
Sarah Mueller
Education reporterAn experienced journalist, I joined LehighValleyNews.com as its education reporter. I bring several years of media experience at public radio stations including NPR Illinois, WFSU Public Media and Delaware Public Media. I’ve covered state and local government, interviewing lawmakers, governors and congressional leaders. In my personal life, I’m a passionate animal lover, hiker and documentary enthusiast. A documentary for which I worked as a researcher, Fire in the Meadows, won first place at the 2022 Tallahassee Film Festival for best documentary short film. It explored the effects of an investor buying a local mobile home park, raising rents and forcing tenants out of their homes. Contact me at SarahM@lehighvalleynews.com or and subscribe to my newsletter here.
-
Early education advocates say there has been a slow erosion of the number of programs, workers and classroom slots in the Lehigh Valley, and across Pennsylvania, since federal funding expired last year.
-
The district said it's owed more than $700,000 in school lunch debt, unpaid tuition by ex-employees, missing or damaged Chromebooks and facility fees.
-
The Basic Education Funding Commission failed to produce a bipartisan report. Instead it voted on two reports and only one garnered enough votes.
-
About 600 elementary school kids watched the college's women's basketball team play as a reward for attending school regularly.
-
The two school buses the district has already purchased are expected to be delivered sometime in April.
-
The 20-year-old is a youth director with Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley. She graduated from William Allen High School in 2021 and won election to the school board in the November general election.
-
Executive Education Academy Charter has been waiting to appeal its application denial since 2021. Gov. Josh Shapiro's nominees were just confirmed by the State Senate earlier this month.
-
The grant money first approved by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2018 can go toward making safety infrastructure improvements to facilities.
-
The lawsuit alleged retired chief of schools Joe Roy punched an assistant principal during a 2022 high school football game.
-
The social studies teacher at William Allen High School was accused of drug crimes following a March raid of her home by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. She resigned a few weeks later, citing "personal" reasons.
-
Local state lawmakers are reacting to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s call for $1 billion in new public education spending for the state’s students and schools.
-
Board Director Phoebe Harris blasted the board leadership's lack of transparency in a radio interview.
-
Groups that represent the district's majority-minority population are crying foul over what they describe as a lack of transparency and involvement in the process of identifying a new leader.
-
As interest in the education field continues to decline, the report recommends systemic changes. A hearing of the state Senate Education Committee to examine the issue is set for this week.
-
The city says by reducing the number of sponsored concerts at West Park, programmers will be able to include other bands in more neighborhoods.
-
Liz Bradbury has been an LGBTQ activist in the Lehigh Valley for more than 30 years.
-
As the region diversifies, relations across racial groups are seen as a key element of quality of life. A new survey finds overall ratings as mostly positive, but different age groups rate the state of race relations differently.
-
The 4-month-old Lab was specially trained as an emotional support animal.
-
A crowd gathered — and cheered — as Luani the otter at Lehigh Valley Zoo made his Super Bowl LVII pick during the 12th annual Otter Bowl a day before the big game between the Eagles and Chiefs.
-
Parents aren't the only ones frustrated. One bus driver says students acting out causes drivers to quit, creating high turnover rates. A number of school districts are negotiating new bus driver contracts.
-
Some students say they see parallels between Till's murder and recent killings of people of color by police. They participated in a Black History Month presentation at Dieruff High School.
-
Kimberly Lipsky Weidman reads her book to kids at Muhlenberg Elementary School.