GOOD SCHOOLS LURE FAMILIES TO SETTLE IN; CONEJO VALLEY COMMUNITIES WELCOME INFLUX OF YOUNGSTERS.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

When Dina Enggaard and her husband moved their family from Munich, Germany, to Thousand Oaks last year, they enrolled their 5-year-old son in a private school near their new home.

``He did not speak any English and the private school had a smaller kindergarten class than the public school,'' Enggaard said. ``We thought a smaller school would be better for him to start.''

Since then, the family has settled into their 17-year-old, four-bedroom home in Sunset Hills, and Enggaard's two children - one 6, one 3 - have much improved their English.

``So next year, my son will start the first grade in the public school district at Weathersfield Elementary,'' said Enggaard, adding that public education was a top criteria when she chose to settle in the area.

``When we moved to the county, we had three very important issues - finding a low-crime area, a low-pollution area and, most important, a good public school.''

The Enggaards are among the more than 500 young families in Thousand Oaks who will enroll their children in the Conejo Valley Unified School District for the first time this fall. The district estimates that 558 additional students will join the district in September, continuing a trend among Conejo Valley schools struggling to find the room to accommodate them all.

Last year, the district registered 18,644 students - more than 700 students over the previous year's enrollment. This year, enrollment is up to 19,336. By

2000, it is expected to surpass 20,000, said Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent of instructional services for Conejo Valley schools.

``We are seeing younger families moving into the neighborhoods as parents whose children have grown and gone are moving to smaller homes,'' Simpson said. In the 1970s, enrollment in the district grew until it peaked in the later part of the decade and began a prolonged decline throughout the 1980s, he added.

``Now we're on the upswing again. We see these trends over a long period of time,'' Simpson said.

With business resuming to its pre-recession health, the Conejo Valley's real estate market is also enjoying a renaissance period, said Jim Keith, president of the Conejo Valley Association of Realtors.

``Basically, the real estate market peaked in the third quarter of 1990. By the fourth quarter of 1995, it had bottomed out,'' Keith said. ``With prices going down it made our community very affordable for younger families.''

Keith added that lending institutions have offered attractive low-interest loans and solid programs for first-time home buyers in recent years.

Keith also noted that recent tax laws have made selling an attractive prospect for residents ready to move to smaller quarters after their children have grown and gone.

Until last year, a resident could qualify for a one-time $125,000 tax exemption from capital gain. Beginning this year, tax law allows for a $500,000 exemption for married couples - or $250,000 for an individual.

``For some people, that means they no longer have to wait until they are 55 so they might as well take advantage of the break now,'' Keith said, adding that the real estate market is considerably stronger than last year.

Last month, a total of 221 single-family homes were sold in the Conejo Valley - up from 173 the year before.

Younger neighborhoods

For Robert Vlerick, a Thousand Oaks resident who moved to his Thousand Oaks home from Ohio more than 34 years ago, his quiet residential neighborhood near Redwood Intermediate School has welcomed a number of new families in recent years.

``Some of the neighbors have retired and moved to other parts of the country. Others have passed on,'' said Vlerick, who raised four children of his own in his Wales Avenue home. ``We're getting more and more younger couples who have a number of kids. On my block alone there are probably about 15 kids whose families moved here in the last few years.''

Just walking down her street, Lori Stenovich said she's noticing not only some new faces moving into older homes but dozens of new families eagerly moving into brand new homes in the Lang Ranch development.

``I see it just on our street and in our neighborhood - a lot of houses turning over to new families and a lot of people putting a lot of money into fixer-uppers,'' said Stenovich, the co-president for Ladera Elementary School's Parent-Faculty Association. ``We (the PFA) have had a big growth spurt with young families joining the organization.''

Running out of room

Over the past five years, the district has counted an average of 350 additional students each year, with that figure reaching 700 last year, Simpson said. With class-size reduction requiring the district to utilize every inch of classroom space for smaller classrooms, the concurrent growth in the student body was not easily accommodated, he said.

``That combination required us to bring in about 70 additional learning spaces like portable classrooms and building modifications. It also caused us to accelerate our plans to develop Lang Ranch School,'' Simpson said.

Three years before the district's scheduled development of its newest elementary school campus, Lang Ranch will open its doors to more than 400 students in September. While many of those students will be transferred from other area public schools, the district will have to accommodate hundreds of new students on existing campuses.

Friday, the district will complete reviewing school choice applications submitted in recent weeks by parents requesting to enroll their children on particular campuses.

``Based on that we will have a better idea of the changing needs of the different campuses,'' Simpson said. ``We will have about seven portable classrooms available to move around depending on who needs them.''