Orangewood Academy

Overview

Orangewood Academy is a Christian K-12 private school in Garden Grove, California, serving grades K-12, founded in 1956, with about 96 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $8,087 to $15,800, which puts it in the middle range among Orange County private schools at this level. Religion classes are required, so confirm your family is comfortable with that before applying. The school offers 10 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. The school website’s How To Apply page lists four steps: (1) submit an inquiry and the required materials online; (2) interview with principal Zaidy Olivarria; (3) the admissions committee reviews the file and notifies the family of the result; (4) after admission, complete registration and pay the tuition deposit. The school website does not list an application opening date or deadline. International students (International Students page) must also submit a copy of the passport, two letters of recommendation, transcripts from the past two years, official grade 9-12 transcripts and standardized test scores from the past two years, and must meet an English requirement: grades 7-8, iTEP SLATE Plus 2.0; grade 9, 3.2 or TOEFL iBT 50; grade 10, 3.4 or 55; grade 11, 3.5 or 60; grade 12, 3.6 or 65. Interviews are normally held in person, and Zoom may be used.

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’s Tuition & Financial Aid page sets rates by division in two columns, a standard rate and an “SDA Rate” for baptized Seventh-day Adventist member families, which is subsidized by the church. Standard rate: grades K-4 $9,267, grades 5-6 $9,370, grades 7-8 $12,786, grades 9-10 $15,765, grades 11-12 $15,800. SDA member rate: grades K-4 $8,087, grades 5-6 $8,190, grades 7-8 $11,146, grades 9-10 $14,341, grades 11-12 $14,351. Both rates carry an additional nonrefundable registration fee of $300 (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page)

The registration fee is $300, nonrefundable, and is charged at both the member and non-member rates. The school website also gives the amount of each of 11 installments: at the standard rate, K-4 $845, grades 5-6 $885, grades 7-8 $1,165, grades 9-10 $1,436 and grades 11-12 $1,440 per installment; at the SDA member rate, the corresponding amounts are $738, $748, $1,018, $1,309 and $1,310. International students, meaning those without a US birth certificate or proof of citizenship, pay a separate set of rates: grades K-6 $17,635, grades 7-8 $21,580, grades 9-12 $25,515, plus a nonrefundable $800 I-20 processing fee and the $300 registration fee, and the full amount is due in one payment after admission, by cash, check, wire transfer or credit card (school website, Tuition & Financial Aid page and International Students page)

Financial aid: The school website’s Tuition & Financial Aid page has a financial aid application portal with a Financial Aid Policy, Financial Aid Instructions and an application guide (also available in Spanish), and the page notes that financial aid applications for the 2026-2027 school year are now open. The school website does not publish the share of students receiving aid or the range of awards

Academics and programs

• AP courses rotate, and the school website lists 10: AP Spanish Language & Culture, AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Human Geography, AP English Literature & Composition, AP English Language & Composition, and AP Art & Design (2D and Drawing); a college-level Anatomy course is also offered (school website, High School page)
• The school website states that all students take AP courses in history and English and that every graduate completes at least 4 AP courses (school website, High School page)
• Academic support system: Mathspace for personalized math, IXL for reinforcement, Google Classroom, MAP Growth testing three times a year, and individual tutoring (school website, High School page)
• The elementary curriculum uses Wonders Reading, Big Ideas Math, McGraw Hill, Saxon Phonics, A Reason For Spelling and Handwriting, and Encounter Bible; grades 5-6 use Mathspace (school website, Elementary School page)
• Elementary music is divided by grade: handbells in K-2, recorder in grades 3-4 and guitar in grades 5-6, along with physical education and STEAM activities (school website, Elementary School page)
• Student life: ASB student government, National Honor Society, monthly field trips, overnight academic and spiritual retreats, and community service learning (school website, High School 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
Orangewood Academy	Garden Grove	K-12	$8,087	—	—	—
Bethel Baptist School	Santa Ana	K-12	$5,400	On-campus assessment	—	2.6 mi
Orange Crescent School	Garden Grove	K-12	$10,900	On-campus assessment	—	2.8 mi
The Open School	Santa Ana	1-12	$6,900	None	—	3.4 mi
Anaheim Discovery Christian School	Anaheim	K-12	$10,490	On-campus assessment	—	5.2 mi

Where students go next

The school website’s High School page lists colleges graduates have attended, including Seventh-day Adventist institutions such as La Sierra University, Oakwood University, Southern Adventist University, Pacific Union College, Walla Walla University and Andrews University, as well as UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, Boston University, University of Hawaii, Penn State, Pepperdine, Point Loma Nazarene and Dominican University of California. Alumni have gone on to graduate programs including the Loma Linda University schools of medicine, dentistry and public health, the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, the UCSF School of Medicine, and Southwestern Law School.

Students continuing internally generally do not test again, but families planning to move to a different high school in grade 9 should start preparing in the spring of grade 7.

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $8,087, 13 years covering grades K-12 come to roughly $105,131 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $134,000. 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	10.6 miles
Northwood	7.6 miles
Turtle Rock	10.4 miles
Portola Springs	12.6 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Tuition year — the tuition table on the school website’s Tuition & Financial Aid page is not itself labeled with a school year; the financial aid announcement on the same page reads “2026-2027 School Year Financial…
• Enrollment — the About Us, Academics and Admissions pages on the school website do not publish enrollment, so this page uses the CDE 2025-26 filing of 96 students
• Average class size — the school website publishes neither an average class size nor a student-teacher ratio; the High School page says only “small-school environment”
• Founding year — the school website’s About Us page says the school opened at its current Garden Grove site in 1956 and became a full secondary school in 1961, with roots going back further to an 1896 church school i…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Orangewood Academy’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.