Christ Cathedral Academy

Overview

Christ Cathedral Academy is a Catholic K-8 private school in Garden Grove, California, serving grades K-8, with about 310 students. Tuition for 2025-26 is $9,900, which puts it in the middle range among Orange County private schools at this level. Religion classes are required, so confirm your family is comfortable with that before applying.

Admissions

No standardized entrance exam; admission uses an on-campus assessment or visit day.

The school publishes the following application details. Applications for preschool through grade 8 for the 2026-27 school year are open and are submitted through the online RenWeb system. Admission is based on the results of on-campus assessments, transcripts from the past two years (including conduct/Christian behavior), two years of standardized test scores and a Student Evaluation Form completed by the current teacher, and the school decides the grade placement. If a student has special education needs, the school first assesses whether its facilities and learning support can meet them. All new students spend their first year on a one-year probation, during which parents and staff together judge whether the school is the right fit. Admission priority goes to families registered at Christ Cathedral parish and to registered members of other Catholic parishes in Orange County, and non-Catholic students are also accepted (2026-27 parent handbook; school website, Interested Families page).

The main entry points at a K-8 school are kindergarten and grade 6. Younger applicants are usually evaluated through an on-campus visit, while most applicants above grade 5 need an ISEE score. Start in the fall of the year before entry: visit first to confirm the school is a fit, then decide whether to register for testing.

Tuition and fees

The Tuition Info link on the school website still points to the 2025-26 K-8 tuition table (file dated 1-27-25), and 2026-27 tuition has not been published on the school website. For 2025-26 there were no separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates: $9,900 a year for the first child and $9,200 per additional K-8 child. All tuition is collected by automatic draft through FACTS, payable annually, semiannually, in 10 or 12 monthly installments, or in 20 or 24 biweekly payments; the first child is $990.00 per payment over 10 installments and $825.00 over 12, and each additional child is $920.00 over 10 installments and $766.67 over 12 (school website, Tuition Info PDF, K-8 Tuition 2025-26).

Registration fee of $400 per student, paid at registration and nonrefundable; new student application fee $175; grade 8 graduation fee $550 and grade 2 sacrament fee $105 (both added to the first draft); grade 6 science camp $875 (November and January); FACTS charges $50 per family per year, paid directly to FACTS. 20 service hours are valued at $20 an hour for a total of $400, with any unfinished hours collected through FACTS in May 2026, or bought out for $350 in September 2025. Extended care is optional: the morning session (6:30-7:30) is $165 a month, the afternoon session (dismissal to 6:00) is $260 a month, both together are $330 a month, and drop-in care is $9.00 per half hour; the extended care registration fee is $0. Fees for extracurricular activities, athletics and the like are drafted separately through FACTS (school website, Tuition Info PDF, 2025-26).

Financial aid: The parent handbook states that need-based financial aid is available to students at Christ Cathedral Academy and that applications are made by completing the FACTS Grant and Aid Application online; the number of awards, the amounts and the share of students receiving aid are not published (2026-27 parent handbook).

Academics and programs

• Subjects offered: religion, science, math, art, English language arts, reading, literature and writing, music, physical education, handwriting, spelling, social studies, history and geography (2026-27 parent handbook, Curriculum chapter)
• Spanish is one of the core subjects counted in the academic probation review, which means it is a formally graded subject (2026-27 parent handbook, academic probation provisions)
• Advanced Math in grades 6-8, plus a grade 5 Advanced Math class (school website, Staff Directory)
• Learning support staffing includes a Learning Support Director and a learning support teacher (school website, Staff Directory)
• Grades 6-8 complete 30 hours of service learning a year, which counts toward the religion grade (2026-27 parent handbook)
• Staff positions include a Catechist of the Good Shepherd and a director of music (school website, Staff Directory)

How this school compares

These are the nearest schools at the same level and a comparable price. Select a name to open that school’s admissions guide:

School	City	Grades	Tuition	Entrance test	Class size	Distance
Christ Cathedral Academy	Garden Grove	K-8	$9,900	On-campus assessment	—	—
Holy Family Catholic School	Orange	K-8	$9,365	On-campus assessment	—	2.8 mi
St. John’s Lutheran School	Orange	K-8	$9,410	On-campus assessment	—	3.0 mi
St. Columban Catholic School	Garden Grove	K-8	$7,100	On-campus assessment	—	2.5 mi
Prince of Peace Lutheran School	Anaheim	K-8	$7,650	—	15	2.7 mi

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2025-26 rate of $9,900, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $89,100 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $105,000. Neither number includes registration fees, deposits, uniforms or activity fees. A California 529 plan can cover up to $10,000 per child per year of K-12 tuition.

Getting there from Irvine

These are straight-line distances from neighborhoods where many Irvine families live. Actual drive times will be longer, and a morning rush-hour trip typically takes 1.5 to 2 times as long as an off-peak one:

Neighborhood	Straight-line distance
Woodbury	10.9 miles
Northwood	8.0 miles
Turtle Rock	11.7 miles
Portola Springs	12.7 miles

The website does not describe bus service; confirm this during your visit.

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• The tuition year can only be given as 2025-26 — the PDF linked from Tuition Info on the school website is the 2025-26 K-8 tuition table (file dated 1-27-25), no 2026-27 table was found anywhere on the site, and no projection is made
• Founding year — the school website’s home page, Interested Families page and Staff Directory and the 2026-27 parent handbook were all checked, and none gives a founding year
• Enrollment is missing from the school website — no page on the school website and no part of the parent handbook publishes enrollment, so only the CDE filing of 310 is available
• Average class size — neither the school website nor the parent handbook gives class sizes or a student-teacher ratio
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Christ Cathedral Academy’s admissions calendar, prepare students for the campus visit and interview, and review application materials before they are submitted. Book a school-selection consultation or read the Chinese version of this page.