MOORPARK COUNCIL OKS NEW SCHOOL; PINECREST EDUCATIONAL FACILITY TO BE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN CITY.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

Construction of the first private school in the city could begin as soon as October, following City Council approval of plans to build the 424-student campus on Peach Hill Road.

The council unanimously greenlighted Pinecrest Schools Inc.'s $5 million project to build on a 3.8-acre parcel.

The school, which is slated to open in the fall of 2000, would cater to preschool through fifth-grade students has been long in planning by the San Fernando Valley-based school.

``We have a large contingent of students at our Thousand Oaks campus who live in Moorpark, as well as on our Simi Valley campus that live in Moorpark,'' said Executive Administrator Robert King. The school has more than 100 Moorpark children enrolled at its campuses outside the city. ``And that's driven us forward to better serve our Moorpark families.''

The campus would contain three buildings totaling 31,740 square feet, two swimming pools, sports fields, a running track, four gazebos, a basketball court and parking lot.

Fifteen parents wrote to the City Council urging approval of the project.

One of the letter writers, Julie Pedroso, has a 3-year-old son who has been attending Pinecrest's Thousand Oaks campus for two years.

``I think it was a wonderful decision,'' she said following the council's approval. ``I'm very excited to have the school up there.''

The school program includes courses in sports, foreign language and computer skills beginning in preschool, and school hours are longer than at most public schools, said Don Dye, who, along with his brother Philip, heads Pinecrest's board of directors.

Annual tuition ranges from $5,730 to $5,890, depending on the grade level for kindergarten through sixth grade.

``We're proud to be going to Moorpark,'' said Don Dye, whose mother Edna Mae Dye, now deceased, founded Pinecrest 51 years ago. ``We think it's a great community.''

In other action Wednesday, the council:

Agreed to draft a resolution to overturn the Planning Commission's approval to allow Air Touch Cellular to build a relay station near New Los Angeles Avenue.

Approved in principle a site for a new fire station on a chunk of Griffin Park in the Campus Park area.

Agreed to assess Moorpark Packer Football's request for semipermanent floodlights at Arroyo Vista Community Park for winter training.

Approved transfer of control of the city's cable TV franchises to New Jersey-based Adelphi Communications Corp.

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Map: Proposed private school for toddlers