A MATTER OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS; CONEJO, LAS VIRGENES NEWCOMERS SETTLING IN.

Byline: Sonia Giordani / Daily News Staff Writer

With the academic year just two weeks away, Elly Love was busy getting the master schedule for the Los Cerritos Middle School off the ground Thursday.

``In a school of nearly 900 students, I have to make sure there are 900 seats ready for them,'' said Love, the new principal of the intermediate school in Thousand Oaks.

This year Love, a teacher and administrator with the Simi Valley Unified School District for 19 years, is among the three new principals with the Conejo Valley Unified School District. There are two new principals with the Las Virgenes Unified School District.

Carol Philips, a teacher with the district for more than 28 years, will be the new principal at Weathersfield Elementary School in Thousand Oaks. Bill Lamp, an elementary school principal in the Santa Barbara area, will begin at Banyan Elementary School in Newbury Park.

In the Las Virgenes district, Jane Wagmeister, an assistant principal of Lindero Canyon Middle School last year, is the new principal of Willow Elementary School in Agoura Hills. Carol Martino, an elementary school teacher with the Rio Lindo and the El Rio schools in Oxnard, comes to Lupin Hill Elementary School in Calabasas.

Typically, a principal's position can yield more than 30 applications from qualified educators, said Barbara Ryan, director of elementary education for the Conejo Valley district.

``I'm looking for someone with good experiences and who knows all about curriculum and instruction,'' Ryan said.

Overseeing anywhere between 400 and 900 students in a school, Ryan said a school principal ultimately is responsible for the education and safety of the students, as well as for supervising and assisting the schoolteachers.

``And with the hiring of new teachers for the class-size reductions, we have a lot of teachers with less experience who may need more help with the policies and procedures of the schools and districts,'' Ryan said.

In the past two years, the district has hired more than 120 teachers, she said.

Philips said she has four teachers starting this fall at Weathersfield - two of which are new to the district.

``We've had quite a few new teachers with the class-size reduction. My job is to help support them,'' Philips said.

Martino said she hopes to help Lupin Hill teachers implement a new math program that emphasizes problem-solving and mathematic thinking.

``I also want to continue to support the teachers in the guided reading program,'' said Martino, referring to a teaching method to help kindergarten through fifth-grade students with their reading skills with more attention to individuals and small groups of students.