School News

The event included choral and dance performances by teachers and students.

Some Lehigh Valley school districts are seeing an increase in chronic absenteeism and truancy following the COVID-19 pandemic. And what was already an issue before COVID appears to have reached a level of urgency in some schools.

The Allentown School District made school uniforms optional this year for the first time since 2013.

Schools in the Lehigh Valley are about to start. Here's a roundup of the 17 school district's important dates and things to note.

Bethlehem Area School District teachers hit the streets on the city's South Side to help students feel comfortable transitioning to a new school experience.

A federal court judge is allowing the assistant principal who filed the civil rights lawsuit to amend his complaint. It stemmed from an altercation at a high school football game last fall.

Last year, Bethlehem Area and Allentown school districts were waitlisted to get rebate funding through the Clean School Bus program. Another round of applications for this fiscal year is open until later this month.

The Parkland School District now has two final options for how it will address projected overcrowding in its schools. A decision could come within the next two months.

The school was designated with a state Targeted Support and Improvement designation due to lagging performance by its cohort of economically disadvantaged students. Officials laid out plans to improve the issues present.

The new makerspace at Slatington Elementary School will help students learn STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) skills. It will primarily be used by an after school program called Schools & Homes In Education, or SHINE.

Kids are singing more frequently and playing more instruments in city school classrooms, thanks to beefed-up state funding, according to educators. Cooking, nutrition and financial literacy also are getting more attention.

The debate will be held in Kirby Sports Center on the Easton campus. Additional details, including the format and moderators, will be announced as they are identified, college officials said.

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.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched investigations into seven schools, including Lafayette College, over alleged incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Dieruff High School has been without a principal since April but will have new leadership beginning in January.

The Senate unanimously passed the legislation on Nov. 16 which Gov. Shapiro, a Democrat, signed a day after it passed.

The court settlement resolves a longstanding dispute between the school district and the After School Satan Club.

East Penn School Board voted Monday to realign grades K-8 as the decision making process to expand district facilities continues, planning to put grades 5-6 in one building and 7-8 in another once renovations are complete.

Lehigh University hosted a DEI and global education expert, Amer F. Ahmed, Ph.D., at an International Education Week event on Monday.

The university held several campus-wide events during First Generation College Student Week including a Q&A with filmmaker Cynthia Martinez.

The Allentown School District Foundation has raised more than $8 million to support students in the city's schools since 2009. For reasons that aren't clear, the Allentown School Board is considering cutting ties with the foundation.

Coleman filed the transparency lawsuit in 2021 before becoming a Parkland School Board member, and ultimately, a state senator representing parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties.