The Orange County Register released its latest breakdown of the county’s best middle schools on Sunday, and taking the No. 1 spot this year is (drumroll, please!) ... Irvine’s own South Lake Middle School.

With the help of an Irvine-based design firm, IUSD is in the process of developing a comprehensive plan that will be used to guide the construction of new schools and the modernization of existing sites over the next two decades.

Last week, schools throughout IUSD took part in a slate of activities associated with Red Ribbon Week, which spanned Oct. 22 through Oct. 30.

Students looking for an edge on their science projects will be able to consult with some pretty sharp experts next month, as IUSD is once again sponsoring “Ask-A-Scientist Night” at Rancho San Joaquin Middle School. This year's event will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

Over the course of the next nine and a half months, there will be essay questions, reading assignments, science projects and word problems. There will also be field trips, football games, high school dances and, ultimately, commencement exercises.

A Rancho San Joaquin Middle School student has earned a $10,000 scholarship by winning the People’s Choice Award in the inaugural Google Science Fair.

The IUSD Board of Education has unanimously approved a name for Irvine’s next middle school.

A Rancho San Joaquin Middle School eighth-grader has emerged as one of 60 semifinalists in the inaugural Google Science Fair, which is asking voters to select its People’s Choice Award winner.

A University High School sophomore will participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May after wowing a panel of judges during this month's county competition.

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that battered northeastern Japan, students and staff from throughout the Irvine Unified School District have been organizing local relief efforts.