BRAZILIANS SPENDING A MONTH AS VALLEY GIRLS.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - Very few of the boys at Van Nuys High School look like movie stars.

That's been one of the biggest disappointments for the six teenage girls from Campinas, Brazil, who are spending the month at the San Fernando Valley campus in hopes of learning more about the U.S. public education system.

``I thought there would be more beautiful boys,'' 15-year-old Nathalia Fernandes said Wednesday

Added Luiza Testa, 16: ``I thought I was going to meet, like, a young Brad Pitt.''

The Los Angeles Unified School District usually enrolls only a dozen or so foreign students a year because most campuses are already overcrowded and it's challenging to find families to house the exchange students, officials said.

``This doesn't happen every school year. It hasn't happened in decades,'' Van Nuys student body President Vanda Ayrapetyan said. ``It's very special to have them. It's an honor.''

Ayrapetyan said the girls' presence has helped broaden her classmates' cultural horizons. The girls have been asked about the Brazilian school system, the popularity of soccer in their native country and even whether they've ever had a Coca-Cola.

Carol Casden, Van Nuys' magnet counselor, hopes her school can start regularly hosting students from other countries.

Although the school had just two weeks to find host families for the girls, the Van Nuys community really rose to the challenge, she said.

Houri Mahserejian, a senior from Reseda, said she's happy her family agreed to host 15-year-old Jamile Benetti.

``They're very beautiful and outgoing people,'' the 17-year-old said.

Although this is the first time many of the girls have traveled without their parents, they've acclimated well. They call their hosts ``mother'' and ``father.''

The girls and their host families have driven to Las Vegas, Nev., attended a Lakers basketball game and toured Hollywood. This weekend, they're going to Disneyland.

They're also indulging in American food, and especially enjoy eggs and bagels for breakfast. In Campinas, they usually just have fruit and milk.

But so far, they've struck out on their search to find movie stars.

``We haven't seen any famous people,'' Benetti said.

The Brazilian girls were stunned by the size of Van Nuys High - about 3,300 more students than the 500 at their private schools in Campinas, a midsize industrial city about an hour from Sao Paulo.

The girls, who had to pass an English test to make the trip, also said it's harder to make friends here because students change classes several times a day. But they do enjoy the variety of classes offered in American high schools.

``I like how you don't focus on only studying. You have soccer,'' Testa said.

In Brazil, students focus on studying for the college entrance exam, which is the sole criteria for gaining admission.

Sometimes as many as 90 students are competing for one seat in a public university, which are free and considered more prestigious than the private ones.

``Everything's about the test,'' 16-year-old Fernanda Rodrigues said. ``It's horrible. It's too much pressure.''

Luckily, it's summer break for students in Brazil - the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere - so the girls don't have to worry about the test.

And with the seemingly limited number of handsome American boys to distract them, the teenagers have been able to focus on sightseeing and shopping.

They've been pleasantly surprised by the comparative bargain prices for brand names like Guess, the Gap and Victoria's Secret. The girls haven't been too homesick, thanks to some similarities between the United States and Brazil.

``The mall - it looks the same,'' 15-year-old Nathalia Fernandes said.

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Brazilian exchange students are, clockwise from center front, Luiza Testa; Fernanda Rodriguez, Lia Murakami, Thais Hamaji, Nathalia Fernandes and Jamile Benetti.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer