Anaheim Discovery Christian School

Overview

Anaheim Discovery Christian School is a Christian K-12 private school in Anaheim, California, serving grades K-12, founded in 1986, with about 189 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $10,490, 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. Mandarin is offered. 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. Rolling admissions year-round. The school website states that it accepts students throughout the year and that families may apply in any month, and that they may call or email to schedule an on-campus or Zoom interview. All students, domestic and international, complete the same ADCS Registration Form; students on an F-1 student visa or changing status within the United States also complete the International Student (I-20) Application, and the school says it can issue an I-20 within 24 hours of receiving a complete file. The office page on the school website notes that interpreters who speak several Asian languages are available so parents can communicate in their own language. The school offers homestay placements that have been reviewed by the school and by the state (school website, Home page, Admission & Tuition page, Prospective Students page and Contact 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

Under the note that it is enrolling for the 2026-2027 school year, the school website’s Admission & Tuition page lists a single rate for grades 6-12: $10,490 paid in full for the year, or $10,990 in two installments, the first due with registration in September and the second by February 1. Tuition, once paid, is nonrefundable for any reason. Tuition for the preschool division, which starts at age 2, and for the elementary division, grades 1-5, is not published on the school website and must be requested from the school directly (school website, Admission & Tuition page and Preschool/Elementary page).

The registration fee has two tiers by grade and bundles in a number of other charges: $1,050 for grades 6-7 and 9-11, covering registration, books, the yearbook, field trips and school dances, and $1,100 for grades 8 and 12, covering those items plus the cap and gown. The international student application fee is $350. One point to note: the school website states that the enrollment contract is a two-year contract by default (1 year contracts are available upon special request only), so a one-year term requires a special request.

Academics and programs

• Math in grades 9-12 goes up to Calculus, and the sciences include Physics, Biology and Chemistry as well as EP, meaning college-level, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (school website, Academics page)
• The Language Lab offers Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean and German (school website, Academics page)
• Four levels of ESL, ESL 1 through ESL 4, although the school states explicitly that it does not offer a standalone ESL program and does not issue I-20s for language study alone; ESL must be taken alongside regular coursework, and international students must attend a six-week summer ESL course on campus in their first year (school website, Academics page)
• The grade 6-8 schedule consists of Bible, Pre-Algebra/Algebra, history, science, English, PE, music and worship, art and crafts, and ESL (school website, Academics page)
• Art and Graphic Design courses are also offered, and Biology is taught by a physician (school website, Academics page and About page)
• Magi athletics compete in CIF, with golf, boys and girls basketball, track and field, and cross country (school website, Home page and Magi Athletics 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
Anaheim Discovery Christian School	Anaheim	K-12	$10,490	On-campus assessment	—	—
Eastside Christian Schools	Fullerton	K-12	$7,725	—	—	4.0 mi
Acaciawood Preparatory Academy	Anaheim	K-12	$7,570	On-campus assessment	—	4.3 mi
Orangewood Academy	Garden Grove	K-12	$8,087	—	—	5.2 mi
The Open School	Santa Ana	1-12	$6,900	None	—	5.2 mi

Where students go next

The school website’s Home page says that over the past 18 years the school has graduated more than a thousand students and that colleges attended in the most recent year include UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, NYU, University of Texas, Penn State and California Baptist University; the About page quotes the principal as saying that 100% of students who apply to four-year universities are admitted. All of this is the school’s own account; the school website posts no class-by-class matriculation list or School Profile, so none of it can be verified.

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 $10,490, 13 years covering grades K-12 come to roughly $136,370 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $174,000. 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	13.0 miles
Northwood	10.3 miles
Turtle Rock	14.8 miles
Portola Springs	14.3 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• School name — the CDE listing spells the name “Anaheim Discovery Christian SChool” with a capitalization error; it has been corrected to Anaheim Discovery Christian School, the official spelling in the header of t…
• Accreditation — the school website’s homepage and its About, Academics, Admission & Tuition, Contact and Prospective Students pages contain no accreditation name at all, no WASC, ACSI, NCPSA or Cognia, and nothing h…
• Preschool and grade 1-5 tuition — the Preschool/Elementary page gives only contact information, and the rate table on the Admission & Tuition page covers only grades 6-12
• Tuition year labeling — the body text of the Admission & Tuition page says the school is enrolling students for the 2026-2027 school year, but the rate table itself carries no school year label; this entry records it as 202…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Anaheim Discovery Christian 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.