An overflow crowd of Park Oaks parents, staff and students got the news they were hoping for when the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education decided not to consider closing their school.

In a presentation given by Park Oaks Principal Paula Willebrands and teachers, the staff talked about becoming a model school for other schools with many minorities. The school has a varied cultural environment, with students from Armenia, Pakistan, El Salvador, Mexico and elsewhere.

Park Oaks’ English-language learners and other subgroups have higher test scores than those at other comparable schools. There are bilingual aides at almost every grade level.

Ana Alvarez, the school’s community outreach director, said they’ve worked hard to bridge school and home with parent education.

“We want education to be the biggest thing that’s talked about at home. We want to bring parents to school and involve the community,” Alvarez said. “We group (English-language learners) by age so they can get support for whatever they need together. We want them to give back and become productive members of society.”

Park Oaks has partnered with 47 local agencies to expand educational services, including various churches and big companies like Amgen.

The school offers reading time before and after school, and night tutoring, when they serve dinner to students.

“We want to be an EL (English learner) model, where teachers can visit for a day,” Willebrands said. “Maybe teachers new to EL can come and see what approaches work best.”

After the presentation, board members began talking about backing out of the proposition to close the school to save money. Superintendent Mario Contini acknowledged that school closure may not yield the same financial results that it has in the past and that staff has said cost savings would be less.

“Park Oaks has a legacy for having some of the most outstanding principals, and they are able to attract the best and the brightest teachers,” said board member Tim Stephens. “I’d like to see us step away from the idea of closing Park Oaks. I’d like to get behind them on this model school idea.”

Board members Betsy Connolly and Mike Dunn agreed.

“I have no interest in closing your school,” Dunn said to the packed chambers and overflow room. “I support your staff development vision. And that means your school is not getting closed.”

The crowd raucously applauded and cheered.

Jeff Baarstad, deputy superintendent, business services, is on the facilities committee that originally recommended the school’s closure last month.

“We’ve been trying to look at all the options,” Baarstad said. “None of us liked the concept of closing a school. It’s a relief to us to have this off the books.

“I’m excited about this demonstration or model school,” he added. “It’s ironic that we went from discussing closing Park Oaks to investing more money in it.”

In the presentation leading up to the board’s comments, Willebrands said her school could be described by the word “heart.”

“I’ve been struck by the passion of the staff and their devotion,” Willebrands said. “Their day doesn’t end with the school day. They have high expectations, and I’m always impressed. Our goal is to empower and educate our parents. We are meeting challenges with inspiration, creativity and hard work.”