Independent schools in the South Bay run from small elementary programs to full college preparatory campuses, and several draw families from well outside the city they sit in. What follows is who is here, not who is best. We do not rank schools.
What private and independent schools are in the South Bay?
A significant share of South Bay families choose independent or parochial schools, and the options are not all where people assume they are. Three geography corrections first, because they come up constantly.
- Rolling Hills Preparatory School is in San Pedro, not on the Peninsula, despite the name.
- Nativity Catholic School is in Torrance, at 2371 West Carson Street.
- St. James School’s campus is in Torrance at 4625 Garnet Street, although the parish is in Redondo Beach. Families search it as a Redondo school.
Independent schools
| School | City | Grades | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chadwick School | Palos Verdes Peninsula | K-12, co-ed | 1935 |
| Vistamar School | El Segundo | 9-12, co-ed | Independent |
| Rolling Hills Preparatory School | San Pedro | Middle and high school, co-ed | 1981 |
| Peninsula Heritage School | Rolling Hills Estates | K-8, co-ed | circa 1961 |
| South Bay Christian School | Torrance | TK-8, co-ed | Serving since 1964 |
Chadwick sits on a 45 acre campus on the Peninsula and runs an outdoor education program from kindergarten through twelfth grade, plus a sister campus in Songdo, South Korea. Its 2026 to 2027 tuition is published at $45,880 for grades K through 5 and $53,760 for grades 6 through 12. Primary entry points are kindergarten, sixth, seventh and ninth grade.
Vistamar in El Segundo is a high school only, and publishes an average class size of 14 with students coming from 60 zip codes, which tells you it functions as a regional rather than a neighborhood school.
Rolling Hills Prep publishes 2026 to 2027 tuition at $28,500 for middle school and $39,500 for high school. One note: the Renaissance School, which operated alongside it for years, no longer appears as a separately branded institution and the name now describes a learning support track on the same campus. Confirm with the school how they want it named.
Montessori and early elementary
Peninsula Montessori has campuses in Rancho Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach and has operated here since 1978. Rolling Hills Montessori, South Bay Montessori in Torrance, Redondo Beach Montessori and Beach Cities Montessori in El Segundo cover roughly ages eighteen months through six, with several extending into elementary grades.
Independent, parochial and early learning programs change more often than public districts do. Enrollment windows, grade spans and tuition move year to year, and a school listed here may have changed either since we last checked. Confirm anything that matters to you with the school directly.
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