K-12 News

East Penn School Board voted Monday to pause work toward realigning grades 5-8. District officials will again study possible alternatives.

The new school is expected to serve about 1,200 Allentown students in kindergarten through eighth grade. City Center is optimistic it will be ready for the start of the 2027-28 school year.

The free event runs from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13. It is open to all Allentown students, families and staff. There will be free school supplies, including backpacks, available.

Allentown School District appointed Alicia Knauff as acting head principal in July. She replaced Frank Derrick, who had been leading the school in an acting role for the last two school years.

Allentown's 111th annual Romper Day celebration was held at J. Birney Crum Stadium on Monday night. About 400 students who participated in the summer playground program exhibited skills including dance and calisthenics.

Allentown students took part in STEM activities, including stepping into an airplane cockpit, when Captain Barrington Irving flew into town with some hands-on critical thinking activities from his Flying Classroom.

School directors voted 5-4 Tuesday to part ways with now former Superintendent Michael Mahon, who was on administrative leave for the last five months.

The Southern Lehigh School Board will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom of Southern Lehigh High School to vote on both a separation agreement and mutual general release agreement between the district and Superintendent Michael Mahon.

Allentown school directors approved the $1.14 million partnership Thursday. The agreement runs from next month to June 30, 2028.

Alicia Knauff will start as the new acting head principal of Allen on Monday. She was hired as the principal of the school's Ninth Grade Academy before being tapped shortly after for the acting head role.

The book festival will feature workshops, poetry, lectures by authors and discussions on the environment, LGBTQ rights, diversity and the steel industry. It runs through Sunday at various locations in the city.

Parkland administrators issue public statements after former performing arts director Frank Anonia was jailed Tuesday after being charged with secretly recording a student changing in a dressing room.

Francis 'Frank' Anonia, 43, was charged by Lehigh County detectives with multiple counts of invasion of privacy, criminal use of a communication facility and other offenses, according to court records.

A recently released equity audit concluded Allentown School District needs to streamline inclusive practices across the district to better serve students of color.

The Allentown Symphony Association's El Sistema program is expanding to a new school to offer more student opportunities.

The Pennsylvania House Education Committee held a hearing on school safety and security in Harrisburg on Thursday. State Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, leads the committee.

Lessons in hands-on healthy eating — and growing food locally — are in the near future of some younger students in Lehigh County.

Peter Langman, an expert on the psychology of school shooters, spoke at Wednesday's 26th KidsPeace National Conference in Orefield.

Allentown School Board member Phoebe Harris has been barred from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association's annual meeting after she seized a microphone at an awards dinner and accused the group of racist behavior.

Student alerted security, which then apprehended the individual without incident.

Children First PA, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, invited state House candidates in Northampton County.

The rink, which again will be erected in front of the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks stage at the foot of the blast furnaces, is scheduled to open Nov. 22 and run through Jan. 5.