For the third time in eight years, Northwood High has earned the state’s highest level of recognition for a public school.

Irvine High School’s student-athletes aren’t just getting it done on the court and on the field. They’re also making the grade in the classroom.

And the Grammy goes to … IUSD’s Northwood High School.

Earning one of the most highly prized accolades for music education, Northwood High learned Thursday that it was one of only 10 schools nationwide to be selected as a Grammy Signature School for 2013, courtesy of the Grammy Foundation.

Good afternoon. Here’s a Friday roundup of some recent IUSD-related stories you might have missed from the Orange County Register’s website:

The Irvine Unified School District has once again been named one of the nation’s Best Communities for Music Education by the prestigious NAMM Foundation.

“Scherzo.” That was the word that officially clinched the Orange County Spelling Bee for Sierra Vista Middle School’s own Alan Shi, who will go on to compete in the 86th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee at the end of May.

A pair of high school newspapers from Irvine took first and second place at this year’s Orange County Journalism Education Association Write-Offs, which were held March 2 at Fullerton College.

Plaza Vista School recently found itself in the pages of the Irvine World News after celebrating a successful jogathon fundraiser with some good ol’ fashioned pie-throwing and beard-dying.