Schools by city · Costa Mesa

The 7 Private Schools in Costa Mesa

Six of Costa Mesa's seven private schools end at grade 8, and the only one running through grade 12 is a Waldorf school. All sit 3.0 to 6.8 miles in a straight line from central Irvine, which makes them a close-in option for the elementary and middle school years.

7
private schools: $8,652–$20,390
starting tuition range (6 published): 3.0–6.8
miles, straight-line to central Irvine: 3
schools state they issue I-20s

Yellow dots are the 7 private schools in Costa Mesa; dashed rings are 5, 10 and 15 miles from central Irvine.

The 7 Private Schools in Costa Mesa: a good fit if

Your child is in elementary or middle school and you want a school within 7 straight-line miles of central Irvine
You want tuition under $10,000 a year for one child and are open to a Catholic or Lutheran school
You want your child taught in Mandarin in the early grades and are open to a trilingual immersion school
You need F-1 support for the elementary or middle school years

The 7 Private Schools in Costa Mesa: look elsewhere if

You need a private high school with AP courses: the only high school program here is at a Waldorf school, which does not offer AP
You need F-1 support for high school: all three schools that issue the I-20 end at grade 8
You want to apply with ISEE or SSAT scores: none of the seven requires either test

The 7 Private Schools in Costa Mesa: Grade Coverage and School List

Each row is a school and its bar shows the grades it offers. Together, private schools in Costa Mesa cover kindergarten through grade 12.

Elementary and K-8
K-12
High school

K-12 (1)

Waldorf School Orange County is the only private school in Costa Mesa that runs through grade 12. High school tuition for 2026-27 is $30,670, and no AP courses are offered.

Waldorf School Orange County (WSOC)K-12$20,390Exam not stated6.8 mi from Irvine

Elementary and K-8 (6)

All six cover K-8, and three of them issue the I-20. Every family here will apply again for high school after grade 8.

Filtered from each school’s official pages, verified 2026-09. Tuition is the published starting price; open a school for its full timeline, fees and counselor notes.

Costa Mesa’s seven private schools are mostly K-8

Costa Mesa has seven private schools; six cover K-8 and only one runs through grade 12.

School	Grades	Affiliation	From Irvine
Mariners Christian School	K-8	Christian	3.0 miles
Frontiers Academy	K-8	Non-sectarian	3.0 miles
St. John the Baptist Catholic School	K-8	Catholic parish school	4.2 miles
Saint Joachim Catholic School	K-8	Catholic parish school	5.7 miles
Page Academy’s Costa Mesa campus	K-8	Non-sectarian	6.1 miles
Christ Lutheran School	K-8	Lutheran	6.4 miles
Waldorf School Orange County	K-12	Waldorf, not religious	6.8 miles

Distances are straight-line miles to central Irvine, and all seven are also part of the private schools within 15 miles of Irvine. Waldorf School Orange County’s curriculum looks very different from a conventional private school: each morning opens with a long main lesson block, and the lower grades do not use standard textbooks.

What is missing from Costa Mesa’s private schools

Costa Mesa has no standalone private high school and no school that requires an entrance exam.

High school: The only path to grade 12 is Waldorf School Orange County.
AP courses: Waldorf School Orange County’s high school offers no AP courses and uses an unweighted 4.0 GPA.
Fit: It suits families committed to Waldorf education, not families who see AP coursework as the core of college preparation.
Entrance exams: None of the seven requires the ISEE, SSAT or HSPT.
F-1: The three schools that issue the I-20 all end at grade 8.
Plan ahead: Build high school into the plan when the K-8 school is chosen; start with other cities’ high school options on Orange County private schools by city.

Key point: Most children who attend elementary and middle school in Costa Mesa will move to a high school in another city for grade 9.

Tuition, admissions and F-1 at Costa Mesa private schools

Six schools publish tuition, and the annual rate for one child ranges from $8,652 to $30,670.

School	Year	Tuition, one child	Admissions	I-20
Christ Lutheran School	2026-27	Church member $8,652, community $9,652	On-campus assessment	Issues
Saint Joachim Catholic School	2026-27	TK through grade 8 $9,195, single rate for parishioners and non-parishioners	On-campus assessment	Not stated
St. John the Baptist Catholic School	2026-27	Five-day TK through grade 8 $9,742, single rate for parishioners and non-parishioners	On-campus assessment	Issues
Mariners Christian School	2026-27	$12,441 for TK to $16,340 for grades 6-8	On-campus assessment	Not stated
Page Academy’s Costa Mesa campus	2025-26	TK through grade 8 $18,920, the same at every grade	Not stated on website	Issues
Waldorf School Orange County	2026-27	$20,390 for kindergarten to $30,670 for high school	Not stated on website	Not stated
Frontiers Academy	Not published	Tuition not published	Not stated on website	Not stated

I-20: The school document an international student needs to apply for an F-1 visa; three schools in the table state that they issue it.
Faith requirement: Mariners Christian School requires at least one parent to be an active Christian and submit a church recommendation form.
Mandarin: Only Frontiers Academy has a Mandarin program on record; it is a Mandarin, Spanish and English trilingual immersion school.
Tuition basis: All tuition figures are the published year’s rates and are normally revised annually.

How Irvine families should choose among Costa Mesa’s seven private schools

Irvine families should settle on an educational tradition first, then weigh distance and cost.

Distance: Mariners Christian School and Frontiers Academy are nearest at 3.0 miles and Waldorf School Orange County is farthest at 6.8 miles; the full order is in the first table.
Budget first: Start with the three Catholic and Lutheran schools charging under $10,000 a year for one child.
F-1 support: Start with the three schools that issue the I-20.
Taught in Mandarin: For a child taught in Mandarin, the only option is Frontiers Academy.

Key point: Whichever school you choose, confirm at the same time where your child will attend grade 9.

What Irvine families should do next when choosing a Costa Mesa private school

Three steps come next: drive the route, list high schools and request details from schools.

Drive the route: Drive it on a weekday at the school’s actual arrival time, because the miles on this page are straight-line distances, not drive times.
List high schools: List candidate high schools for grade 9 while applying to K-8 schools, so the search does not start in a hurry in grade 8.
Request details: Ask any school that does not publish tuition or an entrance test for the current fee schedule and application steps.
Planning support: EDUBUS is based in Irvine and works on school selection and application planning; we can help a family put the K-8 and high school stages on one timeline.
More cities: For more cities and filters, see the Orange County private school finder.

The 7 Private Schools in Costa Mesa: Frequently Asked Questions

For Irvine families considering Costa Mesa private schools, how far away are they?

Measured as a straight line from each school to central Irvine, Costa Mesa's seven private schools sit between 3.0 and 6.8 miles away. The closest are Mariners Christian School and Frontiers Academy, both at 3.0 miles; the farthest is Waldorf School Orange County at 6.8 miles. These are straight-line distances, not drive times, so drive the route at the actual arrival time on a weekday before deciding.

For Irvine families whose child finishes grade 8 in Costa Mesa, how does high school work?

Costa Mesa has no standalone private high school. The only one of the seven that runs through grade 12 is Waldorf School Orange County, where high school tuition for 2026-27 is $30,670; it offers no AP courses and uses an unweighted 4.0 GPA. Families who want a conventional college-preparatory high school will need to look in other cities, and should draw up a high school list before grade 8.

For Irvine families applying to Costa Mesa private schools, is the ISEE or SSAT required?

None of Costa Mesa's seven schools lists an ISEE, SSAT or HSPT requirement in the school library. Christ Lutheran School, Mariners Christian School, Saint Joachim Catholic School and St. John the Baptist Catholic School use an on-campus assessment; Frontiers Academy, Page Academy's Costa Mesa campus and Waldorf School Orange County do not state an entrance test on their websites, so confirm with admissions before applying.

For international families living in Irvine, can a child attend a Costa Mesa private school?

Yes, but only through grade 8. Three Costa Mesa schools state that they issue the I-20, the school document an international student needs to apply for an F-1 visa: Christ Lutheran School, Page Academy's Costa Mesa campus and St. John the Baptist Catholic School. All three end at grade 8, so a student will need a separate high school that issues the I-20 for grade 9.

For Irvine families who want their child to learn Mandarin, which Costa Mesa private schools offer it?

Of the seven, only Frontiers Academy has a Mandarin program in the school library, and it uses Mandarin as a language of instruction: Mandarin accounts for 60% of teaching time in kindergarten through grade 3, math is taught in Mandarin through grade 5, and Mandarin drops to 30% in grades 6-8. Saint Joachim Catholic School, St. John the Baptist Catholic School and Waldorf School Orange County do not teach Mandarin; the library has no record for the other three. Frontiers Academy does not publish tuition, so request it from admissions.

Private Schools in Other Cities Near Irvine

7schoolsInside IrvineSeven schools, each covering part of the grade span and only one running K through 12, which is why most families who want private schooling commute out of the city.6schoolsNewport Beach, 6 schoolsNewport Beach's six private schools cover kindergarten through grade 12 and sit 3.9 to 7.4 miles in a straight line from central Irvine. Four of them require the ISEE or SSAT, and annual tuition for one child ranges from $9,912 to $58,100.4schoolsTustin, 4 schoolsAll four of Tustin's private schools end at grade 8 and sit 3.0 to 5.1 straight-line miles from central Irvine. Families living in Tustin will leave the city for high school, and the nearest options are in Orange, Santa Ana and Irvine.4schoolsLake Forest, 4 schoolsLake Forest's four private schools sit 7.9 to 9.4 straight-line miles from central Irvine. Two Christian schools run into the secondary grades, but one high school has 80 students and the other will graduate its first high school class only in 2028.3schoolsMission Viejo, 3 schoolsMission Viejo's three private schools sit 10.3 to 10.6 straight-line miles from central Irvine; one ends at grade 6 and two at grade 8. After that, the nearest private secondary schools are in Lake Forest, within two straight-line miles.9schoolsSanta Ana, 9 schoolsSanta Ana's nine private schools sit 3.9 to 7.4 miles from central Irvine in a straight line, and its four Catholic schools run from K-8 through high school inside one city, which suits Irvine families who want a Catholic path with a short commute.11schoolsCity of Orange, 11 schoolsNine of the 11 private schools in the City of Orange are K-8, and Orange Lutheran High School is the only high school. Lutheran families can go from K-8 through high school inside the city; Catholic K-8 graduates must leave the city for a Catholic high school.29citiesEvery Orange County cityEvery Orange County private school by city, with grades, tuition, entrance exams and distance from Irvine.

Filter Orange County Private Schools Another Way

ISEE / SSAT8 HSPT5 No entrance exam70 International / I-2044 Mandarin & AP Chinese20 Inside Irvine7 Near Irvine91

A Free 30-Minute Planning Call to See Your Child’s Next Step

Share the grade and the goal. An Irvine-based counselor reaches out within one business day with a first, actionable growth and admissions plan. Direction first, courses later.

Scan to reach a counselor on WeChatHotline: (949) 383-4877WeChatEDUBUSerCopy the ID and add a counselor in WeChat