Conejo Post

I am amazed at how many different schools from which parents and students can choose in the Conejo Valley!  At the top of the list are the three public school districts operating in the Conejo – Conejo Valley Unified (CVUSD), Las Virgenes Unified (LVUSD) and Oak Park Unified (OPUSD).  (A quick question:  what are these districts unifying?  I have lived in other areas where there are just school districts, not unified ones.)

Then, there are choices within the school districts.  CVUSD has a magnet school in Newbury Park, and also MATES, a new charter school as of this year.  Plus, some parents say they want to start Bridges, another charter school with an open classroom concept, next year. 

Students can change to districts other than their home district, too.  From what I have read, a district can choose to take part in the State District of Choice Program, but that means accepting all students who want to come to that district.  OPUSD takes part in the program.  According to an article in the 6-18 Acorn, last year OPUSD had 861 students from outside the district, and 92 Oak Park students going to school elsewhere, leaving a net increase of 769 more students.  The Acorn article said LVUSD is not a part of the District of Choice program, but the district still had 1232 students from out of district last school year, with 487 going to other districts, for a net increase of 745 students.

Then, there are religious-based schools to choose from.  There are Jewish schools, and Christian-based ones, including Catholic and protestant schools.  We also have private schools as well, like Carden Conejo School in the Westlake part of Thousand Oaks, that rents a school building and grounds from CVUSD.

What choices!  How do parents decide where to send their kids to school?   When I was growing up (OK, it was decades ago) in the Pacific Northwest, there were basically public schools and Catholic schools, and that was it,  except for a private school or two for rich kids. My parents raised me on the idea that attending public school was part of encouraging our democracy, because students from all different backgrounds and beliefs got to know each other and learn how to get along.  The schools also had a good reputation for teaching, and we were expected to learn.

When it came time to send my own three kids to school in the ’60s and ’70s in West Los Angeles, I was thrilled when they were accepted to what was a public school, but one where officials chose students to attend in order to create a diverse student body.  The school was University Elementary School, which was a lab/teaching school for U.C.L.A.  The open, ungraded classrooms of U.E.S. were known to educators throughout the country, with Dr. Madeline Hunter as the head of the program.  I can write about what I saw as the benefits of this educational approach some other time.  I know the downside for parents was the constant driving back and forth to school.  We carpooled, and I would drive 10 kids on my turn, half of whom were sitting in the floor, in the back of my station wagon.  (That surely would not be allowed today!)

The downside for students was having few school friends in the neighborhood, and having more vacations than public school, because U.E.S. was a lab school that functioned as a teaching area for U.C.L.A. students and others.   I believe there were overwhelming positives for them to attend, but they did have an adjustment when it came time to return to traditional public school, with graded classrooms and a real emphasis on homework.

I think it is time to start a dialog on schools, the affects different choices have on students, parents, and the community.  The choices seem to be increasing, and I have not heard much talk about how that affects us all.  To read The 6-18 Acorn article by Sophia Fischer:  http://www.theacorn.com/news/2009-06-18/Front_Page/Students_at_risk_of_being_forced_out_of_district.html

Posted by Janna Orkney