Conejo Valley Unified School District

Conejo Valley Unified School District
Location
Ventura County, California
United States
District information
Grades K-12
Superintendent Jeffrey L. Baarstad, Ph.D.[1]
Other information
Website http://www.conejo.k12.ca.us/

Conejo Valley Unified School District or CVUSD is a school district in Ventura County. It serves Thousand Oaks, California and its subsections Newbury Park and the Ventura County section of Westlake Village.

Members of the CVUSD Board of Education

Schools in the Conejo Valley Unified School District

Elementary Schools

Middle Schools

Los Cerritos Middle School

Los Cerritos Middle School is a public middle school in Thousand Oaks, California. It is one of the five middle schools in Conejo Valley Unified School District. It was named a Blue Ribbon school under the No Child Left Behind Act in 2004, along with Westlake High School, also in the district.[1] The school colors are blue and gray, and the school mascot is the leopard. Its principal is Mr. Jason Klinger. The vice-principal is Mrs. Brandy LaRue, who will be principal in Mr. Klinger's absence. The Dean of Students is Mrs. Kimberly Michaud, who is also the head do the ski and snowboard club. The middle school is also home to an award winning choir that is directed by Janice Hague, and every year they present a Spring musical in addition to their outstanding Jazz Bands. Los Cerritos also offers a variety of classes such as ASB (Associative Student Body), Art, Woodshop, PSST (Peer Service Support Team), LCSA (Leadership, Character, Service, Academics), and Computers. It has a surf team (Leopard Sharks), a basketball team, and a volleyball team.

Los Cerritos Middle School Jazz Band is the first California middle school in 63 years to receive an invitation to play at the 64th annual 2010 Midwest Band Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference Dec. 15 through 18. The performance was scheduled for Dec. 15 at McCormick Place West in Chicago, Ill. School representatives say the invitation is the highest honor a school band can receive. The Midwest Band Clinic serves music educators with the goal of improving the field of music education. Founded in 1946, the clinic is one of the world’s largest conferences for instrumental music educators, attended annually by 15,000 musicians and teachers. The anticipated Chicago audience for Los Cerritos was up to 1,000 educators and musicians. Several professional musicians from the Southern California area and other parts of the United States performed with the students. There are now currently (as of 2010) two Jazz Bands in Los Cerritos. Originally called Jazz 1 and Jazz 2, Jazz 2 being the beginning Jazz band and Jazz 1 being the advanced, the Los Cerritos band director, Mr. Blake, changed the names of the bands to East Coast (Jazz 2) and West Coast (Jazz 1) Jazz bands. This naming system bears a striking resemblance to the A.M. and P.M. Jazz Bands of the local Thousand Oaks High School (TOHS). For the following 2013 school year, West Coast Jazz Band may be cut, due to a lack of proper funding for the dwindling number of returning and incoming band students.

Mrs. Blake is the Orchestra Director. In 2001 Mrs. Blake founded the String Orchestra Program at Los Cerritos Middle School in Thousand Oaks, which now includes beginning and advanced classes,as well as the full symphony orchestra and the audition-only Chamber orchestra, which performs throughout the Ventura area. The LCMS Advanced Orchestra currently holds an unbroken record of Superior ratings and first place awards from more than 20 performances over the past nine years.

Los Cerritos Middle School feeds its students to Westlake High School and Thousand Oaks High School, two separate high schools in the Conejo Valley School District. The mascot for the school used to be the Matadors, however it was changed to the Leopards in 2001.

Sequoia Middle School

Sequoia Middle School is a school located in Newbury Park, California under the Conejo Valley Unified School District. It serves a student body of about 1100 in grades 6–8. It is located in Newbury Park just south of US 101 on Borchard Road.

Classes offered at Sequoia Middle School include the CVUSD middle school curriculum of math, social sciences, English, and science. There is also Physical Education, Exploratory (computers, art, cooking, poetry, horticulture), choir, three levels of Band, High-School Level Spanish I, Journalism, ASB (Associated Student Body), and cross-age tutoring. Sequoia Middle School is on a block schedule, unlike most other middle schools. The block schedule is where every other day has three classes instead of one day having all the classes. For an example, Monday would have classes 1A, 2A, and 3A, and Tuesday would have classes 1B, 2B, 3B. This pattern alternates and Monday is not always an A day. This allows students to attend three 90-minute core classes in a single day, and gives students a day between classes to complete their homework.

Sequoia Middle School offers several levels of math, including CORE, standard, CP (College Placement), and honors for varying aptitude of various students in math, different levels of English, science, and history including standard, CP, and Honors for students of varying aptitude in each of the subjects. Students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and exemplary citizenship are rewarded through Sequoia's three-tiered "Renaissance Program" and receive special T-shirts and regular recognition and reward on campus. Students are offered the opportunity and encouraged to work towards reaching Renaissance status every trimester.

In 2010–2011, Sequoia Middle School began offering specialized courses through its newly created school-within-a-school, DISCOVER Academy of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Using engineering and applied sciences as interdisciplinary themes, the academy stresses hands-on, innovative, and inquiry-based instruction to encourage a lifelong love of learning in students.

Sequoia Middle School is composed of seven main buildings or complexes, each represented by a letter from A-G. The A, B, and G buildings are a mix of seventh and eight-grade classrooms. The C building is for sixth graders. The D building is the auditorium, cafeteria, and office building. The E building houses the school library and a mixture of miscellaneous classrooms such as the science lab and the band room. The F building is the Physical Education Complex housing locker rooms and an indoor gymnasium. Local teams practice soccer on the outdoor field after school hours.

Sequoia Middle School is home to the Royal Blue Band led by Karla Stevenson. The band mostly does local performances, including the annual Conejo Valley All Band Festival held at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center. The Sequoia Singers Chorus, directed by Bridgette Rivas, represents the voices of Sequoia's students. Participants in chorus practice every morning during a zero period class and prepare to perform traditional concerts in winter and spring. Many dedicate the second trimester to after-school rehearsals and weekend performances in the annual musical production. The Sequoia Singers also represent the school at the Conejo Valley All District Chorus Performance held at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center and Southern California Vocal Association festivals. Sequoia's ASB makes many contributions to this school as well. The ASB, guided by plans dances, socials, and the exciting Fun Fridays. Journalism does the annual yearbook and KSEQ news. Many contributions have been made by ASB, the Royal Blue Band, the Sequoia Singers, and the Journalism staff.

Every year, the school participates in many events including a 5K, the Ventura County Science Fair, both the geography bee and the spelling bee, We the People, Magic Music Days, Annual Musicals, Coastal Cleanup Day, Civil War re-enactments, etc.

The school services all of Newbury Park except the Dos Vientos Ranch. Most students who graduate from Sequoia Middle School attend Newbury Park High School.

Sequoia was the only middle school awarded the California Distinguished School status in 2011 in Ventura County.

Sequoia Middle School also participates annually in the national Odyssey of the Mind competition. Teams representing the school have placed in the top three in the region and gone on to compete in the state championship competition every year since 2009.

Sequoia has been represented for four years at the State Geography Bee and the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the County and State levels. In 2008, a Sequoia student was second in the California State Geography Bee.

Sequoia has also been represented at the State Science Fair for multiple years running.

Sequoia Middle School has a Statewide Ranking of "9" and a Base API score in 2010 of 868. Sequoia's 2010-2011 Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) may be viewed on the California Department of Education website.

High Schools

Adult School

References

  1. ↑ "Superintendent". Conejo Valley Unified School District. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
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