historic Buildings. Enrollment declined owing to the distance of the new neighborhood from the center, but the Jesuits persevered and by the end of the 19th century the school was once again flourishing. A theater was built in 1896 and a large new classroom building (previously the Main Building and now called Dooley Hall) was opened in 1912.
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