Calvary Chapel Schools

Overview

Calvary Chapel Schools is a Christian K-12 private school in Santa Ana, California, serving grades K-12, founded in 1974, with about 743 students. The school does not publish tuition; ask for current figures when you book a visit. Religion classes are required, so confirm your family is comfortable with that before applying. The school offers 15 AP courses. The school accepts F-1 international students and issues the I-20 needed for a student visa.

Admissions

Entrance exam requirements are not published; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. Applications for fall entry open November 2 each year, and the school otherwise enrolls on a rolling basis year-round (school website, Admissions page). The process has four steps: Explore, meaning attend an Info Night, schedule a tour and complete the Interest Form; Apply, online through FACTS, with high school applicants required to upload recent report cards and a current transcript, as incomplete applications are not processed; Interview, which the admissions office reaches out to schedule; and Enroll, which means uploading immunization records and a birth certificate and paying the enrollment fee. The school website says admission decisions take into account the academic record, the discipline record, standardized test scores, enthusiasm for learning and the personal interview, but it does not require any particular outside test such as the ISEE or SSAT. International students (ICCS, grades 7-12) have a June 1, 2026 deadline for the 2026-27 school year, after which admission is rolling subject to space in classes and programs; students whose English is not yet strong enough may enroll in the Eagle International Academy (school website, International Student Admissions page)

The main entry points at a K-12 school are kindergarten, grade 6 and grade 9; seats in other grades open only when a family leaves. Plan on a 12-month runway: visit in the fall, submit materials and test in the winter, and receive decisions in the spring. Applications for mid-year grades can be filed at any time, but availability depends on that year’s openings.

Tuition and fees

The school website does not publish tuition for day students who are domestic US students. The Tuition & Financial Aid page says only that tuition is billed through the FACTS system with a choice of monthly payments or payment in full, and lists an annual Enrollment Fee of $600 and a Technology Fee of $150 that apply across all divisions; the tuition amount itself must be obtained during the FACTS enrollment process or by asking the school (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page; the identically named pages on calvaryschools.org and hs.calvaryschools.org have the same content). The only published figure is for international students: annual tuition for high school international students (ICCS) is $34,000 for the 2026-27 school year (school website, International Tuition & Fees page)

The annual Enrollment Fee of $600 and Technology Fee of $150 are charged per student and are nonrefundable; extracurriculars such as athletics, the arts, clubs, honors courses and day care are billed separately. For international students: a $200 application fee, a $600 enrollment fee, a $3,000 first-year new student fee, a $3,500 early admission deposit for the fall semester, a $150 technology fee, roughly $200 for uniforms, and homestay from about $21,000 for 10 months; the Eagle International Academy (EIA) English support program adds $5,000 on top of international tuition (school website, International Tuition & Fees page)

Financial aid: Need-based aid is applied for through FACTS Grant & Aid, with a $40 application fee paid directly to FACTS. The priority deadline for the 2026-27 school year is December 31, 2025; funds are limited and applications are processed in the order received, families must reapply each year, and aid recipients may not stack other discounts on top. Two additional grants are offered: a multi-child grant of up to $500 for each additional child (K-12, applied for directly through the school business office rather than through FACTS), and a $250 per child grant for members of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, which requires a pastor referral form. Aid is available only to full-time domestic K-12 students; preschool, PSP, IPE, ICCS, EIA and international students are not eligible (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page)

Academics and programs

• The high school offers 15 AP courses, 4 Honors courses and 6 dual enrollment courses in partnership with Vanguard University (school website, AP/Dual Enrollment page, noted as 2025-2026 school year data)
• The high school offers only two world language tracks, Spanish and French: Spanish I-III, Spanish III Honors and AP Spanish; French I-II, French III Honors and AP French (school website, Course Descriptions - Electives page)
• High school graduation requires 240 credits, including 4 years and 40 credits of Bible, 4 years of English, 3 years of math with a passing grade in Integrated Math I, 3.5 years of history, and 2 years of the same world language (school website, Graduation Course Requirements page)
• The high school has two signature pathways: STEAM / International Space Station Program (ISSP) and the Computer Science Track (school website, STEAM/ISS Program page, Computer Science Track page)
• 19 CIF athletic programs across the fall, winter and spring seasons (school website, high school FAQ page)
• High school students must complete 8 hours of community service each semester (school website, high school FAQ 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
Calvary Chapel Schools	Santa Ana	K-12	Not published	—	—	—
Bethel Baptist School	Santa Ana	K-12	$5,400	On-campus assessment	—	2.9 mi
Orangewood Academy	Garden Grove	K-12	$8,087	—	—	4.5 mi
Adelphia Classical Christian Academy	Orange	K-12	Not published	On-campus assessment	16	6.6 mi
Newport Christian School	Newport Beach	K-12	$9,912	ISEE	17	4.7 mi

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	9.5 miles
Northwood	7.0 miles
Turtle Rock	7.0 miles
Portola Springs	12.0 miles

The school does not run buses, so plan on driving or carpooling.

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Tuition figures — the Tuition & Financial Aid and Admissions pages on all three sites, calvaryschools.org, es.calvaryschools.org and hs.calvaryschools.org, list only the $600 Enrollment Fee and the $150 Technology Fee…
• Average class size — the school website does not publish an average class size or a student-teacher ratio; the home page, Admissions page, Tuition page and high school FAQ page were all checked
• College matriculation — the high school Academics and Guidance page was also checked and says only “Our students have attended a wide range of colleges, universities, vocational schools, and Bible colleges,” alongside descr…
• Entrance testing — the Admissions page says only that admission decisions consider “standardized test scores” and a personal interview, and does not specify the ISEE, SSAT, HSPT or an in-house test, so this cannot be d…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Calvary Chapel Schools’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.