VanDamme Academy

Overview

VanDamme Academy is an independent, non-sectarian K-8 private school in Aliso Viejo, California, serving grades K-8, founded in 2004, with about 132 students. Tuition for the current year is $18,000, which puts it in the upper range among Orange County private schools at this level.

Admissions

Entrance exam requirements are not published; contact admissions.

The school publishes the following application details. Rolling enrollment year-round, with applications accepted at any time; the school website states that most classrooms have limited space and that the earlier an application is submitted, the better the chance of securing a place. There is one online application form for kindergarten and another for grades 1-8 (the grades 1-8 form is a Google Form). The school website mentions no entrance exam, interview, recommendation letters or transcripts, and gives no application deadline, open house date or notification date. Inquiries: (949) 510-4861, info@vandammeacademy.com (school website, Application & Tuition page, Enrollment page).

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 states that the school is a “total-cost tuition school” - tuition accounts for 99% of the school’s revenue, and it does not rely on donations, fundraising, endowment or grants to cover operating costs, so it does not solicit contributions from parents or assign fundraisers. Each student pays a total of $18,000 per year, which the school website says covers everything: the yearbook, field trips, textbooks and classroom materials are all included, with no additional fees. The $18,000 breaks into two parts: tuition of $1,680 per month x 10 months = $16,800, plus a $1,200 materials fee, paid once at enrollment and again at each re-enrollment and nonrefundable. The price is the same from kindergarten through grade 8, with no variation by grade (school website, Application & Tuition page).

At initial enrollment, families also pay a tuition deposit equal to one month’s tuition ($1,680), which is nonrefundable (school website, Application & Tuition page). This page of the school website does not indicate which school year the figures apply to, and it lists no installment price difference, international rate or application fee.

Academics and programs

• A three-year history cycle: every grade in the school studies the same period of history in the same year, on a three-year rotation of ancient history, European history and American history. The benefit is that siblings can discuss the same material at home and the whole school can take themed spring field trips together; the middle school years also include history-themed trips to Rome, Paris, Boston and Washington, D.C. (school website, Our 2-8 Curriculum page)
• Literature rather than a “reading class”: the school website criticizes the common practice of sandwiching reading between spelling, vocabulary and short essays and covering only one or two books a year. Its own approach is a close reading of classic works in the original, year after year; the founder writes that after ten years of such reading, the school’s graduates are not merely well read but keen observers and incisive thinkers. Titles that have appeared on the reading list include Victor Hugo’s Ninety-Three, Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, Shakespeare’s Othello and Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead (school website, Our 2-8 Curriculum page, An Interview with Miss VanDamme page)
• A schoolwide No Homework Policy: the only regular task outside school is reading; math practice is finished in math class and essays are written in writing class, on the grounds that these two subjects most need a teacher present throughout. The founder writes that the purpose of the policy is to give evenings and weekends back to families (school website, VDA’s No Homework Policy page)
• A K-1 program that is half Montessori and half traditional: kindergarten and first-grade students spend half of each day in a Montessori classroom, with a full set of Montessori materials, student-chosen work and individual or small-group presentations by the teacher, and half in a traditional classroom for science, history, composition, penmanship, grammar and recitation; no prior reading ability is assumed at entry, and pacing is adjusted to each child’s level (school website, Our K-1 Program page)
• “We Don’t Talk About College”: the founder states plainly that the school deliberately does not present college admission as the goal of education and does not market itself to parents with a count of AP or IB courses; instead it hosts talks by people from many fields about their passion for their work (school website, We Don’t Talk About College page)
• “A Culture of Dignity”: the school website devotes a page to its standards of dignity in four areas - the campus environment, the curriculum, teachers’ bearing and students’ conduct - including clean and orderly classrooms, classic works of art on the walls, and expectations for how teachers dress and speak (school website, A Culture of Dignity 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
VanDamme Academy	Aliso Viejo	K-8	$18,000	—	—	—
Aliso Viejo Christian School	Aliso Viejo	K-8	$12,296	On-campus assessment	22	0.2 mi
Anneliese Schools – Willowbrook Campus	Laguna Beach	K-6	$18,350	On-campus assessment	—	2.4 mi
St. Mary’s School	Aliso Viejo	K-8	$31,300	ISEE	—	0.4 mi
The Camino School	Laguna Woods	K-8	$13,900	On-campus assessment	19	3.7 mi

Total tuition through graduation

At the current rate of $18,000, 9 years covering grades K-8 come to roughly $162,000 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $190,000. 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	9.7 miles
Northwood	11.6 miles
Turtle Rock	7.2 miles
Portola Springs	10.7 miles

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

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Tuition year not stated — the school website’s Application & Tuition page says only “$18,000 per student per year,” with nothing on the page indicating which school year the price applies to and no update date; the Informatio…
• An “Objectivist” orientation is not confirmed by the school website — a page-by-page check of the home page, About VDA, Our Story, Our 2-8 Curriculum, Thoughts on Common Core, An Interview with Miss VanDamme and References and Testimonials found nothing anywhere on the…
• Accreditation — neither the home page nor any page under About VDA mentions WASC, CAIS or any accrediting body
• Financial aid — the school website has no financial aid or scholarship page; on the contrary, the Application & Tuition page emphasizes that the school runs on total-cost tuition, that tuition is 99% of revenue, and…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track VanDamme Academy’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.