School News

To meet security and safety concerns, a security officer may be on the way to each of East Penn School District's middle Schools.

A change.org petition opposing the new mascot chosen by the Whitehall-Coplay School District has attracted more than 1,200 signatures. The mascot, named Big Z, is so named in honor of the school name Zephyr, which was also a train that once ran through Whitehall Township.

Planned upgrades include new bullpens and batting cages and many renovations throughout the park.

To help female chess players in her native Botswana, Lehigh University graduate student Besa Masaiti established a chess tournament there — the Besa Masaiti WIM Norm Chess Championship.

Five Lehigh Valley schools have rifle teams that compete in the Northeast Pennsylvania Rifle League. Says one student: “We want to get more people involved and show it’s totally safe. Sometimes, our sport gets a bad rap because of what’s going on (in the world).”

Parkland School District Social Worker Diane Irish has begun hosting office hours for the Parkland REACH Village, a gathering space and community hub of information for anyone who lives in the district.

The Allentown School Board approved updates to programs that add new language and career training options for students. Some of the changes are the result of a survey of more than 1,800 high school students and focus groups, officials said.

Allentown City Council approved a 10-year lease that will see the college pay $15,000 in rent each year and invest up to $4 million in the stadium.

Officials from the Allentown school district spoke with hesitant optimism about the benefits the state's new spending plan could bring to the district.

Away from the fields and courts used by thousands of student-athletes, some Lehigh Valley schools for decades have maintained rifle teams. The Northeast Pennsylvania Rifle League is made up of 11 teams including the Lehigh Valley's Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Salisbury and Southern Lehigh high schools.

Allentown Education Association President Leslie Franklin shared teacher concerns with the district administration at a Thursday school board meeting.

The statement accuses President Donald Trump's administration of "government overreach" and "political interference" that is putting higher education in danger.

The school district wants the Lower Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors to rezone a piece of land at the corner of Hecktown and Country Club roads for school use.

Two proposed school district land development projects were among projects advanced by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

Northampton Area Public Library was slated to get $270,000 from Northampton Area School District for the upcoming fiscal year. But some school directors want to keep the money in NASD.

The school board accepted the resignation of Kim Bretzik at their meeting earlier this week. Applicants will be interviewed to fill the vacancy April 30.

Debbie Merisca has been a teacher since 2018. She left the hospitality industry to find fulfillment working in early childhood education.

In 1989, Yusef Salaam and four other teenagers were imprisoned after being wrongly accused and convicted of raping a woman in Central Park in New York. At Northampton Community College on Tuesday night, he shared his story and the need to address inequities in the criminal justice system.

Parkland Area School Board reviewed the district's capital action plan Tuesday, and even though 2026 projects are limited at the moment, the potential for more spending and a potential tax increase to accommodate it, remain.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board is considering a request to start a varsity girls wrestling program.

First Baptist Church is home to Bethlehem’s branch of Upward Sports. With the gym floor aging, Paul Kocher, director of Upward Sports, and the Bethlehem Upward Sports community, are raising money to replace it.

A property tax hike as high as 5.3% may be assessed to help close a nearly $7 million spending gap in the proposed 2025-26 Whitehall-Coplay School District budget.