A Venado Middle School teacher is the subject of a nice feature story on the Orange County Register’s website. Reporter Lauren Jow penned the profile on Brendan McBrien, who has taught music for more than 25 years and composed hundreds of original songs. Here’s a brief excerpt:

IUSD Superintendent Terry Walker was among a handful of local education leaders to take part in a three-hour county presentation on the new Common Core instructional standards Thursday.

Back in July, IUSD approved the second phase of an ambitious project that’s bringing energy-generating solar panels to a number of additional schools and district sites.

A pair of Irvine schools made headlines recently on the Orange County Register’s website. For starters, Register reporter Samantha Schaefer previewed Northwood High School's third annual Timberwolf 5K Run/Walk, which will raise money for Northwood's athletics program and Families Forward.

On the eve of being honored by the Irvine Public Schools Foundation as one of IUSD’s distinguished alumni, former major-leaguer and University High grad Tim Wallach paid a visit to his old stomping grounds this week.

Paddleboarding star Connor Baxter paid a visit this week to South Lake Middle School, where he encouraged students to say no to drugs and yes to healthy lifestyles. Baxter's appearance was tied to Red Ribbon Week, which officially kicks off on Oct. 22.

An IUSD school board member has been named the 2012 Business Person of the Year by a prominent business group.

Each spring, more than 20 IUSD high schoolers hop on a Sacramento-bound plane for a series of rapid-fire discussions with state lawmakers, lobbyists and consultants.

U.S. News & World Report released its latest ranking of the country's "Best High Schools" this week, and all four of IUSD’s comprehensive campuses appear pretty high on the magazine’s list.