St. John's College High School (SJC, SJCHS, or St. John's)^[4] is a Catholic high school in Washington, D.C. Established in 1851, is the third oldest Christian Brothers school in the United States, and was one of the oldest Army JROTC schools until the program was abolished in 2019 in pursuit of a private “leadership academy” program with no relationship to the United States Armed Forces.

In 1878, the Brothers purchased the property at 1225 Vermont Avenue NW from the estate of General Montgomery C. Meigs as the site for a new school building. In August of that year, the construction of the building was begun. At first it was known as St. John's Collegiate Institute, and in 1887, it assumed the title of St. John's College. That same year, the college was incorporated under the District of Columbia statutes with the power to confer the academic degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts.^[5] At the commencement of June 26, 1888 two Bachelor of Arts, four Bachelor of Science, and three Master of Arts degrees were conferred on graduates.^[6]

As the undergraduate departments of The Catholic University of America and Georgetown University expanded, it was decided in 1921 by the Board of Trustees of St. John's to discontinue the college department and devote the school facilities to secondary education alone.^[5]

A military cadet company was established at the school in 1915 after an inspection by the War Department,^[7] which detailed Major John Augustus Dapray, retired, to the school on December 30, 1915 as the first professor of military science and tactics.^[8] The school later established a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, and was one of 100 original U.S. Army JROTC programs established by the U.S. Congress under the National Defense Act of 1916.

In addition to regular classroom instruction, cadets participate in regional and national competitions as members of Raiders (called the Rangers until 1994), the drill team (called the "McGovern Rifles"; see notable alumni below), rifle team (marksmanship club), and color guard. The regiment participates in many events each year, such as the annual Cherry Blossom Parade and Presidential inaugurations (including the 2005 Inauguration of George W. Bush). Originally mandatory, the program became optional in 1991. By 2005, 50 percent of the students participated in the JROTC program, and current participation is less than one-fifth of the student body.^{[citation needed]} In 2019 the military program was ended and replaced with a cadet corps program with no relationship to the formal JROTC Program but it still produces students who decide to attend one of the service academies.

St. John's teams play in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

• William A. Wimsatt (class of 1935^[17]), professor of Zoology, Chairman of the Department of Zoology at Cornell University.
• John H. Dimond (class of 1936^[18]), Alaska Supreme Court justice.^[19]
• Azzi Fudd (class of 2021), college basketball player for the Connecticut Huskies^[20]
• Rakim Jarrett (class of 2020), NFL player with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers^[21]
• Quinten Johnson (class of 2019), college football defensive back for the Michigan Wolverines^[22]
• James "Jim" Kimsey (class of 1957), first chairman and CEO of AOL^[23]
• Joseph Siravo (class of 1973), actor, director, teacher and producer.^[24]
• James J. Malloy (class of 1981), retired United States Navy vice admiral.^[25]
• Nolan Williams, Jr. (class of 1986), American composer, musicologist, and producer.^[26]
• Kevin Plank (class of 1990), founder and brand chief and executive chairman of Under Armour, a performance apparel company.^[27]
• Keilan Robinson (class of 2019), college football running back and return specialist for the Texas Longhorns^[28]
• Princess Ariana Austin Makonnen of Ethiopia (class of 2001), member of the Ethiopian Imperial House of Solomon; wife of Prince Joel Dawit Makonnen^[29]
• Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (class of 2002), playwright.^[30]
• L.J. Hoes (class of 2008), former MLB player.^[31]
• Jeff Dowtin (class of 2015), professional basketball player.^[32]
• Terrell Lewis (class of 2016), professional football player for the Philadelphia Eagles ^[33]
• Kasim Hill (class of 2017), college football player^[34]
• Philip Hannan (class of 1931) 11th archbishop of New Orleans.^[35]
• John Geisse (class of 1937) founder of target and served in the United States Navy.^[36]
• Robert M. McGovern (class of 1946) Received the Medal of Honor for his sacrifice in the Korean War.^[37]
• Stanley McChrystal (class of 1972), retired United States Army general who served as Director of Joint Staff.^[36]

• Official website