The Best Private Schools in the Conejo Valley: 2026 Guide

Families comparing private schools in the Conejo Valley usually want three things settled fast: who is still operating, what it costs and whether the move makes sense against the public district. The landscape shifted when La Reina closed, and the clearest published number in the valley today is Oaks Christian's $29,900 tuition for new TK through grade 3 students. Here is what is verifiable right now.

Which private schools serve the Conejo Valley in 2026?

Several campuses serve the valley, spread across Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Newbury Park. Oaks Christian School, founded in 2000 by David Price and Dallas Price-Van Breda and led by Head of School Rob Black, is coeducational, nondenominational Christian and accredited by WASC and SACS with NAIS affiliation. Its Lions compete in the CIF Southern Section Marmonte League. Carden Conejo School is independent and nonsectarian, serving preschool through middle school at 106 W. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. Ascension Lutheran School in Thousand Oaks serves PK and K through 8, where parent reviews point to an outdoor classroom, Spanish and music. Newbury Park Adventist Academy, at 180 Academy Drive, is a small Seventh-day Adventist high school with roughly 10 students per teacher.

On the Los Angeles County side, Agoura Hills families considering private school may look to Oaks Christian in neighboring Westlake Village. Directory listings for private schools in Thousand Oaks also surface names like Saint Paschal Baylon School, Fusion Academy Westlake Village and Hillcrest Christian School; confirm grade span and status directly with each before relying on them, since several directory entries are tutoring businesses or campuses outside the valley entirely.

How much does private school cost in the Conejo Valley?

Oaks Christian publishes detailed tuition and payment plan information. New students in TK through grade 3 pay $29,900, according to the school's tuition page. Three payment plans are offered: a single payment of $28,450 due June 1, 2026 (including $550 in tuition protection), two payments of $14,500 and $13,950 due June 1 and December 1, or 11 monthly payments of $2,586.36. Including the deposit, the plans total $31,950, $31,950 and $32,500 respectively, so the monthly option costs $550 more over the year. Families receiving financial aid can generally expect renewal at the same level if circumstances are unchanged, though tuition increases are not shared.

Carden Conejo, Ascension Lutheran and Newbury Park Adventist Academy do not post tuition publicly, so contacting each school directly is the reliable step. For a household budgeting roughly $30,000 per child per year on top of a mortgage, it is worth revisiting how much house you can actually afford in the Conejo Valley before locking in a price range.

What happened to La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks?

La Reina, founded in 1964, was a Catholic all girls school for grades 6 through 12 on a 40 acre campus at 106 West Janss Road. The closure was announced in January 2024; a parent meeting followed on January 25 and supporters gathered on February 4 to protest, with families describing the decision as a blindside. Local reporting noted the Sisters of Notre Dame intended to lease the site to the secular Carden School, and Carden Conejo now lists that address as its own.

Is private school worth it compared to Conejo Valley public schools?

The honest answer depends on what a family is buying. Conejo Valley Unified School District is the public district serving the area, and its campuses, including Newbury Park High, are listed as active public schools in the California Department of Education directory. We compared those campuses in our ranking of Conejo Valley high schools. Private school tends to offer scale and specialization: Oaks Christian has 1,072 students in grades 9 through 12 and 590 in grades 4 through 8, a boarding program, and an A+ grade with a 4.47 out of 5 rating from 380 reviews on Niche, which ranks it first among California boarding schools. Newbury Park Adventist Academy earns an A minus and ranks ninth among Ventura County private high schools on Niche's 2026 list. Those are independent rankings, not official measures; pair them with GreatSchools data for the public campuses before deciding.

How should private school factor into a Conejo Valley home search?

Private enrollment decouples your address from attendance boundaries, which widens the map considerably. A family committed to Oaks Christian can shop Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, North Ranch or Newbury Park and weigh commute, lot size and price instead of a boundary line. We describe schools factually and leave the fit decision to each family; what we can help with is the math. Current pricing by ZIP code is tracked in our Conejo Valley housing market report, and broader trends are available through the Redfin Data Center. Two practical notes: build tuition into your monthly budget before you write an offer, a step covered in our first time buyer's guide, and if you are selling in the Janss Road area or elsewhere in Thousand Oaks, the campus change at La Reina is the kind of local detail buyers ask about, which we address in our Thousand Oaks seller guide.

Frequently Asked Questions About Private Schools in the Conejo Valley