St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School

Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, 10650 Aboite Center Road; preschool through eighth grade; the Pioneers, in red and gold; begun as the joint school St. Elizabeth Ann Seton shared with St. Joseph parish from 1998, and independent on this campus since August 2014

A Parish of the Late 1980s: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the young parish of Fort Wayne's southwest side, planted in Aboite Township as the suburbs filled in. The Allen County genealogical church list dates the parish's start to 1988, and this history's group entry places its establishment in the late 1980s, with the church opening in 1990; a diocesan retrospective of Bishop John M. D'Arcy's building years lists the parish's new church building under 1989, and the one year difference between the building list and the opening is printed here as the record gives it. The parish's founding is not the school's, and this entry keeps them apart: the school on Aboite Center Road begins with the joint school of 1998, and 1998 is its key, flagged as a lineage year rather than a standalone founding.

The Joint School, 1998 to 2014: In 1998 the Seton parish and St. Joseph parish on Brooklyn Avenue began running one Catholic school together. The younger children were here: this campus, at 10650 Aboite Center Road, held prekindergarten through fourth grade, while the older grades sat at Brooklyn Avenue, as this history's group entry records. The directories of those years knew the arrangement as a single school; the federal record of the joint years stands at the Brooklyn Avenue address with five hundred forty one students and this school's telephone number, 260-432-4001, a merger on paper to match the merger in fact. The joint school ran sixteen years. The plant kept growing through it and after it: the diocesan retrospective lists a parish activities center for Seton in 2007, and the newspaper's parish feature of April 16, 2017 describes a building of one hundred forty thousand square feet holding church, school and nursery together. In August 2014 the two parishes separated their schools again, and each campus became a school in its own right once more.

The Pioneers: The independent school got its name for itself before it got its independence. On October 11, 2013, at an all school Mass, Father Jim Shafer announced that the school's teams would be the Pioneers, in red and gold, chosen for Mother Seton herself, the pioneer of Catholic education in America who planted her school at Emmitsburg; the Waynedale News carried the announcement on October 25, 2013, naming Lois Widner as principal and Greg Slee as assistant principal. The school reopened as its own in mid August 2014, and by the diocesan newspaper's account of the December 2015 Hoopsfest, published January 13, 2016, the eighth grade Pioneers were already playing under the new name, battling out of the losers' bracket to the championship game.

Today: Lois Widner, the principal of the announcement, is the principal still: the school's handbook for 2022 and 2023 names her, the parish bulletins name her through the whole of 2026, from February 15 to September 13, and the school newsletter of October 15, 2025 names Mrs. Schuhler as her assistant principal. The parish bulletin of February 15, 2026 records the eighth grade girls' Catholic Youth Organization championship. The handbook describes a school of preschool through eighth grade, accredited by AdvancED and the State of Indiana. The counts stand with their instruments, and they spread widely: this history's group entry counts five hundred eighty six students; the Indiana Department of Education's federal relief eligibility table counted four hundred thirty six students in kindergarten through twelfth grade codes for the school, under its state code A104, in a listing of about 2021. Both are printed; the record reached for this entry holds no reconciling figure.

Sources:

1. This history's published group entry, The Catholic Grade Schools of Fort Wayne and Allen County: the parish established in the late 1980s, the church opened 1990; the school begun as the joint school opened in 1998, this campus holding prekindergarten through grade 4 while the older grades sat at Brooklyn Avenue; independent from August 2014; 586 students; the parish at 10700 Aboite Center Road.
2. Today's Catholic, February 17, 2013, the Bishop D'Arcy retrospective: new church buildings listed for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Fort Wayne, 1989; the parish's new school, rectory, religious education facility and church enlargement among his building works; a parish activities center, 2007; and April 16, 2017, the parish feature: the building at 140,000 square feet, church, school and nursery.
3. The Waynedale News, October 25, 2013: the Pioneers name and the red and gold colors announced by Father Jim Shafer at the all school Mass of October 11, 2013, for Seton the Emmitsburg pioneer; Principal Lois Widner; Assistant Principal Greg Slee; the independent reopening set for mid August 2014.
4. Today's Catholic, January 13, 2016: the December 2015 Hoopsfest account, the eighth grade Pioneers playing under the new name.
5. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School handbook, 2022-23 (the school's own): grades preschool through 8, accredited by AdvancED and the State of Indiana, Principal Lois Widner; the school at 10650 Aboite Center Road, phone 260-432-4001; the parish bulletins of 2026, February 15, April 12, June 28, August 2, August 23 and September 13 (files.ecatholic.com), naming Principal Lois Widner, the February 15 bulletin recording the eighth grade girls' CYO championship; the school newsletter of October 15, 2025, naming Assistant Principal Mrs. Schuhler.
6. Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, church list of Allen County (acgsi.org): St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Aboite Township, start 1988; Indiana Department of Education, EANS I eligibility table: A104, Saint Elizabeth Seton Catholic School, 436 students in the K-12 count, a listing of about 2021; the joint era federal profile, 541 students at the Brooklyn Avenue address with phone 260-432-4001.