St. Bonaventure Catholic School

Overview

St. Bonaventure Catholic School is a Catholic K-8 private school in Huntington Beach, California, serving grades K-8, with about 536 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $9,700 to $10,200, 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

Entrance exam requirements are not published; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. Applications for the 2026-27 school year are open. The school website provides step-by-step application instructions, campus tours can be scheduled online, and admissions questions go to vfrei@stbonaventureschool.org or 714-846-2472 extension 102. Events for prospective families include individual campus tours, an Info Night on March 25, and Preschool Playdates for children ages 3-5. The school website does not publish an application deadline or entrance testing arrangements (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 has two rates depending on whether the family is a registered parishioner of St. Bonaventure: In-Parish is $9,700 per student, and Out-of-Parish adds $500 to that, for $10,200. The basic condition for the in-parish rate is having been formally registered in the St. Bonaventure parish for at least a year and holding a parish number, but the school website notes two exceptions: families who are registered and active in another Catholic parish that has no school of its own may also qualify for the in-parish rate, and families who have recently moved to the Huntington Beach area and have registered at St. Bonaventure may qualify even if they have not been registered a full year. The out-of-parish rate applies to non-Catholic families and to families registered in a Catholic parish that does have its own school. The school states that the price is the same whether payment is made by ACH, cash or credit card, and that tuition does not include the registration fee or individual student fees (school website, Tuition page).

The school website states that the registration fee and individual student fees are charged separately from tuition, but it does not list the amounts. Families with more than one child receive a sibling discount, the amount of which is not published. Applying for financial aid requires a FACTS processing fee of $32 (school website, Tuition page).

Financial aid: Applications are made through the FACTS platform and are open to families with financial need; the school states that the assistance available is limited. For the 2026-27 school year applications close April 20, 2026, families must reapply each year and must submit recent tax returns, W-2s, 1099s and pay stubs, and the school may request an interview; the FACTS application processing fee is $32 (school website, Tuition page).

Academics and programs

• There are six scholarly enrichment offerings during the school day: music, STEM, physical education, Spanish, art and a weekly library class (school website, Curriculum page)
• Spanish begins in Kindergarten and continues through grade 8, and is the school’s only world language (school website, Curriculum page)
• Grades 6-8 have had an Advanced Mathematics Program, an accelerated math track, since 2000 (school website, Curriculum page)
• STEM is offered in partnership with BrainStorm Education, integrating hands-on projects into TK-8 science; there is also a Tech Crew and a LEGO Club (school website, Curriculum page and Academics page)
• Faith formation runs through the whole day: daily prayer, religion class, weekly Mass and Christian Service Projects at each grade level (school website, Spirituality page)
• The library holds more than 11,000 volumes (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. Bonaventure Catholic School	Huntington Beach	K-8	$9,700	—	—	—
Grace Lutheran School	Huntington Beach	K-8	$8,300	—	—	1.2 mi
Carden Conservatory	Huntington Beach	K-8	Not published	On-campus assessment	—	0.3 mi
Bethany Christian Academy	Westminster	K-8	$8,275	On-campus assessment	—	2.9 mi
Blessed Sacrament School	Westminster	K-8	$6,400	On-campus assessment	—	2.6 mi

Where students go next

The Academics > High School Preparation page on the school website publishes a list of the high schools graduates commonly attend, introduced as “The following list includes the high schools our students typically attend upon graduation,” 12 in all: the public schools Edison High School, Huntington Beach High School, Marina High School and Ocean View High School; and the Catholic high schools JSerra Catholic High School, Loyola High School, Mater Dei High School, Rosary High School, Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Servite High School, St. John Bosco High School and St. Joseph High School. The page provides a Shadow Request link for arranging a day of shadowing at a school on the list. The school website does not publish the number admitted to each school or percentages (school website, High School Preparation page).

Schools in our guide library that appear on this list: Mater Dei High School, Santa Margarita Catholic High School, JSerra Catholic High School, Servite High School, Rosary Academy.

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 $9,700, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $87,300 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	16.2 miles
Northwood	13.4 miles
Turtle Rock	13.6 miles
Portola Springs	18.6 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• opened, the founding year, is null — the home page, About and Visit pages were all checked, and the school website says only that the school was founded by the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, without giving a year
• enrollment is missing from the school website — the home page, About and Visit pages do not publish an enrollment count, so the CDE filing figure of 536 has to be used
• avgClassSize is null — neither the About page nor the Academics page on the school website gives a class size or a student-teacher ratio
• entranceExam is null — the Admissions page does not mention entrance testing or assessment arrangements
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track St. Bonaventure 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.