School News

Nazareth Area High School's production won five Freddy Awards — including Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical — at the ceremony Thursday night at Easton's State Theatre.

Bethlehem Area high school students won't be able to use their cell phones during class, but they can still use the devices during non-instructional times. There are different rules for younger students.

Wilson Area School Board unanimously approved its $49 million budget for the 2025-26 school year on Monday night. Included is a 3.5% tax increase.

Nazareth High junior Brody Muthard will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a playground he created for autistic children at the Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 in Bethlehem. Muthard received intervention and therapies for autism at the I.U. as a child.

Two area community colleges are expanding their dual enrollment programming, which enables high school students to better prepare for college and careers. The Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded $14 million in Dual Credit Innovation Grants to 15 public institutions of higher education to increase their programming.

Developers behind the new Easton Area School District high school presented some refinements and updates on the project plans to the school board at their Tuesday meeting.

Easton Area School District's board voted in favor of a health insurance buyout option that will offer employees $6,000 in lieu of coverage, offering potentially substantial savings to the district.

With the increase, the average taxpayer would see his or her annual property tax bill increase about $13.99 a month, or $168 total from the year before.

School directors voted 5-3 for a $140.7 million spending plan that includes a 4% tax hike, which would raise $3.2 million in additional revenue for the district.

A new version of Bethlehem Area School District's 2025-26 school year budget presented Monday includes a tax hike and a $5.9M fund drawdown ahead of a final June vote.

When the pandemic forced traditional schools to go remote, interest in the Commonwealth’s cyber charter schools surged. Enrollments went way up, and costs followed.

Last year, the state lost more than 450,000 jobs, and 2 million Pennsylvanians applied for unemployment. Gov. Tom Wolf’s new “Near Completers” program will help those who have seen their career training sidelined by the pandemic.

It’s been a year since Allentown schools were open. When the pandemic hit, the Allentown School District sent more than 17,000 students home to grapple with learning virtually.

The Allentown School District will face a nearly $55 million budget deficit by 2025 unless it makes major changes, or unless the Commonwealth changes the way it funds schools.

The William Allen High School boys basketball team is undefeated so far this season thanks to the team led by Head Coach Darnell Braswell, the first Black coach in the team’s history.

Lehigh University has revoked an honorary degree that President Trump held for more than 30 years. The school's board of trustees held a special vote this week after Trump incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

All Bethlehem and Northampton Area School schools are going fully remote this Monday and won’t return to in-person learning until at least January 11th.

The Easton Area School District is looking to build its own cyber academy. District staff say the current program isn’t working for many families. And as WLVR’s Tyler Pratt reports, it appears to have cost the district millions of dollars.

Current state guidelines say schools should move to 100% virtual instruction in counties with “substantial transmission” rates. But many Lehigh Valley schools remain open, despite meeting that standard.

Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education is drawing up plans to bring six of the universities in its orbit under two umbrellas.

State officials say they are concerned about student cyber safety. With so many Pennsylvania students attending classes virtually now, reports of online harassment and threats of violence are rising.

The pandemic and its impact on the economy has changed some families financial situations and affected their ability to pay college tuition. According to a survey nearly 40 percent of parents who didn’t originally plan on applying for federal aid now will. And as WLVR’s Chloe Nouvelle reports, time is of the essence.