Pacific Academy (Irvine Campus)

Overview

Pacific Academy (Irvine Campus) is an independent, non-sectarian high private school in Irvine, California, serving grades 7-12, founded in 2011, with about 154 students. The school does not publish tuition; ask for current figures when you book a visit. Average class size is about 10. 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. Local applicants (Admissions Procedure page): 1) call the Irvine campus at 949-398-5288 or email admissions@pacificacademy.org to schedule a visit; 2) by January 15, submit the student application form, a nonrefundable $250 application fee, official English transcripts for the past two years bearing the school’s embossed seal or signature, a records release form, proof of residency status (birth certificate, passport, green card, or H2, L2 or F2 visa, among others; an F-1 is not required), two subject teacher recommendation letters, and a student portfolio containing at least three items such as academic work, English writing, certificates and awards, or artwork; applicants whose first language is not English must also submit an iTEP SLATE Plus score (scored out of 6.0, minimum 3.0, test fee $141, covering grammar, reading, listening, writing and speaking), and an application cannot be submitted without it; 3) a 45-60 minute interview, on campus or by Zoom, with the student only and not the parents, covering self-introduction, questions and answers, timed writing and reading comprehension, with feedback given to parents afterward; 4) a decision within two weeks of the file and interview being complete, or placement on a waitlist through March 20; 5) within 10 days of admission, a $1,000 enrollment deposit, a $3,500 program fee and a $1,500 new student registration fee, $6,000 in total (the deposit is applied to tuition and is nonrefundable under any circumstances; the program fee and registration fee are nonrefundable on or after July 15); 6) the balance is due by July 15, and the school separately schedules English and math placement tests. Applications may still be accepted after the deadline if space remains.

For schools whose main entry point is grade 9, the target list should be settled before the fall of grade 8: attend open houses and shadow days in the fall, submit applications and sit the entrance test between November and January, and expect decisions in March. The summer after grade 7 is a realistic time to start ISEE or HSPT preparation.

Tuition and fees

The school website does not publish tuition figures; it lists only the application fee ($250 for local students, $300 for international students) and the one-time fees due at enrollment (local students $6,000 in total: a $1,000 deposit plus a $3,500 program fee plus a $1,500 new student registration fee; international students $7,100 in total, which also includes the $1,100 I-20 fee) (school website, Admissions Procedure page and Irvine Payment page)

Academics and programs

• UC a-g approved courses, including AP and Honors; grade 7 students take English, world history, math (Pre-Algebra, Algebra I or Geometry), life science, physical education and one elective, with electives including world languages, music, art, speech and debate and journalism; high school graduation requirements include one year of a world language (school website, Curriculum page; the school website does not list which world languages are offered or how many AP courses there are)
• English Language Development (ELD) program: three levels of English Language Development, plus two levels of Sheltered English along with Sheltered Social Studies and Sheltered Science courses, to help English learners transition into mainstream high school coursework; the school website states that a number of EL students have been admitted to UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Purdue, Boston University, the University of Toronto and other universities (school website, Curriculum page)
• International student program: the school is SEVIS authorized to enroll nonimmigrant students and issue I-20s, with homestay housing, for which the school recruits English-speaking families within 15 miles of campus who provide three meals a day and transportation; the admissions office has a Chinese-language email address and a WeChat account (school website, Accreditation page, PA Housing/Host Family page and Contact page)
• Project-based learning (PBL) and service learning, with opportunities for hands-on community service in the US and abroad; also monthly advising and college counseling, outdoor education and themed field studies (school website, Quick Facts page and Curriculum page)
• Talented Student Program: flexible schedules for touring athletes and musicians; online courses are also available as electives (school website, Quick Facts page and Curriculum page)
• Small classes: the Irvine Principal’s Message page states that classes have “about 10 students,” and the Quick Facts page gives an average student-teacher ratio of 1:10 (school website, Irvine Principal’s Message page and Quick Facts 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
Pacific Academy (Irvine Campus)	Irvine	7-12	Not published	On-campus assessment	10	—
Cristo Rey Orange County High School	Santa Ana	9-12	Not published	On-campus assessment	—	7.2 mi
Heritage Christian School (Junior High / High School Campus)	Lake Forest	7-12	$12,215	On-campus assessment	20	6.8 mi
Crean Lutheran High School	Irvine	9-12	$23,575	—	19	4.3 mi
Mater Dei High School	Santa Ana	9-12	$21,150	HSPT	—	6.1 mi

Where graduates go

The CEO Message page on the school website states that the school has long maintained a 100% college acceptance rate and an 80-90% UC acceptance rate, with 1-3 students a year entering top 10 universities (the statistics bar on the Quick Facts page also lists “100% College Acceptance”). The College Admission Results page lists the schools the class of 2026 was admitted to: Stanford, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd x2, Babson x2, USC x2, NYU x5, Carnegie Mellon, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Northeastern, UC Berkeley x2, UCLA x2, UC Irvine x11, UC San Diego x5, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz x5, UC Riverside x16, UC Merced x3, Art Center College of Design, Parsons and Chapman x9. This is a list of acceptances rather than actual matriculations, and it combines both campuses; the school website does not break it out by campus.

For college applications from this school, EDUBUS can begin with course selection in grade 9.

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	3.6 miles
Northwood	3.2 miles
Turtle Rock	2.8 miles
Portola Springs	6.2 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• tuition, tuitionLow, tuitionHigh and tuitionYear are all null — the Irvine Payment page on the school website lists only the two application fees payable online ($250 for local students, $300 for international students), while the Student Service and Student Acti…
• aid = null — the school website has no financial aid, scholarship or tuition assistance page and no statement about aid of any kind, and no statement that aid is not offered either
• apCount = null — the Curriculum page says only that the curriculum includes AP and Honors and does not list how many AP courses there are, and the school website has no course catalog PDF
• chineseProgram = null (the earlier record said not offered; corrected this round) — the Curriculum page states that grade 7 electives include a world language and that high school graduation requires one year of a world language, but it does not list which languages are offered; the…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Pacific Academy (Irvine 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.