Arborland Montessori Children's Academy — Valencia Dr. Campus

Overview

Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Valencia Dr. Campus is an independent, non-sectarian K-8 private school in Fullerton, California, serving grades K-6, founded in 1988, with about 52 students. The school does not publish tuition; ask for current figures when you book a visit. Mandarin is offered.

Admissions

Entrance exam requirements are not published; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. The 2026-27 school year runs from August 10, 2026 to May 26, 2027 (per the parent handbook; the school website Admissions page mistakenly gives the end date as May 26, 2026). New students submit a full set of enrollment documents: New Student Application for Admission 2026-2027, Enrollment Agreement, Parent’s Report, Physician’s Report (Primary level) or Health Examination Report (elementary level), Emergency Medical Consent, two parental rights notices, Personal Rights, and Identification and Emergency Information, along with California school immunization records. Re-enrollment applications from returning students for 2026-27 are due February 6, 2026. When a class is full, families may pay the application fee and deposit to join the waitlist, and the handbook states that children transferring from one Arborland campus to another have priority on the waitlist and in placement. The school website strongly encourages families to tour both campuses before deciding between them (school website, Admissions page; Parent Handbook PDF).

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

The school website does not publish tuition, and this is the same for both campuses. In the “Admission & Enrollment” section of the school’s Parent Handbook, downloadable from the school website Parent’s Corner page, it states plainly: “Please call the school for current tuition and fees.” There is no fee table anywhere in the 45-page handbook. The handbook describes only the payment structure: a nonrefundable annual registration fee and a tuition deposit are paid once each year, and tuition is calculated over 180 school days (August 10, 2026 to May 26, 2027) and may be paid in 10 installments, with the deposit applied to the final month’s tuition, the installment due April 25, 2027 (school website, Parent Handbook PDF).

Miscellaneous fees published in the handbook, which apply across the school: late payment charges that increase by day ($10 after the 1st of the month, $20 after the 3rd, $30 after the 5th); a nonrefundable $200 re-registration fee to return after withdrawing; a $30 charge for each returned check or failed batch credit card payment; an additional $300 per billing period for children who are not toilet trained; and holiday care over winter break, summer break, and spring break at $39 per day, open only to enrolled students and requiring advance registration and payment. Payments run through Tuition Express, using a bank account or credit card drafted automatically on the 1st of each month, and statements are available at myprocare.com (school website, Parent Handbook PDF).

Academics and programs

• Montessori mixed-age classes: the school website states that it uses mixed-age classrooms in which older students help younger ones in a non-competitive environment. Student-teacher ratios are 1:4 for infants, 1:6 for young children, and 1:12 for elementary (school website home page, Programs page, Teachers & Staff page)
• The half-day toddler class is offered only at this campus: in the schedule table in the Parent Handbook, Toddler Half-day (8:30am-12:00 noon) is listed for the Valencia campus and left blank for the Hughes campus, while full-day Toddler and Primary (8:30am-3:00pm) and half-day Primary are offered at both campuses (school website, Parent Handbook PDF)
• Elementary students in grades 1-6 may choose Spanish or Mandarin Chinese as a world language: the school website Elementary page lists Spanish and Mandarin Chinese side by side under the core subject “World Languages,” and the elementary curriculum section of the Parent Handbook likewise states that students choose one of the two (school website, Elementary page; Parent Handbook PDF)
• Mandarin bilingual classrooms at the infant, toddler, and Primary levels: the school website Teachers & Staff page labels Room A (Mrs. Sheri Salzman) and Room C (Ms. Wang Lao Shi) as “English - Mandarin Chinese” classes and Room B as an “English - Spanish” class (school website, Teachers & Staff page)
• An elementary curriculum oriented around Montessori Cosmic Education: the core is history and social science, language arts, science, political and economic geography, geometry and math, and world languages, while enrichment covers music, art, physical education, computers, performing arts, journalism, public speaking, and character education. The school website emphasizes moving from the concrete to the symbolic to the abstract, and that students choose their own work and partners while teachers set limits where necessary (school website, Elementary page)
• The Primary program (ages 2.5-6) is organized around the five Montessori areas: practical life, sensorial, language (letter sounds taught before letter names), math and geometry, and geography and culture, plus science and nature, music and movement, crafts, and character development (school website, Primary 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
Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Valencia Dr. Campus	Fullerton	K-6	Not published	—	—	—
Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Hughes Dr. Campus	Fullerton	K-8	Not published	—	—	1.2 mi
The Islamic Education School (TIES)	Anaheim	K-8	$7,000	—	—	1.3 mi
IvyCrest Montessori Private School — Fullerton Campus	Fullerton	K-6	Not published	—	—	3.6 mi
Minaret Academy	Anaheim	K-8	Not published	On-campus assessment	—	4.1 mi

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	16.8 miles
Northwood	14.0 miles
Turtle Rock	18.0 miles
Portola Springs	18.2 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Tuition — the school website has no tuition page. The “Admission & Enrollment” section of the 45-page Parent Handbook reads “Please call the school for current tuition and fees.”, and the handbook contains no …
• Accreditation — the school website About page says only that teachers hold AMI or AMS Montessori credentials and that the school is recognized by the Orange County Department of Education. There is no statement of a…
• Entrance exam — the school website Admissions page lays out all three tracks, for new students, returning students, and Junior High. New students need only submit the registration packet and immunization records, an…
• Average class size — the school website gives only student-teacher ratios (1:4 for infants, 1:6 for young children, 1:12 for elementary) and does 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 Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Valencia Dr. Campus’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.