St. Irenaeus Parish School

St. Irenaeus Parish School does not publish entrance exam requirements; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. Application materials for the 2026-27 school year are open and are submitted through the online RenWeb system (the ENROLL NOW link on the school website), and the school admits students on a rolling basis as space allows in each grade. Families must submit an application for admission, immunization records, and records from the previous school obtained through a transcript request form. Individual campus tours can be scheduled by calling (714) 827-4500 or emailing the admissions office. The school website’s Admissions page does not publish an application deadline, any entrance testing arrangements, or an admission priority order (school website, Admissions page).

The website does not state an entrance test requirement, so ask the admissions office whether a test is needed, and which one, before you start preparing. Application dates are set by the school each year; ask the admissions office for the current calendar and plan backward from it.

St. Irenaeus Parish School tuition for 2026-27 is $7,325 to $7,825.

Base full-day tuition for TK through grade 8: $7,825 a year for one child and $14,275 a year for two children, both payable in 10 or 11 monthly installments. For parishioner families registered at St. Irenaeus parish who give regularly, the school website reads “$500/family reduction” - that is $500 off per family per year, not per student, so a parishioner family with one child pays $7,325 and a parishioner family with two children pays $13,775. The school website notes that rates may be adjusted, and the details of the parish discount are in the school’s school finance agreement (school website, Tuition & Fees page).

A $60 registration fee and a $300 enrollment deposit per student in TK-8; grade 8 also pays an $85 graduation fee. The school website states that, unless otherwise noted, all fees are charged per student and are nonrefundable (school website, Tuition & Fees page).

Financial aid: Applications are made through the FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment Program. The school website’s Admissions > Tuition Assistance page states that FACTS conducts a confidential, independent assessment of financial need, that applications must be submitted online, and that the application fee is $40 (the school website notes this may change); financial aid applications for the following school year open in early December each year; a student’s application for admission must be completed before applying for aid, and aid is awarded only to enrolled students or to new students who have completed the admission process; Transitional Kindergarten is not eligible for financial aid. Applicants may also write to the Grant and Aid Committee with additional information. Infographics on the school website’s home page state that 18% of students receive financial aid, but no range of awards or deadline is published (school website, Tuition Assistance page and home page).

Academics and programs described on the St. Irenaeus Parish School website include:

• A grade-band curriculum framework: three different sets of Schoolwide Learning Expectations for TK-1, grades 2-3 and grades 4-8 (school website, Academics page)
• Grade-level Religion Curriculum and Stewardship Curriculum, paired with prayer, class retreats and liturgical celebrations, with students serving at the school, in the parish and in the community (school website, Faith Development page)
• The national Catholic schools Academic Junior High Decathlon (AJHD) for grades 6-8: 10 events in all, including two team events, the Logic Quiz and the Super Quiz (school website, Extra-Curricular and Enrichment Activities page)
• The Coder School six-week after-school coding class (grades 2-8) (school website, Extra-Curricular and Enrichment Activities page)
• Instrumental music (grades 3-8): flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums and violin; there is also a parish youth choir (grades 4-8) that sings in the church once a month (school website, Extra-Curricular and Enrichment Activities page)
• Altar serving (grades 4-8), the grade 8 yearbook club, and the Junior Legion of Mary (ages 7 and up) (school website, Extra-Curricular and Enrichment Activities page)

These are the schools nearest to St. Irenaeus Parish School at the same level, with the basic facts each school publishes. Select a name to open that school’s admissions guide:

School	Grades	Tuition	Entrance test	Distance
St. Irenaeus Parish School	K-8	$7,325	—	—
Grace Christian School	K-8	$7,525	—	1.2 mi
St. Hedwig Catholic School	K-8	$8,460	On-campus assessment	2.8 mi
St. Pius V Catholic School	K-8	$7,575	—	3.2 mi
Bethany Christian Academy	K-8	$8,275	On-campus assessment	4.6 mi

St. Irenaeus Parish School publishes the following on where its graduates go.

Two different things need to be distinguished here. (1) Where grade 8 graduates go to high school: the school website gives only two figures, in the infographics on the home page - “100% of students accepted into catholic high school” and “1/4 Received scholarships for high school” - and publishes no list of specific high schools. (2) Colleges alumni later attended: the school website’s About Us > School History page says “Our graduates go on to colleges such as” and lists Notre Dame, West Point, Brown University, Gonzaga University, UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount University, Harvey Mudd College, University of San Diego, University of Washington, Chapman University, CSU Long Beach and CSU Fullerton, “and many more” - this is a list of colleges attended by alumni over the years, not the immediate destination of grade 8 graduates, and parents should not read it as a matriculation rate (school website, School History page and home page).

Which entrance test a student sits and when applications close depend on the target high school: some Orange County private high schools require the ISEE, some the HSPT, and some no test at all. EDUBUS works backward from each target high school’s requirements to plan grades, activities and test preparation across the K-8 years.

St. Irenaeus Parish School tuition for 2026-27 is tiered by grade or program, from $7,325 to $7,825. Over 9 years covering grades K-8, total tuition falls between $65,925 and $70,425, depending on which tier each grade falls in; ask the school for its grade-by-grade tuition table. This uses current-year rates and excludes registration fees, deposits, uniforms and activity fees; the school sets tuition for later years annually.

These are straight-line distances to St. Irenaeus Parish School from neighborhoods where many Irvine families live. Actual drive times will be longer; time the drive once during school hours:

Neighborhood	Straight-line distance
Woodbury	19.4 miles
Northwood	17.9 miles
Turtle Rock	18.8 miles
Portola Springs	20.8 miles

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

When you visit St. Irenaeus Parish School, confirm these points with the admissions office:

• Chinese program — the Academics page, the Grade Level Curriculum pages for every grade from TK up, the Physical Education page, the Art & Music page and the Staff Directory were all checked, and none lists any world l…
• Entrance exam — neither the Admissions page nor the Tuition & Fees page mentions an entrance test or assessment
• Average class size — the school website’s Academics page and School History page give no class size or student-teacher ratio (only 321 students and 30 educators school-wide)
• Tuition year — these rates are treated as 2026-27 because the Admissions page states that materials for the 2026-27 school year are open; the Tuition & Fees page itself carries no school year label and notes that r…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

EDUBUS counselors in Irvine work in both Chinese and English with families applying to St. Irenaeus Parish School. We track St. Irenaeus Parish 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.