Fairmont San Juan Capistrano (Fairmont Schools Inc. – San Juan Capistrano Campus)

Overview

Fairmont San Juan Capistrano (Fairmont Schools Inc. – San Juan Capistrano Campus) is an independent, non-sectarian K-8 private school in San Juan Capistrano, California, serving grades K-8, founded in 2020, with about 449 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $26,093 to $29,342, which puts it in the upper range among Orange County private schools at this level. The school accepts F-1 international students and issues the I-20 needed for a student visa. Bus service is available, covering Irvine, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach.

Admissions

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

The school publishes the following application details. The school website How to apply page gives seven steps: (1) submit an inquiry form, after which the admissions director will get in touch to arrange a meeting and a campus visit; (2) tour the campus; (3) the admissions director sends the online application; (4) the student takes an on-campus assessment and the family submits transcripts, with recommendation letters required at some grade levels and an English proficiency test added for international students; (5) review; (6) sign and return the enrollment contract after receiving the acceptance letter; (7) orientation into the classroom on the first day of school, with a buddy assigned. The admissions director is Betty Petersen, who also handles international admissions for the Fairmont system (phone 714-234-2784). The school website does not publish a fixed application deadline.

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

Pay-in-full pricing for the 2026-27 school year (school website, San Juan Capistrano Tuition fees page): $26,093 for JK through grade 5 and $29,342 for grades 6 through 8. Preschool is priced by days attended: three half days $11,834, five half days $15,180, three full days $16,053, five full days $20,612, and Pre-K five full days $20,952. Three ways to pay: in full by July 1, 2026 (the lowest price); 70% on July 1 and 30% on December 1 ($26,775 for JK-5 and $30,125 for grades 6-8); or 10 automatic bank drafts from August 2026 through May 2027 ($26,900 for JK-5 and $30,250 for grades 6-8). This campus has the least expensive middle school of the four Fairmont K-8 campuses, and its three-half-day preschool option is also the lowest entry price of the four.

The enrollment deposit is $1,750, the new student application and assessment fee is $150, and the new student registration fee is $500, with $500 off for each additional child (school website, San Juan Capistrano Tuition fees page). International students follow a separate schedule: $37,500 for JK through grade 5 and $46,500 for grades 6 through 8, plus a $500 registration fee, a $1,650 new student orientation fee, and $3,600 for student medical insurance. The enrollment deposit for international students is $4,300 rather than the $1,750 charged to domestic students, and the school website states that the I-20 is issued only after the enrollment deposit and registration fee are received (school website, San Juan Capistrano International admissions page). Uniforms, extended care, bus service, and lunch are billed separately.

Financial aid: Need is assessed through FAST (Financial Aid for School Tuition); applications open March 1 and awards are made on a rolling basis. The school website does not publish the share of families receiving aid or the amounts awarded (school website, San Juan Capistrano Tuition fees page).

Academics and programs

• Middle School Athletic Academy: combines academics with specialized athletic training in the middle school years, covering baseball, ice hockey, tennis, soccer, basketball, swimming and diving, and dance, with strength and conditioning and a character curriculum (school website, San Juan Capistrano Middle School page, Athletic Academy page)
• Spanish is the only foreign language offered: preschool introduces it through themes such as food and the five senses, elementary expands to everyday topics, and middle school meets three times a week in units of about four weeks, with grades 7 and 8 using authentic materials to build toward the AP Spanish exam (school website, San Juan Capistrano Multilingualism page)
• The middle school follows an accelerated curriculum, which the school website describes as running a full grade level ahead across core subjects (school website, Middle School page)
• ISP ILOS international exchange: students may spend several weeks studying at a local school in Costa Rica (school website, Multilingualism page, Why choose us page)
• Campus facilities include a STEM lab, robotics, art and music studios, a gymnasium, a library, a science lab, and athletic fields (school website, Middle School page)
• Leadership and clubs: student council, National Junior Honor Society, and student ambassadors, with clubs in basketball, soccer, robotics, coding, dance, and chess; the debate team was named a “Distinguished Team” at Nationals in 2025 (school website, Middle School page, Why choose us 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
Fairmont San Juan Capistrano (Fairmont Schools Inc. – San Juan Capistrano Campus)	San Juan Capistrano	K-8	$26,093	On-campus assessment	—	—
St. Anne Catholic School	Laguna Niguel	K-8	$19,400	On-campus assessment	—	2.3 mi
Mission Basilica School	San Juan Capistrano	K-8	$12,700	On-campus assessment	—	1.0 mi
Stoneybrooke Christian School	San Juan Capistrano	K-8	$12,167	On-campus assessment	—	1.7 mi
St. Mary’s School	Aliso Viejo	K-8	$31,300	ISEE	—	4.1 mi

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $26,093, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $234,837 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $276,000. 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	13.3 miles
Northwood	15.6 miles
Turtle Rock	11.6 miles
Portola Springs	13.7 miles

The school runs bus service, covering Irvine, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach.

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Average class size — the school website does not publish class sizes or a student-teacher ratio
• Enrollment — the school website does not publish enrollment, so this listing uses the California Department of Education 2025-26 filing figure of 449
• Year opened — the timeline on the school website Why choose us page gives 2020 in two places, and the timeline on the North Tustin campus page mislabels the year as 2000 while its text still says the campus opened…
• Phone number — the main number on file with the CDE is (949) 443-4050, while the structured data on the school website pages gives +714 234-2784, the admissions and international admissions line. This page uses the…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Fairmont San Juan Capistrano (Fairmont Schools Inc. – San Juan Capistrano 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.