Abiding Savior Lutheran School

Overview

Abiding Savior Lutheran School is a Lutheran K-8 private school in Lake Forest, California, serving grades K-8, with about 244 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $10,500 to $11,100, 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 accepts F-1 international students and issues the I-20 needed for a student visa.

Admissions

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

The school publishes the following application details. The 2026-2027 Admissions Requirements Checklist on the school website sets out the process: apply online at enroll.asls.school; pay the non-refundable registration fee to hold a place; submit a birth certificate, immunization records and, for grades 5-8, a sports physical form; all new students from K through grade 8 take a placement assessment arranged by the school’s own teachers, with an assessment fee of $89 for Kindergarten and $50 for grades 1-8; submit the last two years of report cards, standardized test scores and a teacher recommendation form; and the admissions office schedules a family interview with the parents and the principal. The admissions director is Yesi Naber, at 949-830-1461, ext. 2113.

The main entry points at a K-8 school are kindergarten and grade 6. Younger applicants are usually evaluated through an on-campus visit, while most applicants above grade 5 need an ISEE score. Start in the fall of the year before entry: visit first to confirm the school is a fit, then decide whether to register for testing.

Tuition and fees

For the 2026-2027 school year (school website tuition PDF): full-day Kindergarten is $10,500 and grades 1 through 8 are $11,100; half-day TK and half-day Kindergarten are both $7,200. All of these are cash prices. Tuition is billed annually and may be paid through FACTS in 12 installments, from June 2026 through May 2027, or in 10 installments, beginning June 2026 and continuing from September 2026 through May 2027. The school website does not publish the amount of the reduction for members of the congregation.

Registration fees, which are non-refundable and non-transferable: $475 for TK, $550 for Kindergarten and $700 for grades 1-8, plus a materials fee of $125 per student. The registration and materials fees cover textbooks, student supplies, emergency supplies, student insurance, Field Day, a spirit shirt, Art Masters, locker fees for grades 5-8 and the yearbook. Credit card payments carry an additional processing fee. A family may take only one of the three forms of assistance: the Active Member Church Grant, for active members of the congregation, by application; the Multi-Student Discount; or the LCMS Full-Time Worker Grant, for LCMS full-time church workers, by application. The school website does not publish the amounts. Students entering after September 16 are charged tuition prorated by days enrolled, while the registration and materials fees are not prorated.

Financial aid: Need is assessed through FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment, with a $45 application fee that is non-refundable and paid by credit card at submission. The timeline for the 2026-2027 school year: applications open February 1, 2026, close March 31, 2026, and results are emailed by April 30, 2026. Awards are made one year at a time and must be reapplied for annually, and financial aid cannot be combined with the school’s other discounts (school website, Tuition & Fees page).

Academics and programs

• Spanish is taught twice a week from TK through grade 5 by a dedicated Spanish teacher, and the curriculum PDF also shows American Sign Language taught alongside music (school website, 2026-2027 curriculum PDF, Staff Directory)
• Grades 7 and 8 have an electives system; the music track includes band, choir and handbells, and there are also scouts, athletics, chess, dance and after-school care (school website, FAQ)
• The Student Success Center is run by a resource teacher placed by Lutheran Special Education Ministries, who provides individualized support for students who need curriculum accommodations; the school website states plainly that it cannot serve students with severe learning or behavioral disabilities (school website, FAQ, Staff Directory)
• Grades 3 through 8 take the NWEA MAP assessment three times a year (school website, FAQ)
• An upper-grade field study tradition: a gold rush camp in grade 4, colonial life at Riley’s Farm in grade 5, a week of outdoor education at Arrowhead Lutheran Camp in grade 6, marine science in grade 7 and Washington, D.C. in grade 8 (school website, FAQ)
• International student program: the school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students and to issue I-20s. Applicants take an English proficiency test at entry, and those who do not meet the standard must take ESL. The number of international students in each class is deliberately limited, and students must enroll for at least one school year (school website, International Students 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
Abiding Savior Lutheran School	Lake Forest	K-8	$10,500	On-campus assessment	—	—
The Camino School	Laguna Woods	K-8	$13,900	On-campus assessment	19	1.8 mi
Heritage Christian School (Elementary Campus)	Mission Viejo	K-6	$11,515	On-campus assessment	20	2.5 mi
Montessori on the Lake	Lake Forest	K-8	$20,000	On-campus assessment	—	0.7 mi
Stratford School – Mission Viejo	Mission Viejo	K-8	$21,080	On-campus assessment	—	1.8 mi

Where students go next

The FAQ on the Admissions page of the school website, under “How do your students do in high school and in life?”, states that about half of graduates go on to local public high schools and the other half to Lutheran high schools in Orange County, either Orange Lutheran High School in Orange or Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine. The same page says graduates tend to do well on the Lutheran high schools’ placement tests, with many entering honors and AP courses. The school website does not publish year-by-year or school-by-school numbers.

Schools in our guide library that appear on this list: Crean Lutheran High School.

Applying to high school from here usually begins in the spring of grade 7: sit the ISEE or HSPT in the fall of grade 8, then submit materials between November and January. EDUBUS works backward from each target high school’s requirements to plan grades, activities and test preparation across the K-8 years.

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $10,500, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $94,500 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $111,000. 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	5.9 miles
Northwood	8.5 miles
Turtle Rock	6.9 miles
Portola Springs	6.1 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Founding year — the About Us page, the School home page and the FAQ on the school website do not give the year the school was founded
• Amount of the member grant — the 2026-2027 tuition PDF on the school website lists only the Active Member Church Grant, by application, without publishing the amount of the reduction, so the low tuition figure is the full-day Ki…
• Average class size — the FAQ on the school website gives a ceiling and a range, no more than 20 in TK and K, no more than 25 in grades 1-8, and typically 18 to just over 20, rather than an average
• Transportation — the School home page, About Us, Admissions and Student Life pages and the TK-8 curriculum PDF on the school website have no Transportation, Bus or Carpool page or description, and the fee schedule ca…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Abiding Savior Lutheran School’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.