The Irvine Unified PTA Council is inviting IUSD students of all ages to participate in its annual “Reflections” art contest.

IUSD's newest and “greenest” campus will host an open house and facilities tour on Monday, Sept. 27, as district officials and representatives from the local chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council team up to share strategies for conservation, sustainability and environmental education.

BY SUPERINTENDENT GWEN E. GROSS, Ph.D. This week, California made history – and not the good kind. Our state is now as far as it has ever been into the fiscal year without an approved budget, and it could be days or weeks before a spending plan is agreed upon in Sacramento.

Memorial services for Kent “K.J.” Bentley, the beloved teacher and coach from Woodbridge High School, will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, at the Mariners Church Worship Center in Irvine. Mr.

Woodbridge High School and the entire IUSD community are mourning the sudden loss of Kent Bentley, a popular English teacher and wrestling coach at Woodbridge. Bentley, a member of the WHS staff since 1998, died Monday after collapsing during lunch.

Just a friendly reminder that the Irvine Unified Council PTA is hosting its Candidates Forum for this year's IUSD Board of Education race beginning at 7 p.m. tonight.

Approximately 16,000 of the nation’s best and brightest high school seniors have been named semifinalists in the pursuit of scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corp. – and 83 of them attend schools right here in Irvine.

While the state budget picture remains cloudy, IUSD is cautiously projecting positive ending balances through 2011-12, Assistant Superintendent Lisa Howell told the Board of Education this week.

As noted this week in USA Today and Education Week, SAT scores in 2010 remained relatively flat across the country when compared

This week, the state released its Academic Performance Index scores for 2010, and IUSD quietly earned the top spot among California’s larger school systems.