School News

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.

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.

Muhlenberg College announced its second academic partnership with Villanova University today. This partnership will allow Muhlenberg prehealth students to earn a second bachelors in nursing at Villanova’s M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing in an accelerated time frame.

It would potentially take one of the pills used in a medication abortion off the market

The developer of Allen Flats hopes the building's first residents can move in by the end of 2023.

The Allentown School District has placed William Allen High School Principal Cheryl Clark on administrative leave after months of complaints from staff, students and parents about her leadership style.

Joseph Roy, the superintendent of the Bethlehem Area School District, is being sued in federal court by Liberty High School Assistant Principal Antonio Traca. Roy says he has never struck a district employee. Read the complaint here.

Hamid will discuss his 2017 book, 'Exit West' and share his thoughts on migration and immigration at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11.

Emmaus field hockey Coach Sue Butz-Stavin has more than 1,000 wins and over a dozen state titles in her 47-year career. 'You have to play until the clock runs out,' she says as she looks forward to season No. 48.

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

School district officials aren't publicly saying who is the current principal at William Allen High School. District spokeswoman Melissa Reese said Thursday it was a personnel matter and the district was unable to comment.

A spate of threats and false reports of shooters have been pouring into schools and colleges across the country for months. Schools in Pennsylvania were the latest targeted by so-called swatting.

BASD is scheduled to approve a purchase of the system on April 24. Other area students, as well as the ones at Freedom High School, could also experience the immersive learning.

Parents and teens say bathroom access at Building 21 is unpredictable as many of the facilities are closed all day at times.