School News

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 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.

WASD approved their assistant superintendent job description on Monday evening, just about a month after confirming Amy Austin for the role which entails many of her former responsibilities.

Governor Josh Shapiro stopped by Farmersville Elementary in Bethlehem Twp. Monday to rally support for a program offering stipends to student teachers.

A Lehigh Valley student has taken the top spot for a Pennsylvania poetry competition. In May, Isavel Mendoza will move on to the national finals in Washington, D.C., to represent Pennsylvania.

In June, alumni of PBS39's long-running "Scholastic Scrimmage" high school quiz show will come together for networking and a screening of a documentary to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

At the Allentown Art Museum on Saturday, Dr. James Nangeroni was gifted a painting he entered into a Crayola children's arts contest when he was a third-grade student at Dodd Elementary in 1992.

Stephen DeWeerth, professor and dean of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, called the endowment “a testament to the commitment of our alumni community in advancing Lehigh's mission of inspiring future makers."

Staff members also said a teachers' union representative told them they could lose their jobs if they spoke to reporters about the building challenges.

A proposed 25,800-square-foot childcare center in Salisbury Township would be named in memory of Monsignor John P. Murphy, long-time cleric in Allentown who died in 2023 at age 86.

Students have been learning online since last Wednesday. Teachers are reporting to other schools throughout the district to lead their online classrooms.

Bethlehem Area, Northampton Area and Saucon Valley will all continue sending their students to the vocational-technical school. This agreement comes after months of tense debate about the school's future.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board on Monday accepted a letter of retirement from Director of Athletics Bob Hartman. Hartman has served in that role for 23 years. His retirement is effective in August.

The donations will go toward family engagement, peer mentoring and elementary athletics programs as a long-term strategy for preventing crime and drug use.