St. Pius V Catholic School

Overview

St. Pius V Catholic School is a Catholic K-8 private school in Buena Park, California, serving grades K-8, with about 224 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $7,575, 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

Entrance exam requirements are not published; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. The process on the school website’s Application Process page is brief: complete the online Inquiry Form or contact the admissions staff directly, and the school will call back to introduce the school and arrange a tour. The school website also has an Admitted Family Information page. It does not give an application deadline or open house dates, and it does not say whether an entrance assessment is required; call (714) 522-5313 to confirm.

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 TK through grade 8 in the 2026-2027 school year is $7,575 per student; this page does not separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates, and there is only one tier. Tuition may be paid in full at registration or in 10 or 12 installments through FACTS Tuition Management (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page).

The registration fee is $575 per student and the technology fee is $95. The school website does not spell out a tuition policy for families with more than one child, saying instead to consult the student handbook or call the school office at (714) 522-5313 (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page). The school website does not publish an application fee, the price difference between installment plans or a rate for international students.

Financial aid: Grant & Aid must be applied for through the online FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment, and all assistance requests are approved by the Diocese of Orange. The school website does not publish the share of families receiving aid or the average award; contact the school office (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page).

Academics and programs

• Full-day TK, age 4, and kindergarten, age 5, classes (school website, About Us page)
• A newly renovated STEM Lab; 1:1 Chromebooks for grades 2-8, with all classrooms networked and content-filtered (school website, About Us page)
• A departmentalized junior high for grades 6-8, with an advisory period and student leadership opportunities (school website, About Us page)
• A Learning Support Program and differentiated instruction, with nationally normed standardized testing (school website, About Us page)
• Music for TK through grade 5; grades 5-8 compete in the Parochial Athletic League (PAL) in soccer, football, volleyball and basketball, and TK-3 has Soccer Shots (school website, About Us page and Athletics page)
• Activities that connect faith and academics: the Chapman University Holocaust Art and Writing Contest, cross-grade Reading Buddies, schoolwide STEM activities and the grade 6 ECOS outdoor science camp (school website, Academics 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. Pius V Catholic School	Buena Park	K-8	$7,575	—	—	—
The Islamic Education School (TIES)	Anaheim	K-8	$7,000	—	—	2.5 mi
St. Irenaeus Parish School	Cypress	K-8	$7,325	—	—	3.2 mi
Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Valencia Dr. Campus	Fullerton	K-6	Not published	—	—	2.5 mi
Grace Christian School	Cypress	K-8	$7,525	—	—	4.4 mi

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $7,575, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $68,175 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $80,000. 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	18.4 miles
Northwood	15.5 miles
Turtle Rock	18.9 miles
Portola Springs	20.0 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Year founded — the About Us page, SPV At a Glance (part of the same page), Our Catholic Faith and Academics pages on the school website all omit the founding year, and the school website has no school history page
• Entrance testing — the Application Process page on the school website covers only the inquiry, the tour and contacting admissions, with no mention of an entrance assessment or interview
• Application deadline and open house dates — the admissions and calendar pages on the school website do not list them
• Enrollment — the CDE 2025-26 filing of 224 is used, because the school website does not publish enrollment
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

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