History and Background

On August 31, 1959 Columbus High School opened its doors to 406 young men and 431 young women from the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Evansdale area. The project that Father A.A. McAvoy had begun three years earlier had become a reality, and Waterloo had a new centrally located Catholic High School.

As early as 1956, Father McAvoy began directing the efforts of volunteers in a major fund-raising effort. A campaign goal of $1,800,000 was set as the financial base needed for the proposed high school. By the fall of 1959 this amount, the largest ever collected for a single project in Waterloo to that day, had been pledged.

In 1958 the cornerstone was blessed by Archbishop Leo Binz. Later that year Father John Paar was named principal and Father Walter Brunkan was appointed as assistant principal and teacher of religion. In 1968, Fr. Brunkan was named principal. Fr. Brunkan was reassigned to St. Mary Catholic Church in Greene, Iowa, in 1991. Michael Palmer became the principal. Upon Mr. Palmer's retirement in 1999, Todd Dirth, a former Columbus assistant principal, took over the helm.

Course offerings and activities were limited in the early years. Few electives were available and students concentrated on required basics, where quality instruction was given by 10 lay teachers, 16 priests and 18 sisters.

In a short time students from the three area Catholic high schools which had been closed (Sacred Heart, St. Mary's and Our Lady of Victory Academy), as well as students from the public schools, were able to blend together and become the first Columbus family.

Columbus High School was named after Christopher Columbus, a man of great courage who, like the school's founders, began an adventure without knowing what the future might hold. Like him, they were not afraid to take risks and explore the unknown. The result - a parochial high school which has been and will continue to be an integral part of the Cedar Valley area.