Venado Middle School is part of the Irvine Unified School District

Irvine Unified School District

Irvine Unified School District is a school district in Orange County, California that serves the city of Irvine. Established on June 6, 1972, IUSD serves approximately 28,000 K-12 students at 22 elementary schools, five middle schools, four comprehensive high schools and one continuation high...

 and is located in Irvine

Irvine, California

Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States. It is a national Blue Ribbon School (as of 2005). With Deerfield Elementary School and University High School, it operates Orange County's Regional Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Hearing impairment

-Definition:Deafness is the inability for the ear to interpret certain or all frequencies of sound.-Environmental Situations:Deafness can be caused by environmental situations such as noise, trauma, or other ear defections...

 Program. Venado's mascot is the medieval knight.

History

The school was opened in 1974. Designed by a Newport Beach-based architect William Blurock, it has a unique two-story architectural layout and outlined with three stories of buildings with most of the second story open to the first, connected by a series of wooden bridges between classes on the second floor. Although a two-story structure, the building actually has three different floor levels, as some of the classrooms are slightly "sunken" off to the sides of corridors and larger classrooms.

The band and orchestra program at Venado Middle School, as with the rest of the Irvine Unified School District

Irvine Unified School District

Irvine Unified School District is a school district in Orange County, California that serves the city of Irvine. Established on June 6, 1972, IUSD serves approximately 28,000 K-12 students at 22 elementary schools, five middle schools, four comprehensive high schools and one continuation high...

, benefits from the fact that music is required in grades 4-6 in IUSD schools.

In the year of 2006, Venado was recognized as one of the top Blue Ribbon schools in the IUSD.
Dr. Keith Tuominen, who was the assistant principal from Irvine High, became Venado's new principal in 2008.
At the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, Craig Hauke took the roll of Venado's principal. After a few months of the job, he was replaced by the Assistant Principal at the time, Bob Valdez, who became the interim principal. Venado's School Psychologist for 5 years, and IUSD's Lead Psychologist, Luis Torres, took the job as interim Vice Principal.

Music

Since 1990, Brendan McBrien, has been the director of instrumental music at Venado Middle School. He has been the recipient of the Teacher of the Year award in the Irvine Unified School District

Irvine Unified School District

Irvine Unified School District is a school district in Orange County, California that serves the city of Irvine. Established on June 6, 1972, IUSD serves approximately 28,000 K-12 students at 22 elementary schools, five middle schools, four comprehensive high schools and one continuation high...

, First Music Teacher of the year from the Orange County Music and Art Administrators Association, and has multiple listing in Who's Among America's Teachers. In addition to his teaching duties, he is also a published composer and arranger with numerous works for band and orchestra published with the Alfred Publishing

Alfred Publishing

Alfred Music Publishing is a family-owned and operated music publishing company, founded in 1922. Headquartered in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, it is the largest educational music publisher in the world.- Profile :...

, Kjos, and Warner Brothers Music

Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

Companies.

Festival Scores

Year	Concert Orchestra	Symphonic Orchestra	Symphonic Band
2010		Performance: Unanimous Superior	Performance: Unanimous Excellent
2009		Performance: Unanimous Superior, Sight Reading: Superior	Performance: Unanimous Superior, Sight Reading: Superior
2008	Performance: Excellent, Sight Reading: Superior	Performance: Unanimous Superior, Sight Reading: Superior	Performance: Excellent, Sight Reading: Superior