Viewpoint School

As Mark Twain might have put it: reports of the demise of Meadow Oaks School in Calabasas have been greatly exaggerated. The school is open and registering students for the fall term, despite its failed attempt earlier this year to merge with neighboring Viewpoint School, said Dennis Fliegelman, interim administrator for the school.

As classes begin at Sierra Canyon School next week, Howard Wang's past frustrations about recruiting minority students will be tempered by a few good signs. Wang, the school's founding co-director, said the number of black students is increasing slowly, although the number of Latino students still lags. Attracting bright youths by appealing to parents, churches and community groups, and offering tuition assistance, all seem to be working, he said.

There are times when a young athlete can't avoid the hype. There are players so endowed with athletic ability that it would seem foolish letting their talent go to waste. Geoff Chizever was one of them. He picked up a racket at age 4 and within six years became the top-ranked player in the Southern California Tennis Assn.'s boys' 10-and-under division. He was showered with tournament invitations and selected by college coaches as the local player most likely to turn pro.

* Three Ventura County high school graduates received appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy: * Christopher S. Dentzer of Westlake Village, a Viewpoint School graduate. * Nicolas B. Leclerc of Westlake Village, a Westlake High School graduate. * Warren Clark, a graduate of Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley.

Seven students from Ventura and Los Angeles counties have been inducted into the Cum Laude Society of the Viewpoint School in Calabasas, school officials said. The students are Adrienne Reese, a senior from Camarillo; Manijeh Berenji, a junior from Westlake Village; Andrew Kim, a senior from Agoura; Jeremy Davis, a senior from Woodland Hills; Todd Frank, a senior from Malibu; Jonathan Krisel, a junior from Malibu; and Karin Sinavsky, a junior from Woodland Hills.

Armin Shimerman and Rene Auberjonois of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" fame will host Theatricum Botanicum's "Fall '95 Gala: A Silent Auction and Evening of Surprise Entertainment," at the Viewpoint School in Calabasas on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. The evening of dancing, celebrity entertainment, gourmet desserts and a silent auction of stage and screen memorabilia will raise funds for new seating in the Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor amphitheater in Topanga. Tickets are $30 per person or $50 per couple.

A Moscow high school canceled its annual student exchange program with Czechoslovakia and instead sent 10 students to a school in the San Fernando Valley. The Soviet students--eight girls and two boys from Moscow Secondary School 39-1288--begin two weeks of classes today in computers, American art and politics at Viewpoint School in Calabasas. Officials of the private school said it is the first time Russian exchange students have attended a high school in the Los Angeles area.

"Then She Found Me," which stars Oscar winner Helen Hunt and also marks the actress' feature film directorial debut, will be one of 25 movies screening at the city of Calabasas' 10th annual Method Fest Independent Film Festival, which runs Thursday through April 3. Also in the lineup are "The Stone Angel" with Ellen Burstyn, "The Visitor" with Richard Jenkins, "The Cake Eaters" with Bruce Dern and "Familiar Strangers" with Shawn Hatosy. Screenings are at the Louis B. Mayer Theatre at the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills and the Carlson Family Theatre at Viewpoint School in Calabasas.