Neighborhood schools in Ventura or Camarillo? (San Diego, Orange: to rent, low crime, new home)

[malimea]

Hello,
We are moving to the Ventura area this summer and would love some advice on schools and neighborhoods.
We have three elementary school aged kids. We presently live in an old beach town in Orange County which we love.
We will be looking initially to rent a newer home in a safe, family orientated neighborhood with a top notch school.
We don't want our kids in a school where there is an intense focus on test scores. Some elementary schools seem unnecessarily stressful.
We want a school with terrific parent involvement and a confident and relaxed administration.
We prefer to stay away from the bedroom communities where both parents work. We want neighbors to enjoy.
Thank you!
Marilee

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Originally Posted by malimea

Hello,
We presently live in an old beach town in Orange County which we love.

Why are you leaving?!

Which old Beach town, -is it Seal Beach? Ventura and Camarillo are nice areas though. I realize that housing might be a bit cheaper in Ventura County. I also believe that the commute times are shorter.

I would personally go with Ventura. I think that city will see decent appreciation in the coming years. The downtown area is excellent and ever-gentrifying. You have access to Lake Casitas, Santa Barbara, and quaint Ojai. Overall, I think it is an excellent place to live.

Altough, Camarillo might be the best choice for you. Low crime rate, friendly people, and access to all your basic needs. Another great benefit is access to both Ventura and Thousand Oaks.

Camarillo has better schools. Adolfo Camarillo HS seems to be improving. It has an api of (796). Ventura HS has an api of (680). To research more on the school systems, look at greatschools.net

[puffle]

Just to clarify, are you looking at Ventura, the beach area, or Ventura County? If you are looking at Ventura County, look at Oak Park,Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks. High test scores and " top notch schools" go hand in hand. If you would like more details please pm me. In my opinion, top notch schools and the city of Ventura do not go together and the same for Camarillo. You might want to check out private schools for these areas.

[malimea]

Really the private schools are better in Ventura? There are a few public elem. schools in Ventura which look like they might be decent. I didn't look at the middle or high school options though.
We could move anywhere along the Carpenteria to Thousand Oaks corridor.
I noticed that the Thousand Oaks schools do really score high. I don't know anything about TO. From what I read I got the impression TO might be more "commuter-ish?"
We lived for awhile in a gorgeous gated neighborhood in Carlsbad but never got to know anyone because the neighbors were gone 12 hours a day commuting to San Diego. We want neighbors and a community.
We like the idea of another finding a low key beachtown so Ventura seemed like the best start.
Appreciate all your thoughts...
I don't know how to pm.... must figure that out... sorry.

[puffle]

Originally Posted by malimea

Really the private schools are better in Ventura? There are a few public elem. schools in Ventura which look like they might be decent. I didn't look at the middle or high school options though.
We could move anywhere along the Carpenteria to Thousand Oaks corridor.
I noticed that the Thousand Oaks schools do really score high. I don't know anything about TO. From what I read I got the impression TO might be more "commuter-ish?"
We lived for awhile in a gorgeous gated neighborhood in Carlsbad but never got to know anyone because the neighbors were gone 12 hours a day commuting to San Diego. We want neighbors and a community.
We like the idea of another finding a low key beachtown so Ventura seemed like the best start.
Appreciate all your thoughts...
I don't know how to pm.... must figure that out... sorry.

Just curious if you have found out anything new?

[pinsakceo]

Hi Malimea.
The choice of which city to move to can be quite daunting. We moved from No. Ca. about 8 years ago and I remember being similarly anxious. I am a realtor in Ventura county, a parent, and a Camarillo Resident. Every City has its ups & downs with the school district. Camarillo's schools are very good currently. There is a large variety of choice schools, i.e. a technology magnet school, a Structured School and an Open Philosophy School. All are K-8, all are top scores in the API index. However The Pleasant Valley School District is not healthy. It is a K-8 district. It is currently in the process of trying to close 3 schools and unifying (bringing in the local high schools that are currently run by another town's district). I love our city and believe it has phenomenal child-centered focus, but you should really investigate the district. Ventura is very nice as well, but has many eclectic areas. Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park are close to Camarillo as far as activites, etc. but seem to have a more stable school district. Hope that helps! Please pm me if you would like more info.

[SoCalMomma]

I live in Thousand Oaks, have been here since the late 70s and I can tell you it is a wonderful place to live. I have raised both my children in public Conejo Valley schools and both are doing very well. They are both attending Newbury Park High School right now and there is a HUGE influx of kids from Camarillo that attend our school. Apparently, Camarillo High is not very desirable to them. Conejo Valley schools ALL have great reputations and the test scores are high. There are some schools that are not as great as others, but I believe ALL are above average.

Thousand Oaks/Newbury Park/ Westlake Village is a wonderful, SAFE, place to live and raise a family. There are many popular sports programs for your kids: soccer, baseball, lacrosse, basketball, swimming, etc.

We have lots of shopping, restaurants, the Civic Arts Plaza for culture (plays, musicals, concerts), a Chumash Indian area, the Reagan Presidential Library is close.. I could go on and on.

Location: we are about 45 minutes from LA, 45 minutes from Santa Barbara, you can get to the beach in about 15-20 minutes. You can get to skiing in about 2 hours.

There are some big empoyers in the area: Amgen, Countrywide, Dole to name a few

The City Council does keep things nice in our city. NO RVs parked on the street, no cars left abandoned on streets, shopping centers are kept nice, etc. Our mall is being renovated and Nordstroms is coming

Negatives: it is a growing city, and they have recently built a few thousand new homes (Dos Vientos & Lang Ranch), so thing are getting a little crowded. There is traffic, but it is nothing like LA.

I hope I have helped.

[whcrazychief]

Hi SoCalMomma,

What is your opinion of Oak Park? We live in Newbury Park, and all we seem to hear about is how great the school district is in Oak Park. From my research, the schools in Newbury Park, e.g. Sycamore Cyn, Cypress, Banyon, etc, are just fine. Additionally, NPHS was just awarded a Blue Ribbon in 2006. So, what's all the hype about Oak Park, and how superior they are to everyone else, including NP, TO, Westlake, etc?

whcrazychief

[puffle]

Originally Posted by whcrazychief

Hi SoCalMomma,

What is your opinion of Oak Park? We live in Newbury Park, and all we seem to hear about is how great the school district is in Oak Park. From my research, the schools in Newbury Park, e.g. Sycamore Cyn, Cypress, Banyon, etc, are just fine. Additionally, NPHS was just awarded a Blue Ribbon in 2006. So, what's all the hype about Oak Park, and how superior they are to everyone else, including NP, TO, Westlake, etc?

whcrazychief

If you don't mind my two cents having lived in Oak Park for about five years, I can't speak about Newbury Park High but Oak Park High is a great school for Advanced Placement Classes and college prep. Very much geared for high acheivers planning on going to college and Oak Park is like living in a bubble or coccon, which I don't like. Westlake High rates higher than Oak Park High if you look at CNN's money magazine Top High Schools in the country. I believe Westlake is in the top 100 based on how many kids take advanced placement courses and tests...Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park don't come close but are still good schools compared to the average school in L.A. Have you read www.greatschools.net or Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
where you can compare the schools and districts?

[whcrazychief]

Hi Puffle,

Thanks for your input. I have read a bit about both Oak Park and Newbury Park H.S.'s in GreatSchools.net. Most contributors are positive. However, there was an extremely negative review about Oak Park HS regarding bullying of students by other students, with some of the girls being particularly vicious. Additionally, a common thread that I have gotten about high achieving schools, not only Oak Park HS, is that there are the smart kids, who get alot of attention, and then there is "everyone else". If you are "everyone else", the school may not give you the same attention. Apparently, there is incredible pressures for these schools to perform well on various measurements, e.g. API and SAT scores.

I could not get your exact point of view from you bulletin. Are you pro-Oak Park education, elementary - high school, with some caveats? Which high school would you choose, Westlake or Oak Park?

Thank you.

whcrazychief