Arborland Montessori Children's Academy — Hughes Dr. Campus

Overview

Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Hughes Dr. Campus is an independent, non-sectarian K-8 private school in Fullerton, California, serving grades K-8, founded in 1988, with about 129 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 calendar runs from August 10, 2026 to May 26, 2027 (per the parent handbook; the school website’s Admissions page misprints the end date as May 26, 2026). New students must submit a full registration packet: New Student Application for Admission 2026-2027, Enrollment Agreement, Parent’s Report, Physician’s Report, Emergency Medical Consent, two parental rights notices, Personal Rights, and Identification and Emergency Information, along with California school immunization records. The re-enrollment deadline for returning students for 2026-27 is February 6, 2026. Junior High (grades 7-8, offered only at this Hughes campus) has a more demanding process: an online student application, the 2026-2027 Enrollment Application, an online parent/guardian application, a $100 application fee, one letter of recommendation from a teacher, coach or mentor, and an interview. The school website strongly recommends touring both campuses before deciding which one to attend (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. In its “Admission & Enrollment” section, the school’s Parent Handbook (downloadable from the school website’s Parent’s Corner page) 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; tuition is calculated over 180 school days (August 10, 2026 through 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).

Individual fees published in the handbook: late payment charges increase by the day ($10 after the 1st of the month, $20 after the 3rd, $30 after the 5th); a nonrefundable $200 re-registration fee applies to students who withdraw and later return; returned checks or failed credit card batch charges are $30 each; children who are not toilet trained are charged an additional $300 per installment; holiday care during winter, summer and spring breaks is $39 per day, is open only to enrolled students, and requires advance registration and payment; Junior High (grades 7-8) does not offer after-school care. Payments run through Tuition Express (linked to a bank account or credit card, debited 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 toddlers and 1:12 for elementary and junior high (school website home page, Programs page, Teachers & Staff page)
• In the elementary years (grades 1-6), the world language is a choice of Spanish or Mandarin Chinese: the school website’s Elementary page lists Spanish and Mandarin Chinese together under the core subject “World Languages,” and the elementary and junior high curriculum sections of the Parent Handbook likewise state that students choose between Spanish and Chinese (school website, Elementary page; Parent Handbook PDF)
• The infant/toddler and Primary levels have Mandarin bilingual classrooms: the school website’s 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)
• Junior High (grades 7-8) is offered only at this Hughes campus: in the Parent Handbook’s daily schedule, the Junior High Grades 7, 8 row lists 8:00am-3:45pm for the Hughes campus and is blank for the Valencia campus, and the drop-off and pick-up table states that Junior High Room 103 gathers at the Room 103 parking lot gate from 7:50 to 8:00. The school website describes the goal of the junior high years as building social, emotional and economic independence through rigorous academics and service learning (school website, Junior High page; Parent Handbook PDF)
• Regular participation in the Academic Pentathlon: the school website lists 2nd place overall and 2nd place in Super Quiz in the grade 7-8 division in 2026, 4th place overall in 2025, and 2nd place in Super Quiz in 2022; the sixth-grade division has also competed (school website, Junior High page, Elementary page)
• Jupiter Ed home-school platform: elementary and junior high parents can follow weekly coursework and assignment progress in real time at JupiterEd.com; the school website explains that the purpose is not to wait until a parent conference to discover a problem (school website, Jupiter Ed information PDF on the Parent’s Corner 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 — Hughes Dr. Campus	Fullerton	K-8	Not published	—	—	—
Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy — Valencia Dr. Campus	Fullerton	K-6	Not published	—	—	1.2 mi
St. Angela Merici Parish School	Brea	K-8	Not published	—	—	3.9 mi
IvyCrest Montessori Private School — Fullerton Campus	Fullerton	K-6	Not published	—	—	3.9 mi
The Islamic Education School (TIES)	Anaheim	K-8	$7,000	—	—	2.4 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	17.9 miles
Northwood	15.1 miles
Turtle Rock	19.1 miles
Portola Springs	19.1 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 f…
• Accreditation — the school website’s 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 mention of…
• Entrance exam — the school website’s Admissions page lays out all three processes, for new students, returning students and Junior High. New students need only submit the registration forms packet and immunization r…
• Average class size — the school website gives only student-teacher ratios (1:4 for infants, 1:6 for toddlers, 1:12 for elementary and junior high) 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 — Hughes 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.