Saint Joachim Catholic School

Saint Joachim Catholic School does not use a standardized entrance exam; admission uses an on-campus assessment or visit day.

The school publishes the following application details. The school website’s Admissions & Policies page states that any student may apply and that all applicants are assessed for school grade level readiness; admitted students must submit a birth certificate, a baptismal certificate if applicable and immunization records, and transfer students must also submit their prior transcripts. Age cutoffs follow California law and diocesan policy: preschool applicants must turn 3 by September 1, TK applicants 4, kindergarten applicants 5 and grade 1 applicants 6. The school website also has Admissions Events and Request a Tour pages, but it does not list specific application deadlines.

This school does not use a standardized entrance test. It assesses applicants on campus, so preparation centers on the visit day and the parent interview rather than test registration. Application dates are set by the school each year; ask the admissions office for the current calendar and plan backward from it.

Saint Joachim Catholic School tuition for 2026-27 is $9,195.

2026-2027 annual tuition for TK through grade 8: $9,195 for one child, $19,870 for two children, $29,495 for three and $39,160 for four. This page does not separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates; there is only one tier. Preschool is billed separately: $10,800 for the regular school year, August through June, and $2,300 for the six-week summer session, June through July, Monday through Thursday (school website, Tuition & Fees page).

TK-8 fees: registration fee $525, curriculum and student materials fee $350, safety fee $250, parent-teacher organization fee $38 and device fee $400; the grade 8 graduation fee is $400; and the yearbook fee is $25, which the school website states is charged to every family and provides a book to every family, at an actual cost of about $30. Family obligations are 20 service hours and $500 in fundraising each year. Extended care: TK-8 drop-in is $20 an hour, with monthly plans also available; preschool extended care, 2:00-6:00 p.m., is $22 an hour drop-in or a flat $650 a month. Athletic programs are charged by sport. Families using FACTS installment plans also pay the FACTS annual fee (school website, Tuition & Fees page). The school website does not publish a rate for international students.

Financial aid: Tuition assistance is applied for online through FACTS; the school website states that preschool through grade 8 (PS-8th) may apply, with applications at online.factsmgt.com/aid. The school website does not publish the share of families receiving aid or the average award (school website, Tuition & Fees page).

Academics and programs described on the Saint Joachim Catholic School website include:

• There is one class per grade, and the school website lists this “intimate class setting – one class per grade” among the school’s defining features (school website, Why St. Joachim page)
• Spanish is required from kindergarten through grade 8 (school website, Why St. Joachim page)
• 1:1 technology for K-8, with BTE Technology and Makerspace courses in K-5 (school website, Why St. Joachim page)
• Leveled math classes in grades 6-8 (school website, Why St. Joachim page)
• A full-time learning support teacher and counselor are on site (school website, Why St. Joachim page)
• Athletics include basketball, beach volleyball, flag football, the Newport-Mesa Soccer Classic, track and field, and volleyball; after-school enrichment includes art, basketball, chess, coding, cooking, Lego, piano, kidokinetics and STEM, and there are also a drama club, a choir, altar servers, student council and Academic Decathlon (school website, Why St. Joachim page)

These are the schools nearest to Saint Joachim Catholic 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
Saint Joachim Catholic School	K-8	$9,195	On-campus assessment	—
Page Academy — Costa Mesa Campus	K-8	$18,920	—	1.1 mi
Christ Lutheran School	K-8	$8,652	On-campus assessment	1.3 mi
Carden Hall	K-8	$20,760	On-campus assessment	1.7 mi
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic School	K-8	$12,380	On-campus assessment	2.0 mi

These are straight-line distances to Saint Joachim Catholic 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	10.4 miles
Northwood	9.5 miles
Turtle Rock	5.6 miles
Portola Springs	12.1 miles

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

When you visit Saint Joachim Catholic School, confirm these points with the admissions office:

• Enrollment — the CDE 2025-26 filing of 250 is used, because the About Us, Why St. Joachim and Accreditation pages on the school website do not publish enrollment
• Average class size — the school website says only that there is one class per grade, without giving a class size or student-teacher ratio
• International students — the school website has no information about international students or I-20s
• Transportation — the school website’s navigation (About Us, Admissions, Campus Life, Parents, Giving & Alumni) has no Transportation or school bus page, the fee list on the Tuition & Fees page includes no transportat…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

EDUBUS counselors in Irvine work in both Chinese and English with families applying to Saint Joachim Catholic School. We track Saint Joachim 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.