The school is named after Missouri native Augustus Tolton, the first self-identified black Catholic priest in the United States.

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.

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.

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.