VanDamme Academy, Aliso Viejo | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Our family cannot say enough good things about Vandamme Academy. We started out homeschooling with the intention of providing our kids a classical education, but we are so happy that we made the switch to VDA. Everything I hoped to achieve through homeschooling is done at VDA, but to an even better degree. The teachers are knowledgeable and extremely caring. The class sizes are small, meaning each child gets the attention they need. The administration wants to hear from us and wants the best for our kids. The curriculum is challenging, but the kids aren’t stressed or anxious. They rise to the occasion and impress us every day with the things they’ve learned. The kids love being at school so much, they’re disappointed whenever they have a day off. We also love that there is such a heavy emphasis on literature. Having no homework has been a great benefit, too; we have our kids in extracurricular activities and only have to worry about reading at night. One of our kids is currently in first grade, and we’ve loved the K-1 program so much. Miss Beach and Mrs. Davila are incredible teachers, providing age-appropriate instruction that still challenges them. And, as a college math professor myself, I especially appreciate that the kids have the option to move up/down grade levels in math so they can learn at the correct level. Overall, we’re thrilled with VDA and so thankful that Ms. Vandamme created an incredible program that we can enjoy for the years to come!

We highly recommend VanDamme Academy to families who value Classical learning in a child-centric environment.

In a world that is increasingly stressful to children in every aspect of their lives, VanDamme Academy offers a safe haven of unplugged, but highly connected learning. Little to no homework, focused daily classroom learning, and an environment of mutual respect, kindness and inspiration – these are the hallmarks of this incredible program.

Because the school focuses on eliciting critical and collaborative thinking, students internalize material, rather than memorize and forget it. School time is used efficiently so teachers do not rely on homework (and parents) to bolster learning. How is this done? Simply: classes are small, teachers are passionate about their area of expertise, and the material itself is incredibly interesting and engaging to students. Add to that expectations of mutual respect, politeness, kindness, and excitement for learning and it’s easy to see why the model works.

Our daughter looks forward to school each and every day!

After researching schools all over the place, we had decided to home-school, believing that we wouldn’t find a school that took the principled, deep approach to education we wanted. After time spent doing that, we found a wonderful course on home schooling by Lisa VanDamme, and were delighted by the methods she described. When she happened to mention that since her start in tutoring home-schooled students, she had since opened a private school, we looked into it, visited, and ended up relocating so that our kids could attend.

Even coming to the school with high expectations, I’ve been delighted at the wonderful experiences that the kids have had. The teachers are brilliant, and pursue subjects deeply, and in a principled way that promotes understanding a purely mechanical or rote approach. The literature and art programs are better than anything I thought I might find. I have complete confidence that by graduation after eighth grade, our kids will have the best general education possible.