THOUSAND OAKS : Head Start Project to Move to Apartments

The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission Monday night approved a plan to move a preschool for children from low-income families into an apartment complex, in a vote that would make it the county’s second Head Start program to be located in a housing project.

The commission unanimously approved the plan to move the federally funded program into the Shadow Hills apartment complex on Wilbur Road. The Head Start program is run by Child Development Services of Ventura County to help 3- and 4-year-old children prepare for kindergarten.

The preschool must vacate the site it now occupies at Church of the Oaks on Warwick Avenue because the building that houses the program is scheduled to be torn down, officials said.

Many Mansions, a private nonprofit group that took over management of Shadow Hills, offered to house the Head Start program at its complex at a reduced rental rate. The preschool will operate out of two converted apartment units and is expected to open next fall.

The school would serve about 40 students, with half attending a morning session and the remaining students joining an afternoon session.

Officials with Child Development Services said a similar preschool program operates out of an apartment complex in Oxnard. There are 17 Head Start programs in the county.