St. John the Baptist Catholic School

Overview

St. John the Baptist Catholic School is a Catholic K-8 private school in Costa Mesa, California, serving grades K-8, founded in 1959, with about 454 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $9,742, 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. The school accepts F-1 international students and issues the I-20 needed for a student visa.

Admissions

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

The school publishes the following application details. The school website states that it accepts applications for both the current and the following school year, and notes that some grades are already full and that space is limited. Campus tours can be scheduled through an online form on the school website or by calling (714) 557-5060 extension 202 to reach admissions; the school website also has an entry point for an Open House and Information Night but lists no specific dates. The Admissions page does not publish an application deadline, entrance testing arrangements, a document checklist or admission priorities (school website, Admissions 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

Tuition for the 2026-27 school year is based on the number of children in the family, with no separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates. Five-day TK through grade 8: $9,742 for one child, $16,502 for two, $22,529 for three, $24,651 for four and $27,648 for five. For families with a three-day TK student, the corresponding tiers are $7,555 for one child, $14,677 for two, $20,871 for three, $23,290 for four and $25,845 for five. Besides paying annually, families may choose 10 or 11 monthly installments, prorated from the annual amount, all collected through the FACTS Family Portal (school website, Tuition & Fees page).

Nonrefundable annual fees: a $250 per-family application fee for new families, a $120 per-family registration fee for returning families (charged in January) and a $120 per-family application fee for alumni families. Per-student fees: $560 each for TK1-2 through grade 4; $1,126 each for grade 5 (including the purchase and insurance of a Chromebook); and in grades 6-8, $1,225 for each new student (including the purchase and insurance of a Chromebook) and $775 for each returning student. There is also a $485 per-family auxiliary and fundraising fee, a $100 per-family after-school care registration fee, a $610 per-student grade 6 science camp fee (charged in October) and a $425 per-student grade 8 graduation fee (charged in April). All of the above are nonrefundable. Each family also has a Family Participation Hours (FPH) obligation: at least 25 volunteer hours completed by May 31, with any shortfall billed at $50 per hour; alternatively, a family may buy out the obligation with a single $750 payment (25 hours x $30) to the SJB Auxiliary before September 10, with no partial buyouts accepted. Volunteers must be family members aged 18 or older who have cleared a Diocese of Orange fingerprint background check and completed the online Safe Environment training (school website, Tuition & Fees page, Family Participation Requirements page).

Financial aid: Applications are made through FACTS Tuition Management, and the school website has a dedicated Admissions - Tuition Assistance page: a custom FACTS application form collects the family’s financial data, and awards are set according to financial need. Applications must include all supporting documents - federal income tax returns and all schedules (married couples filing separately must submit both returns for the same year) and all W-2s for the year; families with business, farm, rental, S-Corp, partnership or trust income must also submit the corresponding schedules; self-employed applicants must submit that year’s 1040 and provide documentation of non-taxable income such as Social Security, child support and TANF. A nonrefundable $40 application fee is due before submission, and processing takes about two weeks. The school website states that the school sets the deadline and that late applicants should contact the school first to confirm whether their application will be considered; the share of families receiving aid and the average award are not published (school website, Tuition Assistance page).

Academics and programs

• Latin is taught from TK2 all the way through grade 8 and is required at every level (school website, Curriculum page)
• A Makerspace STEM lab, with projects such as bridge building and 3D modeling (school website, Curriculum page)
• Grade 8 math includes robotics (school website, Curriculum page)
• Every grade has core courses in religion, language arts, mathematics, history and science, with music and physical education throughout (school website, Curriculum page)
• Grade 7 studies pre-Algebra and grade 8 studies Algebra (school website, Curriculum page)

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
St. John the Baptist Catholic School	Costa Mesa	K-8	$9,742	On-campus assessment	—	—
Mariners Christian School	Costa Mesa	K-8	$12,441	On-campus assessment	—	1.3 mi
Saint Joachim Catholic School	Costa Mesa	K-8	$9,195	On-campus assessment	—	2.6 mi
Christ Lutheran School	Costa Mesa	K-8	$8,652	On-campus assessment	—	2.5 mi
Frontiers Academy	Costa Mesa	K-8	Not published	—	—	1.3 mi

Where students go next

The school website’s 2025-26 Parent/Student Handbook states, “A large majority of graduates attend Catholic High School and 100% of alumni graduate from high school,” without naming specific high schools or giving annual numbers.

Applying to high school from here usually begins in the spring of grade 7: sit the ISEE or HSPT in the fall of grade 8, then submit materials between November and January. EDUBUS works backward from each target high school’s requirements to plan grades, activities and test preparation across the K-8 years.

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $9,742, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $87,678 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $103,000. 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	9.1 miles
Northwood	6.9 miles
Turtle Rock	5.8 miles
Portola Springs	11.7 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Enrollment figure missing from the school website — the home page and the About, Accreditation and Admissions pages all omit the number of enrolled students, leaving only the CDE figure on file of 454
• Average class size — neither the Curriculum page nor the About page gives a class size or a student-teacher ratio
• Entrance exam is an in-house assessment — the Testing & Interviews section of the school website’s Admissions - Policies page states, “New students applying for the upper grades (5-8) are interviewed personally by administrators as part of t…
• Financial aid — the Tuition & Fees page says only that payments are collected through the FACTS Family Portal, with no Grant & Aid information, and no separate Financial Aid page was found on the school website
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track St. John the Baptist Catholic School’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.