School News

In January, a majority of faculty approved a no-confidence vote for Lafayette College President Nicole Hurd. This week, the college board of trustees approved an extension to her contract lasting until 2030. She joined Lafayette as its leader in 2021.

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.

The Allentown-based entrepreneurship program trains Lehigh Valley residents on how to successfully acquire and maintain rental properties.

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.

The decision comes after several members of community group Promise Neighborhoods, an anti-violence nonprofit, accused Phoebe Harris of unprofessional behavior.

Nazareth school board members said they want to review the current regulations for reviewing books, concerned it's a slippery slope. Reviewing all books submitted to the district could cost more than $100,000.

Theresa May, former prime minister of the U.K., spoke about threats to national security during a lecture Tuesday night at Lehigh University. It's part of the university's “Compelling Perspectives” lecture series.

When the Parkland School Board voted to close the district's tax office, it terminated an agreement in which the three townships in the district gave the district $5 from the Local Services Tax.

Kids from five schools got live demonstrations of cow milking, beekeeping, apple farming and more. Organizers say it's meant to spark interest and explain an industry that they say sometimes goes unappreciated.

The East Penn School Board held a presentation over proposed facilities expansions due to anticipated enrollment increases. Options included shifting grades 5/6 and 7/8 into their own buildings, and constructing a new high school.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

A new playground is painted true to the original color scheme of the 1994 set it's replacing, and cost the school board $165,354.

The Allentown School District held Unity Day events at its 15 elementary schools on Wednesday. The message at each focused on bullying prevention, as October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

Several cases of the disease have been identified since school began in August.

The school board is expected to vote next week on a request by Moms for Liberty to ban a book. Three other written requests have also been filed.

East Penn School Board candidates gathered Tuesday evening for a candidate forum hosted by the League of Woman Voters, fielding questions about school safety, transparency, and facilities expansion among other issues.