Catholic School in Algona, Iowa: Seton Grade School and Bishop Garrigan High School

If you’ve searched for a specific Catholic school by name in Algona and come up empty, that’s because Algona’s Catholic education runs through two connected schools instead: Seton Grade School for kindergarten through 8th grade, and Bishop Garrigan High School for grades 9 through 12. Together they cover a full K-12 path, and the history behind how they came together says a lot about how small-town Catholic education in Iowa has evolved over the last century.

History · Seton Grade School · Bishop Garrigan High School · Nearby & Related · Good to Know

History

St. Cecelia Parish in Algona dates back to 1872, and its parish school issued diplomas on its own until 1959. That year, the secondary grades from St. Cecelia and several neighboring parishes, including St. Benedict, St. Michael, and two St. Joseph parishes, consolidated into a single new high school: Bishop Garrigan. That kind of consolidation was common across rural Catholic education in the mid-20th century, as individual small parishes found it harder to sustain their own standalone high schools.

St. Cecelia’s grade school later merged with St. Joseph School in Bode in 1969, and the combined school took the name St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1981, after the first American-born saint canonized by the Catholic Church. A new addition opened in 1991, consolidating K-8 students from all the area parishes into what’s now known as Seton Grade School, the same building families use today.

Seton Grade School

Seton Grade School covers kindergarten through 8th grade at 808 E. Lucas St, drawing students from Algona and the surrounding parishes that have fed into the Catholic school system here since the 1991 consolidation. It’s the K-8 half of a two-campus system that feeds directly into Bishop Garrigan for high school, meaning most families who start at Seton stay within the same Catholic school system all the way through graduation rather than switching to the public district partway through.

Bishop Garrigan High School

Bishop Garrigan High School, at 1224 N. McCoy St, serves grades 9-12 and carries a total K-12 enrollment across both campuses of around 400 students, with roughly 307 in grades 7-12. High school tuition runs close to $2,400 a year, among the more affordable private schools in the Sioux City Diocese, and the school offers work-study and tuition assistance so cost doesn’t automatically rule a family out. The school’s own guidance is that no one is turned away for inability to pay, which matters for families weighing a Catholic education against the free public alternative.

Athletically, the Golden Bears compete in the Top of Iowa Conference across football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, golf, tennis, track, baseball, and softball, and the school has picked up recent state titles, including girls’ basketball championships in 2022 and 2023 and 8-man football titles in 2023 and 2025. For a school this size, that’s a genuinely strong athletic track record, and it’s a point of local pride that comes up often when people talk about Bishop Garrigan around town.

Nearby & Related

If you’re comparing this against the public school option, our post on Algona Area Schools covers the Algona Community School District in the same depth, including enrollment numbers and the full range of extracurriculars available there.

Good to Know

Enrollment for New Families

Families new to Algona interested in enrolling at Seton or Bishop Garrigan can reach out to the school directly through bishopgarrigan.org, where enrollment information, tuition assistance details, and a contact form are all available. Since the school draws from multiple area parishes, staff are used to walking new families through the process regardless of which specific parish they’re connected to, or even if they’re new to the Catholic Church entirely.

For New Renters

If you’re weighing a move to Algona around a Catholic school decision, it’s worth reaching out to the school directly before finalizing a rental, since both Seton and Bishop Garrigan draw students from a fairly wide radius around Algona, not just the town itself.

Transportation and Daily Logistics

Since Seton and Bishop Garrigan draw students from across several area parishes, not just Algona itself, transportation logistics are worth asking about directly if you’re coming from one of the smaller surrounding communities. The school’s long history of serving a wide radius of families means they’re generally well equipped to answer these questions for new enrollees.

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