TVT Community Day School (Tarbut V'Torah)

Overview

TVT Community Day School (Tarbut V’Torah) is a Jewish K-12 private school in Irvine, California, serving grades K-12, founded in 1991, with about 844 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $37,285 to $47,385, which puts it in the upper 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 22 AP courses.

Admissions

No standardized entrance exam; admission uses an on-campus assessment or visit day.

The school publishes the following application details. Applications are accepted for every grade from TK through grade 12; TK applicants must turn 4 by September 1. The online application for the 2027-28 school year opens October 1, 2026, and the Priority Admission Deadline for every grade is February 1, 2027, which is also the deadline for financial aid applications. Decisions are released in late February or early March, enrollment contracts are due within 10 business days of an offer, and applications received after the deadline are considered on a rolling basis as space allows. The process: submit an inquiry, visit the campus (the school website notes this is optional), complete the online application and pay the nonrefundable application fee, submit the required documents, optionally apply separately for financial aid through Clarity, bring the student to campus for a visit and assessment, receive the decision, and sign the contract. The assessment format varies by division: TK and kindergarten use an interactive group assessment; grades 1-5 may have either an assessment or a shadow day that includes an individual assessment, classroom time and interaction with teachers; middle and upper school applicants have a visit and assessment. The FAQ on the school website states “We look at test scores as one part of your child’s story”; transcripts, teacher questionnaires, the student’s performance on campus and staff feedback carry equal weight, and neither the ISEE nor the SSAT is required. Qualified siblings of current students receive priority but must meet the same admission standards. Open houses: middle and upper school on October 8 at 9:30 a.m. and lower school on November 12 at 9:30 a.m., both held on regular school days. In addition, families who submit the application and all supporting materials by February 1 receive a $1,000 tuition credit (school website, Apply 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

$37,285 per year (TK-5), $41,085 per year (6-8), $47,385 per year (9-12) (2026-27, school website, Affording TVT page)

The school website states that beyond tuition families should budget for activity fees, overnight trips, Learning Lab, after-school care, athletics and Immersion experiential programs, which vary by grade and by participation; details are in the downloadable 2026-27 Schedule of Fees on the school website. For families receiving financial assistance, some ancillary fees such as the Learning Center fee and athletics fees are reduced in proportion to the award. Tuition may be paid in 1, 3, 9 or 11 installments, with a 10% first payment due at contract signing. The school strongly recommends the Tuition Protection Plan (TPP) for families who pay in full, and requires it for families who choose an installment plan. Admitted families must return the enrollment contract and pay the nonrefundable enrollment deposit and first installment within 10 business days. The application fee is described as a “nonrefundable application fee” but the school website does not list the amount; the Clarity financial aid application carries a small processing fee whose amount is likewise not listed. In addition, applicants who submit the application and all materials by February 1 receive a $1,000 tuition credit (school website, Apply page).

Financial aid: All assistance is need-based and is assessed through the third-party platform Clarity. The Affording TVT page on the school website states “33% of families receive financial assistance” and “Over $5 million of financial assistance awarded every year,” while the Upper School Profile 2025-26 records more than $5.4 million awarded this school year, covering 34% of families. Timeline: applications for new families open December 1 and close February 1, with awards announced in early March alongside the admission decision and enrollment contract; returning families may apply from early November, with a December 1 deadline and awards announced February 1. The school website states that the financial aid process is entirely separate from admission review: “TVT does not consider a family’s financial circumstances in making admission decisions.” Aid must be reapplied for each year, divorced or separated parents must each submit a separate Clarity application with supporting documents, and families whose finances change suddenly through divorce, job loss or investment losses may file an appeal. The school website does not publish the range of individual family awards.

Academics and programs

• 22 AP courses plus 26 Honors courses, including AoPS mathematics, linear algebra and differential equations, data science and artificial intelligence, and machine learning and robotics (Upper School Profile 2025-26)
• Signature programs: Inquiry & Innovation, Engineering & Computer Science, Mathematics, Visual & Performing Arts, and Immersions experiential learning (school website, Academics)
• Jewish curriculum: Jewish Studies is required every year, with 40 credits required for high school graduation; Hebrew is required in TK through grade 8 and optional in grades 9-12, and since the 2022-23 school year high school students are no longer required to take Hebrew (school website, Jewish Life & Learning page; Upper School Profile 2025-26)
• A school-wide Kabbalat Shabbat every Friday morning, led in song by students to welcome Shabbat, with early dismissal for the whole school on Fridays; more than 10 Jewish holidays are observed over the year (school website, Jewish Life & Learning and FAQ pages)
• A grade 11 Capstone trip to Israel and Poland, preceded by a full year of seminar study on the Holocaust and Israeli history. The School Profile on the school website notes that the Class of 2026 was unable to travel because of the war in Gaza and instead carried out community service and development projects in Orange County and Los Angeles County (Upper School Profile 2025-26)
• Upper school students must complete at least 25 hours of community service each year, which can be accumulated through Tikkun Olam service days and service-focused Immersions (Upper School Profile 2025-26)

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
TVT Community Day School (Tarbut V’Torah)	Irvine	K-12	$37,285	On-campus assessment	—	—
Newport Christian School	Newport Beach	K-12	$9,912	ISEE	17	2.3 mi
Waldorf School Orange County (WSOC)	Costa Mesa	K-12	$20,390	—	—	6.7 mi
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School	San Juan Capistrano	K-12	$37,000	ISEE	—	13.5 mi
The Geneva School	Lake Forest	K-11	$12,000	On-campus assessment	15	8.7 mi

Where students go next

Of the 52 members of the Class of 2025, 88% enrolled at four-year colleges (school website, Upper School Profile 2025-26)

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 $37,285, 13 years covering grades K-12 come to roughly $484,705 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $620,000. 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	6.7 miles
Northwood	6.3 miles
Turtle Rock	0.9 miles
Portola Springs	9.2 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Chinese program — the Lower School, Middle School and Upper School division pages and the related Academics sections of the school website were each opened, and none lists a world language course catalog. The only pla…
• F-1 students — the Admissions, Apply and FAQs pages of the school website make no mention of international students, SEVP or the I-20, and none mentions ESL, so this cannot be determined
• Transportation — the school website navigation (About, Admissions, Academics, Program Highlights, Character, Student Life, Community, Support TVT) has no Transportation or school bus section, and the “The TVT Experie…
• Average class size — the Upper School page of the school website and the School Profile give only an 8:1 student-teacher ratio and a 26:1 college counselor ratio, and do not publish class sizes
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track TVT Community Day School (Tarbut V’Torah)’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.