The eight high school teams that will advance to the semifinals of the 2020 Ventura County Mock Trial were announced today by the Ventura County Office of Education. The semifinalists received the eight highest scores of the teams participating in this year’s Mock Trial. Listed in order of their scores, the final eight teams are: Oak Park Black St. Bonaventure High School Newbury Park Gold Westlake High School Santa Susana Hamilton Santa Susana Lincoln Oaks Christian Lions St. Augustine A...

Teenagers who are incarcerated at the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Facility are exploring their struggles and expressing their dreams through a newly released book of poetry and art. The teens are all students at Providence School, which is located inside the juvenile hall complex and operated by the Ventura County Office of Education.This is the fourth edition of The Art Inside, which is a project of the Ventura County Arts Council. You can read the students' poems and see their artwork ...

More than two dozen local high schools will participate in the 2020 Ventura County Mock Trial competition, which begins Monday in Ventura. Courtroom drama comes to life as students take on the roles of participants in a criminal trial, including attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs and journalists. The students will present their cases in real courtrooms before actual local judges who volunteer for the competition. Local attorneys serve as coaches. WHAT: 2020 Ventura County Mock Trial WHEN: ...

Two additional local high schools will join the winner of the 2020 Ventura County Academic Decathlon in the statewide competition to be held in March in Sacramento. Calabasas High School was guaranteed a spot in the state competition after winning both first and second place at the county level. And now, Westlake and La Reina High Schools have been invited to fill open spots in the state competition based on their scores at the county level. Westlake placed third in the Ventura County competitio...

Guidelines Regarding Students Who Have Traveled to China (Feb. 4, 2020)On Tuesday, February 4, Ventura County Public Health issued an updated advisory for schools to appropriately respond to concerns about the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The updated advisory is based on the publication of new guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The change from the original advisory issued by Ventura County Public Health on February 3 concerns school children who have r...

The Ventura County Office of Education is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Ventura County Academic Decathlon, which was held in Oxnard over the past two Saturdays. Calabasas High School won both first and second place in the overall competition, with their A team taking the top spot and their B team coming in second. Westlake High School’s A team placed third.In the popular Jeopardy-style “Super Quiz” portion of the competition, the Calabasas High School A and B team...

Ensuring that our students are safe and our schools secure is fundamental to the job of educators. It’s as a job that’s become more challenging in recent years for a variety of reasons. School shootings have become a horrifying reality of American life. The growing popularity of vaping among teens carries serous heath risks. And student mental health issues are on the rise as young people and their families struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing world. In this edition of Focus on Education, w...

Thousands of middle and high school students from schools throughout Ventura County will face off in three popular academic competitions in February and March. The games begin with the Academic Decathlon, followed by Mock Trial and concluding with the Ventura County Science Fair. These events, presented by the Ventura County Office of Education, combine creativity and competition to truly engage students in the learning process. Each local event brings an opportunity for Ventura County students ...

Get perspectives on how the new state budget will impact public education at a free workshop at the Ventura County Office of Education. The workshop is presented by Capitol Advisors and takes place Monday, January 27, 2020 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am at 5100 Adolfo Rd., Camarillo, CA 93012. Click here for free registration.More from Capitol Advisors:Governor Newsom approached his first budget with the possibility of an economic downturn clearly on his mind.  A large portion of n...

Nine Ventura County elementary schools are being honored as 2020 California Distinguished Schools by the California Department of Education. Schools are awarded for their work toward closing the achievement gap and for achieving exceptional student performance. Schools that applied were eligible based on their performance and progress on the state indicators as described on the California School Dashboard. Indicators include test scores, suspension rates and English learner progress. The Ve...