This high school hosted the CSBC band and Colorguard semi finals yesterday. They were great hosts…read moreand very accommodating. Thank you very much! And everyone LOVES those giant chocolate chip cookies you sell! That's all I kept hearing about in the stands.

Our daughter graduated IHS in 2019. We have included her input in this review. IHS has good STEM…read morewith strong sports, extracurriculars, and counseling and exceptional arts. With so many students and about 30 students per class, a mid-range student may get lost in the crowd. They may not receive the necessary support - unless they excel, fail, or cause a disciplinary issue. As in any other school, parents should continuously advocate for their student. Destinations: The Class of 2019 had about 530 students and 366 students told IHS where they were going. 132 graduates went to IVC, 29 to other community colleges, 36 to Cal State system, 76 to UC system, 37 to private universities in CA, 3 to technical/vocational schools, 46 to out of state universities, 4 to foreign universities, and 3 to serve in the military. Most students who go to IVC then transfer into the Cal State or UC system. STEM may be a little weaker at IHS than at University HS or Northwood HS but is still good enough for a student to excel. Unfortunately, IHS taught biology one year, chemistry next year, and then physics. The biology and chemistry experiences were poor enough to put our daughter off STEM before she could even try physics! The biology notes had been photocopied for many years and were barely readable. The biology teacher at the time no longer works at IHS. To improve chemistry, give explosive demonstration(s) throughout the year and not during the final exam! Parents and students should choose a HS with an integrated-science schedule, in which a little of each science is taught each semester. Math teaching was somewhat uninspired but it's a difficult subject to make interesting and relatable to everyday needs. There were many good teachers. Mrs. Peck teaches European history to a high standard with dry humor and is a student favorite! Mrs. Harrington teaches Social Studies well. Ms. Lux teaches Ceramics well and encourages those who are less artistically inclined. Mr. Munsell is a charismatic English teacher and popular with students. Mr. Phillips teaches keyboarding and PE well. Mr. Szczudlak teaches Adult Living well; we recommend the course which teaches financial skills. Assistant Principal King is helpful. My daughter did not like the Korean teacher's teaching style. They spent many months in classes before even attempting to speak Korean. The teacher poorly balanced the needs of students who spoke Korean at home with the needs of the 20% of students who never had Korean before. Class had good Korean movies screenings and occasional tasty barbecue! It was fun to be the student assistant for the upstairs office and to support Ms. Kamai and Ms. Russell. It was very hard for parents to find out about upcoming school events such as choir performances, plays, or concerts. That was regrettable because the performing arts events were consistently great. That improved somewhat after the Principal began to send out a school newsletter. Hard to find schedule info on the website. In general, the school website is very busy and difficult to navigate. Among high schools in Irvine, only IHS uses an alternating-block schedule with 90-min periods. Every day of the week differs from week to week. For example, the schedule for Friday differs depending whether it is Week A or Week B. Students become used to it, but it is annoying for parents, more complicated than typical college or work schedules, and offers no clear advantage. The idea is to replicate college schedule and get students used to longer classes. We liked the late start on Mondays.

We love our school. My daughter started back here in 4th grad after we attended a private school…read morefor a few years. I am blown away by the attention my child gets and how much the teachers really care for her. We are so happy to be back at Portola and their teachers, Principal and staff are amazing!!!!

The school has been privy to poor leadership and some negligent teachers and the kids are suffering…read moredue to this. Irvine school district has one of the highest paid staffs and our children deserve better than this.  When talking to the principal she simply made a statement that "she must protect her teachers first." As a parent I no longer want to feel helpless please help by filing an official complaint with iusd.org, calling the director Stan Machesky, Executive Director, Elementary Education, (949) 936-5055, stanmachesky@iusd.org, attending the board meeting at 5050 Barrancs pkwy on Sept 11 at 6:30pm

This is a great school with great teachers! I'm always impressed when I attend my grandson's eventsread more

Great school! TUSD schools don't treat the children like a number. They care and work hard for…read moreevery child! Children are treated with respect. They are treated as if they are the future, and they were hard to educate our future.!

Nothing is often misunderstood. People treat it as absence, emptiness, a blank page waiting to be…read morestained with meaning. Yet nothing has a strange power over human life. We fear it, chase it, and occasionally worship it. Entire philosophies have been built around the idea that beneath all noise and motion lies a vast and silent nothingness. A room with nothing in it feels uncomfortable. Silence in a conversation feels heavy. An empty calendar can seem more frightening than an overfilled one. Humans are creatures addicted to occupation. We fill our lives with tasks, entertainment, and endless distractions because nothing gives us time to confront ourselves. In stillness, our thoughts become louder. In emptiness, we begin to ask questions we normally avoid. And yet, nothing is not always negative. Some of the most valuable experiences arise from it. Peace is a kind of nothing: no conflict, no urgency, no chaos. Rest is nothing happening to the body except recovery. Meditation asks a person to sit with nothing but breath and thought. Artists often begin with nothing before creating worlds from imagination. The blank canvas terrifies the painter, but it is also full of possibility. Science also wrestles with nothing. Physicists debate whether true emptiness can exist at all. Even the vacuum of space contains particles, energy, and invisible forces. Philosophers ask why there is something instead of nothing, a question so simple that it becomes almost impossible to answer. If there had once been absolute nothingness, how could existence ever emerge from it? Perhaps nothing is impossible. The moment we try to imagine it, we accidentally turn it into something. A dark void is still a picture. Silence is still an experience. Emptiness still occupies the mind. Nothing may be the one concept humans can describe but never truly understand. Ironically, this essay itself proves the point. To write about nothing is to transform it into words, ideas, and meaning. The moment nothing is discussed, it ceases to be nothing at all.Nothing is often misunderstood. People treat it as absence, emptiness, a blank page waiting to be stained with meaning. Yet nothing has a strange power over human life. We fear it, chase it, and occasionally worship it. Entire philosophies have been built around the idea that beneath all noise and motion lies a vast and silent nothingness. A room with nothing in it feels uncomfortable. Silence in a conversation feels heavy. An empty calendar can seem more frightening than an overfilled one. Humans are creatures addicted to occupation. We fill our lives with tasks, entertainment, and endless distractions because nothing gives us time to confront ourselves. In stillness, our thoughts become louder. In emptiness, we begin to ask questions we normally avoid. And yet, nothing is not always negative. Some of the most valuable experiences arise from it. Peace is a kind of nothing: no conflict, no urgency, no chaos. Rest is nothing happening to the body except recovery. Meditation asks a person to sit with nothing but breath and thought. Artists often begin with nothing before creating worlds from imagination. The blank canvas terrifies the painter, but it is also full of possibility. Science also wrestles with nothing. Physicists debate whether true emptiness can exist at all. Even the vacuum of space contains particles, energy, and invisible forces. Philosophers ask why there is something instead of nothing, a question so simple that it becomes almost impossible to answer. If there had once been absolute nothingness, how could existence ever emerge from it? Perhaps nothing is impossible. The moment we try to imagine it, we accidentally turn it into something. A dark void is still a picture. Silence is still an experience. Emptiness still occupies the mind. Nothing may be the one concept humans can describe but never truly understand. Ironically, this essay itself proves the point. To write about nothing is to transform it into words, ideas, and meaning. The moment nothing is discussed, it ceases to be nothing at all.Nothing is often misunderstood. People treat it as absence, emptiness, a blank page waiting to be stained with meaning. Yet nothing has a strange power over human life. We fear it, chase it, and occasionally worship it. Entire philosophies have been built around the idea that beneath all noise and motion lies a vast and silent nothingness. A room with nothing in it feels uncomfortable. Silence in a conversation feels heavy. An empty calendar can seem more frightening than an overfilled one. Humans are creatures addicted to occupation. We fill our lives with tasks, entertainment, and endless distractions because nothing gives us time to confront ourselves. In stillness, our thoughts become louder. In emptiness, we begin to ask questions we normally avoid. And yet, nothing is not always negative. Some of the most valuable experiences arise from it. Peace is a kind of nothing: no confli

went here from 2017-2023 and let me tell you something. idk…read moreif its my brain remembering it well because i was younger but this school is amazing. every teacher- so kind and amazing at their job. literally everything about this school i loved and i miss every day- im in 8th grade now and its been three years and i STILL miss this school. i had mrs smith in kinder, who is no longer at the school, mrs heilig for first, mrs toohey in second (half the year in quarantine), mrs olson in third (full year in quarantine), mrs scheuerman who is no longer there in fourth, and mrs mulligan in fifth. i could not have asked for better teachers. please send your kids here.

I am the current principal at TMA and it is an amazing school. Our teachers go above and beyond to…read moreprovide a well rounded experience for all students. Our parent community is wonderful and we are so grateful for all their support. Come check us out!

I loved going here very much because Victoria and Desi were super nice and sweet to me. Also, I had…read morea lot of nice friends and teachers.

School is OK, but those crossing people on the backside of the school are the worst…read more Also, what the hell is up with kids these days that walk at 0.5 miles per hour.... ...walk with purpose kids.

I am a fifth grade student here at Hicks and I love my school. It is so much better than the school…read moreI went to before.

My kids have gone to this school and the teachers are really top notch. There is overwhelming…read moreparent and community support for the staff here. The school grounds are nice, and the new addition is really pleasant. The kids here are lucky to have such a great facility to learn in. If your kids live in the area, I would recommend sending them here. The classes are a little cramped, but that's a district/state budgetary problem. Despite that, the teachers really have it together. I've watched their interactions and I see they have a good team atmosphere.

One of the best K-8 schools around. I've had kids attending for 15+ years and they all love the…read moreplace. Teachers, administration and staff are always helpful and interested in a very caring way about how the children are doing. Parents are a huge help always volunteering and trying to make the school better through the PTA or the School Foundation which is different from the district set foundation. This all helps keep the kusic, art, technology and nursing in tact compare to other schools.

Our experience has been differentiated. As with many things in life, the exterior - the facade…read morelooks wonderful. The structure is new, clean, and the school receives so many donations that it can offer many extras such as chrome books and computers in every section of the school. But you do need to be aware of the layer underneath the facade. I am not saying that Vista Verde is a bad school, but I am saying that you need to be aware of the type of parents that are at the school and the atmosphere. Many of the children tend to be rather spoiled. I am not sure if that is the reason why certain staff - including the current Assistant Principal - feel compelled to have zero tolerance for normal age appropriate child behavior, such as rough playing etc. Zero tolerance means that routinely, almost on a daily basis, you will find children - mind you young children ages 6, 7, and 8, sitting in the front office, being punished for normal play which the administration considers inappropriate. (because they are scared of parents? I do not know). Not only are they missing recess, but receive a paper to fill out with many points to write about what good playground behavior would be. Further, sometimes methods of shame are used by giving the child a clipboard to run around during recess and write many - in one case 24! - sentences of what constitutes good playground behavior. These seem methods used many decades ago and they humiliate a child. When asked the recess supervisor said that they want to "scare them just a little bit from early on" so that they don't play rough when they get to middle school. We translate that as meaning that they systematically break a child's spirit and ensure that the child follows their rules like a robot - with zero tolerance as stated by one teacher. I am not sure if this atmosphere has started with the new Assistant Principal and Principal or if this practice has always taken place with many parents simply not knowing what is going on. That being said, I am aware of some parents who have noticed or experienced the above mentioned and are leaving the school - we are also leaving. I suppose the moral we will be taking with us is that not everything that seems glistening is truly as shiny as it looks.