Schools by city · Tustin

The 4 Private Schools in Tustin

All 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.

4
private schools: $9,200–$27,354
starting tuition range (3 published): 3.0–5.1
miles, straight-line to central Irvine: 1
school states it issues I-20s

Yellow dots are the 4 private schools in Tustin; dashed rings are 5, 10 and 15 miles from central Irvine.

The 4 Private Schools in Tustin: a good fit if

Your child is in elementary or middle school, you live in Tustin, and you want a private school close to home
Budget comes first and you are open to a Catholic or Lutheran school costing $9,200 to $11,150 a year for one child
You want a non-sectarian K-8 school and can accept higher tuition
You need F-1 support for the elementary or middle school years

The 4 Private Schools in Tustin: look elsewhere if

You want to finish high school in Tustin: all four private schools here end at grade 8
You want your child to study Mandarin at school: the school library records no Mandarin course at any of the four
You want to apply with ISEE, SSAT or HSPT scores: none of the four requires these tests

The 4 Private Schools in Tustin: Grade Coverage and School List

Each row is a school and its bar shows the grades it offers. Hatched columns are grades no private school in Tustin offers (9-12), so those years mean a school in another city.

Elementary and K-8
K-12
High school
No private school in the city

Elementary and K-8 (4)

All four run from preschool through grade 8: two Catholic, one Lutheran and one non-sectarian. 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.

All four of Tustin’s private schools end at grade 8

All four of Tustin’s private schools run from preschool through grade 8, with no high school and no K-12 school.

School	Affiliation	To central Irvine (straight line)
St. Cecilia Catholic School	Catholic parish school	3.0 miles
Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School – Tustin	Run by a Catholic religious order in communion with the Diocese of Orange	4.1 miles
Red Hill Lutheran School	Lutheran	4.2 miles
Fairmont North Tustin	Non-sectarian, located in the unincorporated community of North Tustin	5.1 miles

Distances are measured as a straight line from each school to central Irvine, listed from nearest to farthest.

Key point: For families living in Tustin these four are the shortest commute; all of them also appear on the list of private schools within 15 miles of Irvine.

What is missing from Tustin’s private schools

Tustin’s private schools include no high school program and no school that requires an entrance exam.

High school: Every child in a Tustin private school will move to a high school in another city for grade 9.
Entrance exams: No school requires the ISEE, SSAT or HSPT.
Mandarin: The school library records no Mandarin course at any of them.
I-20: Only Fairmont North Tustin issues the I-20.
Exam-based high schools: For example, Mater Dei High School requires the HSPT (the entrance exam used by Catholic high schools).

Key point: If the target high school requires an entrance exam, preparation belongs in the plan during the K-8 years; see Orange County private schools that require the HSPT.

Private schools near Tustin for families who live there

Within five straight-line miles of Tustin, 11 private schools in other cities are also available.

Reference point: The average location of Tustin’s four private schools, 4.0 straight-line miles from central Irvine.
By city: Five in Orange, five in Santa Ana and one in Irvine.
By level: Six are elementary or K-8, three are high schools and two are K-12.

For high school, start with these five schools that run through grade 12:

School	City	Grades	Distance	Note
Adelphia Classical Christian Academy	Orange	K-12	2.8 miles	Classical Christian school with three on-campus days a week
The Open School	Santa Ana	1-12	2.9 miles	Self-directed democratic school with no set timetable or exams
Mater Dei High School	Santa Ana	9-12	3.9 miles	Catholic, requires the HSPT
Cristo Rey Orange County High School	Santa Ana	9-12	4.7 miles	Catholic work-study high school that admits only low-income families
Pacific Academy (Irvine Campus)	Irvine	7-12	4.9 miles	Issues the I-20

A little farther out, Crean Lutheran High School is 5.6 miles away and Orange Lutheran High School is 5.8 miles away. Nearby options for the elementary years:

School	City	Grades	Distance
Irvine Hebrew Day School (IHDS)	Santa Ana	K-6	2.0 miles
St. Anne Parish School	Santa Ana	K-8	3.0 miles
Holy Family Catholic School	Orange	K-8	3.3 miles
St. John’s Lutheran School	Orange	K-8	3.6 miles

Fuller lists are on the Santa Ana and Orange city pages and on private schools inside Irvine.

How Tustin families should choose among the four private schools

Settle on an educational tradition first, then weigh budget and F-1 needs.

Budget first: Start with St. Cecilia Catholic School and Red Hill Lutheran School, where 2026-27 tuition for one child falls between $9,200 and $11,150.
Red Hill Lutheran School: Received National Blue Ribbon recognition in 2020 and publishes class-size caps of 20 to 22 students in K-1 and no more than 26 in grades 6-8.
Non-sectarian or F-1: The one option is Fairmont North Tustin, whose tuition is the highest of the four Fairmont K-8 campuses.
Request tuition: Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School – Tustin is redesigning its website, so request tuition, fees and financial aid details directly from the school.
Drive the route: Once the direction is set, drive it on a weekday at the school’s actual arrival time, because every mileage on this page is a straight-line distance.

Key point: List grade 9 candidates while applying to a K-8 school rather than searching in grade 8.

EDUBUS is based in Irvine and works on school selection and application planning, and can help Tustin families put the K-8 and high school stages on one timeline. More cities and filters are in the Orange County private school finder.

The 4 Private Schools in Tustin: Frequently Asked Questions

For families in Tustin near Irvine, where can a child attend private high school after grade 8?

Tustin has no private high school. Using the average location of Tustin's four private schools as the reference point, five schools that run through grade 12 lie within five straight-line miles: Adelphia Classical Christian Academy (Orange, K-12, 2.8 miles), The Open School (Santa Ana, 1-12, 2.9 miles), Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, 9-12, 3.9 miles), Cristo Rey Orange County High School (Santa Ana, 9-12, 4.7 miles) and Pacific Academy (Irvine Campus) (Irvine, 7-12, 4.9 miles). A little farther out, Crean Lutheran High School and Orange Lutheran High School sit at 5.6 and 5.8 miles. These are straight-line distances, not drive times.

For Irvine families considering Tustin private schools, what does tuition look like?

Three of the four publish 2026-27 tuition. St. Cecilia Catholic School charges $9,200 for the first child in K-8; Red Hill Lutheran School charges $10,950 for K-5 and $11,150 for grades 6-8; Fairmont North Tustin charges $27,354 for JK-5 and $31,767 for grades 6-8 (pay-in-full price). Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School – Tustin does not publish tuition and lists only a $22 new-student application fee. St. Cecilia Catholic School also charges an $800 annual family fee and a $500 registration fee, and requires 40 volunteer hours per family, with unfinished hours billed at $40 each up to $1,600.

For international families in Tustin near Irvine, can a child attend a private school in the city?

Yes, but only through grade 8, and only Fairmont North Tustin states that it issues the I-20, the school document an international student needs to apply for an F-1 visa. Its 2026-27 international tuition is $37,500 for JK-5 and $46,500 for grades 6-8, plus a $500 registration fee, a $1,650 new-student orientation fee and $3,600 for student health insurance. The school library has no I-20 record for the other three. For grade 9 a student will need a high school that issues the I-20; nearby Mater Dei High School and Pacific Academy (Irvine Campus) both do.

For Irvine families applying to Tustin private schools, what testing is involved?

None of the four requires the ISEE, SSAT or HSPT. Red Hill Lutheran School uses an on-campus assessment: a school screening for K-1 ($50) and an entrance assessment by the principal for grades 2-8. Fairmont North Tustin also uses an on-campus assessment and asks for transcripts, with recommendation letters for some grades and an English proficiency test for international students. St. Cecilia Catholic School's admissions page does not mention any entrance test or assessment; Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School – Tustin gives each family its timeline individually after a scheduled tour.

For Irvine families driving to Fairmont North Tustin, why does the address say Santa Ana?

Fairmont North Tustin sits in the unincorporated community of North Tustin, and both its mailing address and its California Department of Education filing read Santa Ana 92705, so navigate by the street address, 12421 Newport Ave. The campus currently has no bus service, and Spanish is the only world language offered. The school's website says most students continue to Fairmont Preparatory Academy in the same network, which is in Anaheim, 10.8 straight-line miles from Fairmont North Tustin.

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 $58,100.7schoolsCosta Mesa, 7 schoolsSix 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.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

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