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History, Mission, and Vision

Monsignor Walter J. DonovanThe first Catholic high school in Northeast Georgia was founded by a dedicated group of St. Joseph Catholic Church parishioners with the goal of serving families seeking a rigorous education rooted in faith. Monsignor Walter J. Donovan Catholic High School opened its doors in 2003, honoring the work of Monsignor Walter J. Donovan, who began Catholic education in Athens, Georgia as the founding priest of St. Joseph Parish School. For more than twenty years, Donovan served thousands of families in search of a Catholic high school education.
 
In the spring of 2025, Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School partnered with St. Joseph Parish School and St. Joseph Catholic Church to transfer seventh- and eighth-grade classes to Donovan. This transition was designed to provide expanded academic and extracurricular opportunities for middle school students while allowing St. Joseph Parish School to grow its early childhood program to better serve families with children from one year old through sixth grade. Together, Donovan and St. Joseph Parish School now serve students from ages one through eighteen as part of a unified Catholic educational partnership.
 
With this expansion and a new name, Donovan Catholic School began serving students in grades 7–12 in the 2025–2026 academic year. From the beginning, Donovan has understood Catholic education not simply as academic preparation, but as formation—helping students grow into the people God created them to be. Today, Donovan continues to carry forward the mission set forth by its founders: to form young people intellectually, morally, and spiritually.
 
Our mission, expressed through the Five C’s, guides all aspects of school life: competence, conscience, compassion, confidence, and courage. We seek to develop students who are academically capable, morally grounded, attentive to others, secure in who they are, and willing to act with integrity—even when doing so is difficult. These values shape our classrooms, relationships, and expectations, calling students to pursue excellence with purpose and faith.
 
As the Church continues to call Catholic schools to be places of truth, formation, and hope, Pope Leo XIV has emphasized the essential role of Catholic education in forming young people who can engage the world with wisdom, faith, and courage. In this spirit, Donovan looks to the future with clarity and confidence—committed to strengthening academic rigor, deepening faith formation, expanding opportunities for student growth, and remaining faithful to our mission while responding thoughtfully to the needs of a changing world.
Vision Statement
Donovan Catholic School’s vision is to be the best school in northeast Georgia by providing life-changing experiences that promote the academic, athletic, and spiritual development of students in the Catholic tradition.
 
Mission Statement
Donovan Catholic School, a Catholic college preparatory school, will develop leaders of competence, conscience, compassion, confidence, and courage who will radiate Christ in their lives.