Timber and Conejo Schools
The First Schoolhouses in the Conejo Valley
In the second half of the 1800s, Conejo Valley was a frontier where many pioneers started new lives, new families, and eventually new communities.
Timber and Conejo Schools
The First Schoolhouses in the Conejo Valley
In the second half of the 1800s, Conejo Valley was a frontier where many pioneers started new lives, new families, and eventually new communities. As more and more children arrived or were born in the area, the community banded together in 1877 to build a schoolhouse. On March 24, 1877, the Conejo School District was established for the purpose of educating the children of the entire valley. The new schoolhouse, known as Conejo School, was located near the northwest corner of present-day Westlake Blvd. and Hampshire Road. Today there is a rock monument designating the location of the original school.
When land became available for sale in the Conejo Valley in 1873, Howard Mills of Santa Barbara was one of the first land developers, buying 22,000 acres. He sold most of it, but kept 6,000 acres for himself which he called the Triunfo Ranch. (This land eventually became Westlake Village.)
In 1876, he brought his three small girls from Santa Barbara to live with him. Because there was no school in the Conejo, Mills hired Julia Anderson to hold classes in his home for his own children and others in the area. Ventura Free Press stated that the school was a private school and that it was called "The Triunfo School."
Early the next year, Mills led a group of concerned parents to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to request the formation of a school district in the Conejo Valley. A census of the area was required to see if there was need. During the first months of 1877, a count was taken of the Conejo residents. It was found that there were 126 people living in the area. 54 were children under the age of 17, which was enough to qualify. So on March 24, 1877, the Conejo School District was established for the purpose of educating the children of the entire valley.
At that time, most of the children lived at the eastern end of the valley, so it was decided to build a school house there and $750.00 was raised from the parents for the structure. It was a great sacrifice for them because the Conejo Valley was in the middle of a disastrous drought during the year 1877, and many ranchers were having terrible losses.
Mills donated two acres of his land for the school site. When it was completed, the structure was given the name of "Conejo School." Because of the drought, Mills went bankrupt and he left the Conejo Valley.
Andrew Russell purchased Mr. Mill's Triunfo Ranch in 1881, and he renamed the ranch "The Conejo Ranch" but most people just called it the Russell Ranch.
Abigail Russell was a strong lady with deep convictions. When she and her family moved to the Mills' property in 1881, she discovered that the little schoolhouse was located on their property and since she had six children, she worked very hard to keep it open. In those days the ADA (Average Daily Attendance) requirement to keep a teacher was five children.
As land near the site of today's Civic Arts Plaza was sold off to developers, more people moved into the valley. Most did not want their children traveling such a great distance to Conejo School, so it was decided that a newer school should be built closer to the new housing development.
On July 15, 1924 a meeting was held to assign the contract for the construction of the new Conejo School. Work was to be started immediately. A old cook shack served as a temporary schoolhouse for the children's education until the completion of the new school.
In 1929, the new Conejo School opened at its current site on Conejo School Road. It was dedicated to Abigail Russell for her years of dedication to the school and the education of all of the children in the community. Like many schools of that era, the new Conejo School w