St. Elizabeth Seton School

St. Elizabeth Seton School is a small Catholic school for preschool through eighth grade on Channing Avenue in north Palo Alto. It shares its campus with St. Albert the Great Church and has a mission that sets it apart from most private schools in town: since 1978 it has been dedicated, in its own words, to educating the children of East Palo Alto and nearby underserved neighborhoods. The Daughters of Charity sponsor the school and it belongs to the Catholic Diocese of San Jose.

This page covers the school's long history on the site, its grades and daily program, what it publishes about admission and financial aid and how it differs from other options in our private schools guide. We do not rank schools or report test results.

From St. Thomas Aquinas School to Seton

The school's history page traces the building back to 1951. It opened that year as St. Thomas Aquinas School under the Archdiocese of San Francisco, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet for children of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. When St. Albert the Great Church was built on the campus, the school took the church's name.

By 1972 enrollment was falling. The school says changing demographics were closing schools of all kinds in Palo Alto at the time. The archbishop proposed merging with Our Lady of the Rosary, another Palo Alto Catholic school, but numbers stayed low. In 1977 the archdiocese made a new commitment. It would run a Catholic community school here and open admission to children from East Palo Alto and neighboring low-income communities.

In 1978 the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet withdrew. A steering committee chose a new name: St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School of Palo Alto. When the Diocese of San Jose was formed in 1981, the school became a "mission" school supported by the St. Thomas Aquinas parish community.

That support was not enough to keep it running. In 2000, at the bishop's request, the Daughters of Charity agreed to co-sponsor the school. Under that arrangement the Daughters of Charity Foundation subsidizes operating costs while the diocese pays for maintenance and capital repairs. The school remains a diocesan school and its staff are diocesan employees.

The name

Elizabeth Ann Seton started a small school in Baltimore in the early 1800s, which is often called the beginning of Catholic schooling in the United States. Women who joined her formed the first American order of Catholic sisters, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. Some of them joined the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in 1850. She was canonized in 1975, three years before the Palo Alto school took her name.

Mission and community

The school describes itself as a nurturing community in the Vincentian tradition, the spiritual heritage of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac. Its motto is "Eager to Learn, Ready to Serve." Its vision is for students to become people of service. Four beliefs appear on its about page: every person is made in the image of God, the school is a family, all students can and will learn and every minute matters.

The school publishes a few figures about its community:

That profile is very different from most Palo Alto private schools. It reflects the 1977 decision to serve families from East Palo Alto and similar neighborhoods. The school takes part in California's free and reduced-price meal program and partners with LunchMaster to serve breakfast and lunch to all students.

Grades and academics

Seton runs from preschool through grade 8 on one campus. The school's academics page describes each stage:

• Little Saints Preschool. Classes for 3 year olds and 4 year olds, with a balance of child-directed and teacher-directed activity. The school lists a 10 to 1 ratio for pre-K.
• Kindergarten to grade 2. Phonics, reading and math foundations, with a 12 to 1 ratio through third grade. Second graders prepare for First Reconciliation and First Communion.
• Grades 3 to 5. In fourth grade students move from a teacher and aide to a single teacher, a step the school uses to build independence.
• Grades 6 to 8. Students rotate among teachers for religion, English, math, social studies, science and physical education. Electives include cooking, art, pickleball, faith and athletics.

The school describes tiered academic support. A resource teacher works with kindergarten to grade 3. A reading interventionist serves grades 3 to 8 and a math interventionist grades 4 to 8, in classrooms and in a Learning Lab. The school says it supports students with IEPs and 504 plans.

Faith and wellbeing

Each day starts with prayer and announcements. Students celebrate Mass every Wednesday with St. Thomas Aquinas Parish at St. Albert the Great Church and serve as student leaders at the liturgy. For social and emotional learning, teachers and nurses from San José State University teach weekly lessons from the Second Step program. A counselor from CASSY, a Bay Area nonprofit that provides school-based mental health care, is on site twice a week.

Care, sports and activities

For working families the school's care schedule matters as much as the classes:

• Morning care from 7:00 a.m., with free breakfast from 7:30.
• Extended care from 3:15 to 5:00 p.m., with a homework club for grades K to 8 and specialty clubs such as knitting and ukulele.
• Cost. The school lists a flat rate of $6 per family for the entire day.

Sports are offered for grades 4 to 8. In fall the school fields girls' volleyball, boys' flag football and soccer for boys and girls. Winter brings basketball. Spring has boys' volleyball and girls' flag football. A children's choir for grades 3 to 5, led by the parish music director, rehearses weekly and sings at the Wednesday Mass. A Vincentian Marian Youth group teaches students about the Daughters of Charity and the school's founders.

Admission and financial aid

Seton takes applications through TADS, an online platform used by many Catholic schools. Its admissions page had application links for both 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028 in late October 2026. Families can ask about openings in any grade. Tours are scheduled by contacting the school.

Families seeking aid follow four steps the school lists:

1. On the TADS admission application, select that you will apply for financial aid. The school stresses that skipping this box removes the family from the Diocese of San Jose allocation.
2. Complete the TADS financial aid application and upload documents. One application covers both the Diocese of San Jose and the Archdiocese of San Francisco funds.
3. Apply to the BASIC Fund, a Bay Area scholarship fund for families entering preschool to grade 8 at a school for the first time.
4. Submit the school's own aid form, offered in English and Spanish, with tax or income documents.

The school did not publish a tuition figure on its website in late October 2026. It says every family receives financial assistance, so the amount a family pays depends on the aid process. Call (650) 326-9004 for current figures.

How Seton fits among local options

Seton combines a Catholic program, a preschool and low-cost extended care on one campus. Families comparing options might also look at our preschools and childcare guide for younger children and at the free public schools described in our PAUSD guide. Public school registration steps are in our enrollment guide. Families looking for a Catholic high school after eighth grade often consider schools such as Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, which has its own tuition assistance program.

Frequently asked questions