Grace Christian School

Overview

Grace Christian School is a Christian K-8 private school in Cypress, California, serving grades K-8, with about 449 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $7,525 to $8,175, which puts it in the lower 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

Entrance exam requirements are not published; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. Applications for new students open each February (school website, Admissions page). The process (school website, Admission Guidelines page): call 714-761-5200 to reach admissions; meet with the enrollment director and tour the campus; submit the application form (new student, transfer or re-enrollment), the Student Questionnaire, the Home Language Survey and the Financial Agreement Contract, and pay the enrollment or re-enrollment fee. Online applications are submitted through the RenWeb system. The school website has a separate Placement Guidelines page explaining placement rules. International students follow the I-20 Students process and must also submit the I-20 Student Application, the Financial Agreement and a Guardianship Authorization Form; the contact is enrollment counselor Selina Mullaney.

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

Annual tuition for the 2026-27 school year (school website, 2026-2027 Tuition & Special Services Schedule PDF, revised 12/29/2025): $7,825 for grades TK-5, $8,250 for grade 6 and $8,475 for grades 7-8. Tuition is billed annually, and families who pay in full before August 1, 2026 receive a discounted rate: $7,525 for grades TK-5, $7,950 for grade 6 and $8,175 for grades 7-8. Families may also choose 10 installments (August through May) or 11 installments (July through May); the 10-installment plan is $782 per payment for TK-5, $825 for grade 6 and $847 for grades 7-8, and the 11-installment plan is $711, $750 and $770. The school does not have separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates. The low and high tuition figures shown on this site are the lowest and highest paid-in-full rates

The new student enrollment fee is $250, non-refundable, paid when a place is offered; new families pay a one-time, non-refundable facility fee of $500 (which may be added to tuition in the first year as 10 monthly payments of $50). The re-enrollment fee has three tiers by payment date: $200 from January 2 to January 31, $250 from February 2 to April 1 (the same window in which registration opens to new families) and $300 after April 2, of which $100 is credited against the first month’s tuition. A third child receives an $1,800 reduction. Anyone enrolling after September 1 is placed on the 10-installment plan. Payments received after the 15th of the month incur a $25 late fee, and the returned-payment fee is $25. Extended care runs 6:30-8:00 a.m. and 3:15-6:00 p.m. at $4.50 an hour (any part of a half hour is billed as a half hour), or $725 paid annually, or $83 a month for 10 months; lunch is $5.00. I-20 international students pay an additional International Student Fee; the school website’s I-20 Students page does not list the amount

Academics and programs

• Grades 6-8 have their own Spanish sequence: Spanish 1 in grade 6, Spanish 2 in grade 7 and Spanish 3 in grade 8 (school website, Curriculum Overview_JH PDF)
• Junior high math is leveled: Scott Foresman Math in grade 6, Prentice Hall Pre-Algebra in grade 7 and Prentice Hall Algebra in grade 8, with Geometry available in grade 8 on a teacher recommendation (school website, Curriculum Overview_JH PDF)
• Grade 6 has a required Elective Wheel of four nine-week units rotating through Art, Music Cultures, Computers and Public Speaking; grades 7-8 choose electives by season from options such as Art (drawing, recycled sculpture, animation, ceramics), Advanced Computer Skills, Robotics, Camping, Cooking, Sewing and Quilting, Photography, Guitar, Videography and Wood Shop (school website, Curriculum Overview_JH PDF)
• There is a National Junior Honor Society chapter (admission by grades and application) and a California Cadet Program leadership course (school website, Curriculum Overview_JH PDF)
• A Learning Center provides targeted support for students with learning differences, with fees set case by case after evaluation and testing (school website, Tuition & Special Services Schedule PDF)
• Extended care runs 6:30-8:00 a.m. and 3:15-6:00 p.m. on every school day (school website, Tuition & Special Services Schedule PDF)

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
Grace Christian School	Cypress	K-8	$7,525	—	—	—
St. Irenaeus Parish School	Cypress	K-8	$7,325	—	—	1.2 mi
St. Hedwig Catholic School	Los Alamitos	K-8	$8,460	On-campus assessment	—	1.6 mi
Bethany Christian Academy	Westminster	K-8	$8,275	On-campus assessment	—	3.9 mi
St. Pius V Catholic School	Buena Park	K-8	$7,575	—	—	4.4 mi

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $7,525, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $67,725 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $80,000. 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	19.5 miles
Northwood	16.5 miles
Turtle Rock	18.5 miles
Portola Springs	21.4 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Founding year — the school website’s home page says only “serving the community for over seven decades,” and the Superintendent’s Welcome, Our Statements and Schools pages give no exact founding year
• Financial aid — neither the Admissions pages nor either of the two Tuition & Special Services Schedule PDFs on the school website mentions need-based aid or FACTS Grant & Aid; the only discount is the $1,800 reducti…
• Entrance exam — the materials listed on the school website’s Admission Guidelines page do not include an entrance exam, and while there is a separate Placement Guidelines page, it covers placement only and does not …
• Average class size — the school website’s home page, Schools page and Academics page do not publish class sizes or a student-teacher ratio
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Grace 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.