South Coast Chinese Cultural Association (SCCCA) was founded in 1977 as a non-profit organization. Our mission is to preserve Chinese heritage, to enrich our life with cultural diversity, and to integrate into the mainstream society. Under SCCCA, there are four functional groups, the Irvine Chinese School, ICS Parent-Teacher Organization, the Irvine Chinese Chorus, and the Second Generation Association. Currently, we have approximately seven hundred member families in the greater South Orange County area. Vital to our accomplishments are generous support and donations of countless volunteers. Our programs rely on over 20,000 volunteer hours every year.

SCCCA offers various arts, musical, and athletic programs and performances to the public. Many of our cultural activities have been passed down for thousands of years and are still a living part of our daily life. Our programs include Chinese Brush Painting, Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Knotting, Tai Chi Chuan and Sword, Mu Lan Chuan and Sword, Ping-Pong, Basketball, Badminton, Yoga, Chinese computer, Book Discussion, Chorus, Strings Orchestra, and Ballroom Dance. In addition to participation in the Southern California Chinese American Athletic Competition and the Irvine Public Schools Foundation activities. SCCCA sponsors events such as annual banquet, scholarship program, golf tournament, and family camping trips, and also holds Candidates Forums for candidates running for Irvine City Council and IUSD positions during election years. Expanding beyond SCCCA activities, our members also actively support many community events.

In the heart of SCCCA, Irvine Chinese School (ICS) has over one thousand students from K through 12th grade. The School meets on Saturdays / Sundays and enrollment is open to all children and adults who are interested in learning Chinese language, culture, and customs. For high school students, ICS offers extracurricular credits of Chinese language that are recognized by school districts of Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Anaheim, Orange, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport-Mesa, Tustin, and Capistrano.

SCCCA started to build the Chinese Cultural Center as our permanent campus since fall of 2003 at 9 Truman in Irvine. Thanks for all the donations and many volunteers’ efforts and dedications, on April 24th, 2005, SCCCA held the Grand Opening for South Coast Chinese Cultural Center. At last, we can set foot onto a campus that we can call our own. This facility is open seven days a week. In addition to weekend Chinese school programs, we offer weekday community classes and after-school programs for children. Owning our own campus presents a tremendous opportunity to ensure the execution of our missions and the stability of our programs, to reach out to broader populations, and to meet the emerging needs of our community. As we enter this historical period of our organization and for the Chinese Americans, our vision is crystal clear. It is focused on how Chinese culture and language program can be best deployed to meet the community needs.