St. John's Episcopal School

Overview

St. John’s Episcopal School is an Episcopal K-8 private school in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, serving grades K-8, founded in 1988, with about 403 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $23,675 to $24,605, which puts it in the upper range among Orange County private schools at this level. Religion classes are required, so confirm your family is comfortable with that before applying. Mandarin is offered. 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. The school website’s Admissions at St. John’s page publishes the 2027-2028 school year timeline: applications open September 1, 2026; the Admissions Open House is November 11, 2026; applications close January 8, 2027; the complete application file is due January 29, 2027; and first-round decisions are released March 1 through March 5, 2027. The process is to complete an inquiry form and register for a Veracross account, complete the application in the admissions portal, schedule a campus tour, register for the Open House, and submit the complete checklist of materials. Materials include a transcript, teacher recommendations and standardized test scores (if applicable; the school website does not specify the ISEE or the SSAT), among others.

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 2026-2027 school year tuition schedule (PDF) posted on the school website’s Affording SJES page is tiered by division, with no separate parishioner and non-parishioner rates. Domestic students: the elementary division (grades K-5) is $23,675 for the full year and the middle division (grades 6-8) is $24,605. Both tiers include a $1,000 enrollment deposit paid at contract signing, leaving paid-in-full balances of $22,675 and $23,605 respectively. Early childhood tuition is priced by days attended: Early Preschool and Preschool are $14,145 for three half days a week, $16,015 for three standard days, $17,675 for five half days and $20,795 for five standard days; Pre-Kindergarten is $17,675 for five half days and $20,795 for five standard days (school website, 2026-2027 Tuition Rates PDF)

The $1,000 deposit is paid when the enrollment contract is signed and counts toward the full-year total; once it is paid, the place is secured through the Veracross system. The Tuition Refund Plan (TRP) is 0.9 percent of tuition, which is $213.08 for the elementary division and $221.45 for the middle division. The New Family Fee is $795. Payment options are paying in full, two installments (June 1 and November 1, 2026) or 11 installments (June 1, 2026 through April 1, 2027, at $2,061.36 per installment for the elementary division and $2,145.91 for the middle division); all installment plans carry an annual service fee of roughly $25 to $55 per student, with no fee for ACH and a small surcharge for credit cards. Other costs: uniforms run about $200 to $500 a year; after-school care (3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) is $15 an hour; lunch is purchased separately; the grade 6 Pali Institute trip is about $850, the grade 7 Seacamp trip about $850, and the grade 8 Washington, D.C. trip about $3,500. Multi-child discounts: $500 off for a family with three children and $1,000 off for four or more. International student rates are separate: $29,190 for the early childhood division, $33,980 for the elementary division (grades K-5) and $34,990 for the middle division (grades 6-8), with a $4,000 deposit and the balance paid in full on August 1, 2026 (school website, 2026-2027 Tuition Rates PDF)

Financial aid: The school website’s Affording SJES page states that the school offers financial aid for the elementary and middle divisions so that every qualified student can afford to attend, and that early childhood students with an older sibling in the elementary or middle division may also be considered for aid. The tuition schedule PDF points families to StJohns-es.org/FinancialAid for details. The school website does not publish award amounts, the share of families receiving aid, or the third-party assessment platform used

Academics and programs

• The middle division (grades 6-8) offers two world languages, Chinese and Spanish, each in three levels: Level 1.1 (grade 6, introductory conversation), Level 1.2 (grade 7, expanded topics) and Level 1.3 (grade 8, advanced conversation and reading of authentic texts) (school website, Middle Division page)
• The middle division runs eight periods a day, including the five core subjects of English, history, math, science and world language, plus a performing arts elective (band, chorus, dance, drama), one club, and rotating electives such as Study Hall, World Drumming, PALS, student government, robotics, Makers and television production (school website, Middle Division page)
• The middle division uses an advisory system in which each advisor is the primary advocate for the students in their group, following their academic, social and emotional development (school website, Middle Division page)
• STEAM is used school-wide as a framework across subjects rather than as a single course; the elementary division applies what students learn to real problems through experiential STEAM projects and service learning (school website, STEAM page and Elementary Division page)
• There are also dedicated program pages for Fine Arts, Athletics, Engineering, and Design Innovation and Technology (school website, Program menu)
• The elementary division’s character curriculum uses Character Strong’s PurposeFull People, with K-5 organized around the three goals of be well, be strong and be kind, and a dedicated Cardinal Connection period every Friday for character learning (school website, Cardinal Character 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
St. John’s Episcopal School	Rancho Santa Margarita	K-8	$23,675	On-campus assessment	—	—
St. Junipero Serra Catholic School	Rancho Santa Margarita	K-8	$15,757	On-campus assessment	—	1.8 mi
RSM Christian School	Rancho Santa Margarita	K-8	$9,500	On-campus assessment	—	0.9 mi
Stratford School – Mission Viejo	Mission Viejo	K-8	$21,080	On-campus assessment	—	5.0 mi
Heritage Christian School (Elementary Campus)	Mission Viejo	K-6	$11,515	On-campus assessment	20	3.1 mi

Where students go next

The school website’s Admissions > Alumni page states, “While not limited to this list, our graduates often matriculate to the following high schools,” and lists Santa Margarita Catholic High School, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, Sage Hill School and JSerra Catholic High School (no numbers or percentages given).

Schools in our guide library that appear on this list: Santa Margarita Catholic High School, JSerra Catholic High School, Sage Hill School, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School.

Applying to high school from here usually begins in the spring of grade 7: sit the ISEE or HSPT in the fall of grade 8, then submit materials between November and January. EDUBUS works backward from each target high school’s requirements to plan grades, activities and test preparation across the K-8 years.

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $23,675, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $213,075 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $251,000. 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	9.0 miles
Northwood	12.0 miles
Turtle Rock	12.2 miles
Portola Springs	7.4 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Founding year — none of the school website’s About pages (Mission & Vision, Episcopal Identity, HOS Welcome, Strategic Plan) state a founding year; 1988 comes from the directory page of the accrediting body CAIS (Ca…
• International students (F-1) — the Admissions Checklist 2027-2028 (International Students - Kindergarten - 8th Grade) posted on the school website’s Admissions page states, “As a SEVP approved school, St. John’s may issue an I-20 …
• Average class size — the school website’s Middle Division page says only “small student to teacher ratio” and “small class sizes” without giving a figure, and the Program pages do not publish a student-teacher ratio eith…
• Enrollment — the school website does not publish an enrollment figure, so the CDE 2025-26 filing of 403 students (the K-8 grades, not including the early childhood division) is used
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track St. John’s Episcopal 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.