Welcome to Bishop Garrigan High School
Inside Bishop Garrigan High School you will find a faith based atmosphere full of energy, learning, and collaboration. Listen and you'll hear the faint sound of band and music classes, art students working together, lively PE classes, and teachers explaining topics like personal finance and advanced chemistry. Look around and you'll see reminders of faith and inspirational messages down every hallway.
Students are generally involved in multiple activities and sports so the building buzzes with activity from morning until evening. Because we are a smaller school, students often describe Bishop Garrigan as "family", where teachers and students truly look out for each other.
Garrigan's faculty is top notch. Many teachers have earned master's degrees, and several staff members teach at the college level. College credit is available for some high school courses taught on-site at Garrigan, with more college level classes available online with Iowa Lakes Community College. Most teachers also work with extra-curricular activities.
BGHS competes in almost every activity available to Iowa students. A full range of Golden Bear athletic programs are available, and in general all students who go out for sports are given an opportunity to play. The school competes in Class A or 1A, depending on the sport. In recent years the Bears have made it to the state tournament in football, cross-country, basketball, dance, track and golf. Many Golden Bears have been awarded scholarships to play sports in college.
Aside from athletics, the Golden Bears also excel in various competitive activities such as Quiz Bowl, Math Team, Speech, Band, Choir and DECA. Extracurricular activities include drama, art, broadcasting, publications, business, student government, Christian Leadership and more. Most students are involved in multiple sports and activities.
Garrigan students score above state and national averages on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development. High School students score above the national average on the ACT. Each year BGHS students receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in college scholarships, including many awards that are available exclusively to Garrigan graduates.