School News

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.

Superintendent Carol Birks said she doesn't have to talk about where she lives. School directors defended Birks from social media posts questioning her residency.

The Lehigh Valley’s James Lawson Freedom School is a six-week summer program that uses a multicultural literacy curriculum and an intergenerational teaching model.

Alicia Knauff is poised to take over as the acting head principal of the high school just months after she was hired as the first principal of Allen’s Ninth Grade Academy.

The district will keep the building and surrounding property with the intention of reopening the school at a later date that has not yet been determined.

Lehigh has been hosting SSP’s International’s Summer Science Program this summer. During the five-week course, students get hands-on experience completing college-level research while getting a feel for campus life.

Aryash Shyam, a rising eighth-grader at Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School, created the GreenBeam to kill weeds with a laser. The project got him named the Pennsylvania State Merit Winner in the 2025 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

The state Office of Open Records has ordered the Allentown School District to release records connected to BusPatrol, the contractor responsible for administering the district’s stop-arm camera enforcement program.

A former Easton Area High School resource officer who pleaded guilty to sending a sexually explicit image of himself to a 16-year-old female student in 2024 was sentenced to 9-to-24 months in Northampton County Prison, it was announced on Wednesday.

Shapiro highlighted his administration's historic investments in K-12 public education in the last two years before his budget address in the first week of February.

Francis Anonia, a former Parkland High School performing arts teacher, was arraigned in Lehigh County Court on Friday morning on charges he used his cell phone multiple times to secretly record a male student in a school changing room in 2022. If found guilty of all 19 charges, he could face up to 88 years in prison.

Robert “Bob” Smith Jr., 63, and Robert “Nick” Nicholoff, 29, will both seek spots on the Allentown School Board this election cycle. Both have board experience.

At the request of the Northampton Area School Board, the district administration provided options for where the district could save money as budget discussions for the 2025-26 fiscal year got underway.

School directors had to choose from seven options for updating Moore Elementary, ranging in cost from $15.5 million to $70 million.

There's an ongoing investigation into a sixth-grade assignment that asked students prompts about slavery, according to the school district superintendent.

Custodial and maintenance workers in Allentown School District voted Thursday to join Teamsters Local Union #773. They hope the Teamsters can help them negotiate a better contract.

Custodial and maintenance workers think the Teamsters could help them get a stronger contract when their current one expires in June. Allentown School District is recommending workers vote for no union representation.

Phoebe Harris, 59, first was elected to Allentown School Board in 2017. She has advocated for students and sometimes found herself at the center of controversy.

In the last year and a half, Allentown School District spent more than $1.4 million on new instruments and hired 34 educators to teach the related arts, which include band, choir and orchestra, among others.

Allentown School District's director of child nutrition services has added more culturally diverse options to school lunch menus. Students have noticed the changes, and they're happy about it.

Young students of Roosevelt Elementary School squealed with joy when Santa Claus, Teddy Oso and Lehigh Valley IronPigs' mascot FeRROUS roamed the hallways at the annual Christmas event.