Recently, we posted this video tour of the new Cypress Village Elementary School. But Cypress Village isn’t the only new school opening in Irvine.

Sliding glass walls that transform classrooms into large collaborative learning spaces. Windows that automatically dim to help control energy costs. Outdoor seating for small-group instruction.

Irvine’s newest comprehensive high school is on track to open in 2016, necessitating some adjustments to IUSD’s existing high school boundaries.

Five IUSD high schoolers have been selected to perform at the venerable Grand Ole Opry in Nashville as members of the 2014 National Association for Music Education All-National Honor Ensembles.

And we’re back. Today marks the first day of the 2014-15 school year for nearly 4,000 students enrolled at IUSD’s four year-round sites.

So that’s it. Another school year is in the books. And while we briefly considered recapping the last nine-and-a-half months of district news with a clever rewrite of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," it seemed like a daunting task and we weren't really sure about the copyright implications.

The IUSD Board of Education has adopted a spending plan for the 2014-15 school year.

Outdoor education trips have long been a highlight for IUSD sixth-graders, who get to travel to bucolic settings for five days of hands-on science instruction, hiking and games.