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 was located on the same block as St. Aloysius Church – built in 1859 and now on the U.S. Register of Historic Buildings with a high Roman Catholic population surrounding it.

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.

He wanted to prepare to be a priest and none of the schools for black children offered the necessary prerequisites, including Latin.

Gonzaga benefited greatly from the fact that the row houses built in Swampoodle were largely occupied by Irish Catholics from the late 19th century on.

Although Gonzaga always drew students from other parts of the city as well, the departure of the Swampoodle Irish for the suburbs in the mid-20th century, and more especially their replacement by poorer non-Catholics, brought on another period of difficulties.

A decline in enrollment and the great inner-city riot of 1968 led some to suggest that Gonzaga should be closed, or moved to a more affluent area.

By 2007 Gonzaga had regained its former status and a Wall Street Journal editorial referred to it as "the premier Catholic high school of Washington.

"[12] St. Aloysius is a parish church physically attached to Gonzaga through the entrance building Dooley Hall.

Gonzaga fields seventeen different varsity teams,[13] most of which compete in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

The Gonzaga crew team won the Stotesbury Cup Regatta on the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

[19] Out of the past 17 seasons (2000-2016) Gonzaga Cross Country has finished in first, second, or third place in the WCAC Championship race every time.

In the 2018–2019 season, Varsity 1 defeated Spaulding 5–1 to win their third straight MAPHL AA championship, a huge accomplishment for a team with two freshman goalies that year.