K-12 News

Have you been following the news in the Lehigh Valley this week? Find out how many of these questions about happenings and news around the Lehigh Valley you can answer correctly.

Shelly (Jacobs) Bartolacci is retiring as an Easton girls basketball coach three years after retiring from teaching. Her retirement marks the end of a 54-year association with the Easton Area School District as a student, teacher or coach.

The classroom business Suds-abilities helps developmentally disabled students gain social and vocational skills in school.

The school district is asking families whether they support adding metal detectors to the high schools.

WLVR's Megan Frank talks with digital content producer Kat Dickey and managing producer Stephanie Sigafoos.

Security officers searched multiple students Monday morning after finding them smoking in a bathroom during school hours, according to police.

The Parkland School District acquired the property at 3599 Broadway, next to Cetronia Elementary. The former landowner had previously planned to put a drug and alcohol recovery house there.

Parkland School District Superintendent Mark Madson recommended the district build additions to the high school to address its growing student population.

Superintendent Michael Mahon's objectives include a marketing plan for the new stadium and new cybersecurity measures.

Antonio Traca had filed a lawsuit against BASD and former Superintendent Joe Roy after a physical altercation between himself and Roy at a high school football game last fall.

Commonwealth Charter Academy, a large, public, cyber charter school for all school-age children, plans to convert a nearly 47,000-square-foot, one-story building into office space for teachers and staff at 2200 W. Broad St.

Critics of the hiring process argued for a superintendent search instead of a direct appointment. Others said Karen Trinkle had more than proven herself ready to lead, and a search would be lengthy and costly.

Planned to open to students for the 2027-28 school year, the roughly $59 million project will go up on the same land as its predecessor facility, which dated back to the 1930s.

School directors voted 5-2 to approve Ethan Ake-Little’s resignation and settlement agreement. His resignation takes effect Aug. 31.

Southern Lehigh school directors appointed Karen Trinkle as chief of schools. They also approved a settlement agreement with Ethan Ake-Little, the HR director who filed discrimination and retaliation complaints against the former superintendent.

Ethan Ake-Little has been suspended with pay since June while the district investigated allegations about his job performance. Ake-Little previously filed discrimination, retaliation and fraud complaints against the former superintendent.

Additional cleaning and air quality testing remain underway at Sheridan and Ritter elementary schools, Allentown School District said in an update Sunday.

School directors are scheduled to vote Monday on whether to promote Assistant Superintendent Karen Trinkle to chief of schools. The proposed five-year contract comes a month after school directors voted to part ways with the previous superintendent.

Northampton Area School District’s inaugural Summer Career Mentorship Program exposed 50 high schoolers to careers in manufacturing, interior design, healthcare and more.

In an email, Allentown School District said mold spores were found in several elementary school classrooms. Remedial action has been taken, the district said in a release, and the classrooms will be tested ahead of the first day of school.

They will serve in districtwide administrative roles and as school building leaders.

Allentown school directors voted 7-0 Thursday to approve the project justification and design development for the school that will sit on the grounds of the former Allentown State Hospital property.