School Profile

Founded in 1789, Georgetown Preparatory School is America’s oldest Catholic boarding and day school for young men. Georgetown Prep is an independent, Jesuit, college preparatory school for grades 9-12.  Located in North Bethesda, Maryland, the school enjoys the cultural and historic resources of the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.

Both Georgetown Preparatory School and Georgetown University sprang from the vision of the remarkable John Carroll, the first bishop of Baltimore. Carroll regarded the school as critical to the future of the Catholic Church in the United States. He viewed it as a potential source of priestly vocations and of well-educated Catholic citizens able to play a significant role in the affairs of the new republic.

A number of themes recur throughout Georgetown Prep’s history. Most importantly, the Jesuits of Georgetown regarded the Christian formation of students as their primary mission. Knowledge and skills, although important, were approached as means to an end: the knowledge and love of God. Given the intimate, residential character of the school, greater reliance was placed on creating a carefully structured and regulated environment conducive to the moral and religious growth of students than on formal classroom instruction in the truths of the Catholic religion. Jesuits taught, lived, and recreated with their students and sought to inculcate habits of prayer, attendance at mass, and reception of the sacraments.

The highly structured curriculum emphasized study of the classics as a means of disciplining the mind, imbibing the wisdom of the ancients, and developing eloquentia or facility in speaking and writing. Students received a considerable amount of individual attention from their teachers and prefects, whose lives revolved around them. During the post-Civil War era especially, when enrollment dropped sharply from pre-war levels, the college exuded a “homey” atmosphere.

Religious and ethnic pluralism also characterized the preparatory school. From its inception, Georgetown Prep accepted students from foreign countries and from religious traditions other than Roman Catholic. Over the years, Georgetown Prep prospered because of dedicated administrators, teachers, prefects, talented students and great good fortune. Even in the face of adversity or changing currents within American society, it displayed remarkable resilience and adaptability; all the while remaining true to its essential principles-principles grounded in the spiritual insights of St. Ignatius Loyola, and given concrete form on the banks of the “Patowmack” by John Carroll.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Georgetown College Preparatory School made plans to move away from the University’s campus in the District of Columbia. In 1919, it moved to its current location on 93 acres in North Bethesda, Maryland.

Sponsored by the Society of Jesus, Georgetown Prep is one of 60 Jesuit High Schools and 28 colleges and universities in the United States.  Jesuit schools are infused with a five century-old tradition and philosophy of education laid down by the society’s founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Today, the Jesuit ethos at Prep helps each young man develop to his potential in an environment that fosters the growth of the whole person.  The curriculum is designed to challenge the abilities of students while engaging their interest.  The aim of the Prep community is to provide young men not only with knowledge but also with the spiritual, moral, and aesthetic values which will prepare them for a life of high achievement, community service, and personal fulfillment.

This year, Georgetown Prep celebrates its 230th year of forming Men for Others.