CHRISTIAN PREP SCHOOL PLANNED IN CONEJO AREA.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

To Thomas Schmidt, science and religion can be successfully mixed in an academic setting, and that is what he hopes to do as head of a college-preparatory school.

The Oaks Preparatory School is in the planning stages for Newbury Park.

``The best thinking and scientific thinking can be explored and integrated with our faith,'' he said.

Schmidt, educated at Cambridge University, has been selected as executive director of The Oaks school, scheduled to open for students in grades seven through 10 in fall 1997. As the 10th-graders progress, he said, the prep school will add 11th and 12th grades.

Until summer, Schmidt was a professor of New Testament and Greek at Westmont College, a nondenominational, 1,200-student Christian college in Santa Barbara.

The Oaks prep will be the only prep school of its kind in the Conejo Valley, Schmidt said.

The idea for the school has been under discussion for years in the Conejo Valley, and members of an interdenominational Christian board have actively worked on planning for about a year, according to Schmidt.

The board members researched the area's needs and developed an education philosophy as a guiding principle for the proposed school, he said.

``They didn't want to start another school that was simply a Christianized version of the public high school,'' he said. ``They wanted to develop a philosophy of education and an approach to the school that would make it unique and stronger, that would derive strength from the traditional public school and private school.''

There are few schools that can be used as models for what the board envisions, Schmidt said. One is Stony Brook prep school in Long Island, New York, open since 1922.

``It's a fine prep school with academic caliber in line with other prestigious East Coast schools,'' he said. ``At the same time, it's a Christian school. That's very rare.''

There are church-affiliated education opportunities in the Conejo Valley, including all-girl La Reina High School, but there is no interdenominational school serving the same students The Oaks would attract, he said. The nearest coed school similar to the proposed school is in Calabasas, he said.

``It's very much like starting a small business,'' he said about researching the market and financing a new school.

A 40-page business plan has been prepared, as well as brochures and informational packets, Schmidt said. School organizers have been meeting with small groups of interested parents who have been asked to provide names of others.

Also, organizers have been looking for corporate or business sponsorships. They hope to raise $230,000 this fiscal year to help cover the start-up costs, he said. Other costs will be defrayed by tuition.

There are about 30,000 youngsters in the area who fall within the age group to be served by the school, Schmidt said. ``We're going to try to draw 1 percent.''

Students likely will come from the Conejo Valley and Camarillo, with some from Simi Valley and perhaps some from Los Angeles County, he said.

Organizers expect to start their first year with about 60 students, then add 50 each subsequent year until topping out at about 300. Schmidt said organizers believe 300 or fewer would be the ideal number for the school.

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Photo: Thomas Schmidt, left, and the Rev. Steve Davis are h elping to plan a nondenominational Christian preparatory school in Thousand Oaks.

Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News