Father Augustine Tolton Regional Catholic High School

Father Augustine Tolton Regional Catholic High School is the first private, Roman Catholic high school in Columbia, Missouri, built in 2010. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City. The school is named after Missouri native Augustus Tolton, the first self-identified black Catholic priest in the United States. The school's enrollment for the 2017-18 school year was 285 students. History Talk of opening a Catholic high school in Columbia had become a serious conversation by the time Bishop John R. Gaydos arrived in the Diocese Jefferson City in 1997. In a 2001 statement of his vision for the local Church, he called for “a study of how to expand the possibilities for Catholic secondary education in the diocese.” Feasibility studies indicated strong support among Catholic parishioners in Columbia and surrounding communities for opening a Catholic high school. Local parishioners wanted the new high school to be built on a foundation of Catholic spirituality, college-prep academics, and leadership-development opportunities for students. They helped their parishes pay down construction debts, which allowed fund-raising for the new school to begin in earnest. The Diocese of Jefferson City provided $1.5 million in seed money through the “Grateful Memories … Faithful Future” capital campaign in 2006 and Bishop John Gaydos authorized the purchase of 23 acres of real estate. A fund drive to raise an additional $5 million in pledges in 2009 allowed the executive committee to secure financing for the rest of the school's cost. Bishop Gaydos authorized initial site work and excavation for the school to begin in April of that year. The first classes started in August 2011 and the building opened in November 2011.