Oak Park High School

My husband and I and another couple recently went to the theater. We didn't go to the Shubert Theater to see "Ragtime;" we didn't go to the Ahmanson to see "Showboat;" we didn't go to the Thousand Oaks Cultural Center. We drove a tremendous distance of three-quarters of a mile to Oak Park High School gymnasium. We saw a colossal, fantastic, first-class musical--"42nd Street" by the high school's drama department. But the time has come for a "professional" place to perform on the high school campus.

Just a few miles separate the parochial La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks and the public Oak Park High School, which together represent some of the best schooling--private or public--Ventura County has to offer. Different in many respects, the schools are most striking for what they have in common: Situated in affluent, suburban neighborhoods, both have relatively uncrowded campuses. They post test scores and dropout rates that would make administrators of urban school districts envious.

Two 15-year-old Oak Park High School students and three other teens from Agoura and Agoura Hills have been arrested on suspicion of using stolen credit card information to buy merchandise over the Internet via America Online. Authorities said the five teenage boys, whose names were withheld because they are under 18, used their computer expertise to access credit card numbers and other information from America Online subscribers. The teens then allegedly sold the illegally obtained items--including sunglasses and compact discs--to students at Agoura and Oak Park high schools, according to sheriff's reports.

When he arrived at Oak Park High 5 1/2 years ago, Coach Rob Hall didn't inherit a boys' basketball program as much as a bunch of kids milling around in shorts and sneakers. The Eagles, 0-20 the previous season, consisted of 25 uninspired players spread over three teams. A league title? The playoffs? A winning record? Get real. "The program had totally imploded," Hall said. "The coach before me left in midseason."

Just because softball pitcher Kaylene Boldroff is aware of her limitations doesn't mean she lets them get in the way. Despite her diminutive stature--she says she "might be" 5 feet 1--she is the Oak Park High softball team's best player. Accurate though not overpowering as a pitcher, Boldroff (11-7) will lead her team into the Southern Section Division V quarterfinals for the third consecutive season today when the Eagles play host to Riverside Notre Dame at 3:15 p.m.

The students in the advanced biology class at Oak Park High School dissected a human cadaver Tuesday and, in the process, learned about more than bones and tissue. As they cut out the lungs and heart of a pale yellow corpse stretched before them, the 18 juniors and seniors learned who among them was, and was not, cut out for a career in medicine. "I was considering it until I saw this," said Warren Kim, 17, who immediately shrank to the back of the room.

Oak Park High School is one of two high schools in Southern California chosen to send students to a question-and-answer session Friday with House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Hollywood. "I really don't know how we were selected," Principal Jeff Chancer said. "They just asked us if we wanted to participate and we jumped at the opportunity."

A lawsuit against Oak Park High School, the school district and two of its football coaches was filed in Ventura Superior Court Thursday on behalf of a junior varsity football player who asserts that he has been subjected to discrimination and harassment because of the length of his hair.

About 7,000 Ventura County high school seniors will pick up diplomas this week and next in tradition-filled ceremonies that signify the end of 12 long years of education. But many students--and their parents--may be unaware that all diplomas are not created equal. Graduation requirements vary significantly among the county's 17 public high schools, prompting some educators to question whether students are being adequately prepared for the work force of the 21st Century.