St. Hedwig Catholic School

Overview

St. Hedwig Catholic School is a Catholic K-8 private school in Los Alamitos, California, serving grades K-8, founded in 1960, with about 454 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $8,460, which puts it in the lower 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 are accepted for the 2026-27 school year and remain open as long as space remains in a grade. The process has three steps: submit the application online with the required documents, the admissions team reviews the file, and within about a week the school makes contact to schedule a new student screening on campus. Required documents include the birth certificate, a baptismal certificate for Catholic families, immunization records, and recent report cards and standardized test scores for grades 1-8; an IEP or 504 plan must also be submitted if the student has one. The school website does not publish an application deadline. The admissions phone number is (562) 296-9071 and the email address is admissions@sthedwigk8.org (school website, Application Process 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 set by the number of students in the family, with no separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates: $8,460 a year for one student, $15,250 for two, and $21,590 for three or more. Payment in full is due August 5, 2026, through FACTS with the service fee waived. Families may also choose 11 monthly payments, running from July 5, 2026 through May 5, 2027 or from July 20 through May 20, at $769.09 per payment for one student, $1,386.36 for two and $1,962.72 for three or more, with a $50 annual FACTS service fee. The school requires monthly payers to use FACTS (school website, Tuition & Fees PDF, 2026-2027).

A $700 fees charge covers registration, technology, the diocesan assessment, instructional materials, field trips, the yearbook and licensing, and is collected through FACTS. An $800 family service fee is settled in June 2027: families may opt into the service program at registration and work it off by logging 60 hours in Track-It-Forward by May 1, paying $13.33 an hour for any hours not logged, while families who opt out simply pay the $800. Grade-level deposits are due with the first tuition payment: a $25 sacrament fee in grade 2, $300 for Astro Camp in grade 5, $300 for Science Camp in grade 6, $400 for the Caritas Retreat in grade 7, and a $325 graduation fee in grade 8; the grade 8 trip to Washington, D.C. is billed separately. Late payments incur a $30 late fee, and a returned FACTS payment incurs another $30 (school website, Tuition & Fees PDF).

Financial aid: The Tuition & Tuition Assistance page on the school website states that limited tuition assistance funds are available to qualifying families, subject to three conditions: (1) the family must already have been enrolled at the school for one year and be in good standing on tuition payments, so first-year families are not eligible to apply; (2) the deadline is June 1 each year; (3) applications are made through the family’s FACTS account and awards are made first come, first serve. The school website does not publish the number of awards, the dollar amounts or the share of families receiving assistance. In addition, families more than 60 days behind on tuition may be required by the school to apply for tuition assistance or to withdraw (school website, Tuition & Tuition Assistance page, 2026-2027 Tuition & Fees PDF)

Academics and programs

• STREAM specialist classes in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, taught by dedicated teachers (school website, Academics page)
• Spanish is offered school-wide, taught by Jen Schnorr alongside her other duties (school website, Academics page, Faculty & Staff page)
• The middle school has an Advanced Math course with its own syllabus (school website, Curriculum page)
• Grades 3-8 have one Chromebook per student with Google Classroom, and grades TK-2 share iPads; classrooms have Epson projectors and ELMO document cameras, and the curriculum includes digital citizenship and online safety (school website, Academics page)
• Music, digital literacy, physical education and health are taught by dedicated teachers (school website, Academics page)
• Faith formation includes an all-school Mass every Wednesday, a monthly Celtic Family Mass, and retreats and reflection activities (school website, Faith Formation 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. Hedwig Catholic School	Los Alamitos	K-8	$8,460	On-campus assessment	—	—
Grace Christian School	Cypress	K-8	$7,525	—	—	1.6 mi
St. Irenaeus Parish School	Cypress	K-8	$7,325	—	—	2.8 mi
Bethany Christian Academy	Westminster	K-8	$8,275	On-campus assessment	—	3.7 mi
Grace Lutheran School	Huntington Beach	K-8	$8,300	—	—	4.5 mi

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $8,460, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $76,140 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $90,000. 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	19.9 miles
Northwood	16.9 miles
Turtle Rock	18.4 miles
Portola Springs	22.0 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, Academics page and Mission page publish no current enrollment, and the History & Mission page gives only the 320 students the school had when it opened in 1960, so the California Depar…
• Average class size — the school website gives ranges by division rather than a single figure - TK 24, a target of 25 and a cap of 28 in grades K-5, and an average of 28 with a cap of 30 in grades 6-8 - and those have bee…
• Accreditation term — the Accreditation page states only that the school holds both WCEA and WASC accreditation and gives no accreditation term
• Financial aid details — the school website says only that funds are limited and awarded first come, first serve, and does not publish the number of awards, the dollar amounts or the share of families receiving assistance
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

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