School News

The school district alerted the community about three hours after an incident involving pepper spray occurred in the upstairs cafeteria of Emmaus High School on Wednesday afternoon. Legislation that went into effect this month requires districts to alert parents, guardians and teachers of school weapon incidents.

Wilson planners tabled a decision on plans for the proposed athletic field improvements at the high school to allow time for the developer to address the borough engineer's comments.

Of the thousands of stories covered and told in 2025, our staff picked some of their favorites. They included a bald eagle looking for love in the Hellertown area and an $11 million "sky dome" planned for Easton.

Pennsylvania’s distracted driving law will take full effect in 2026, marking one of the most consequential legal shifts for motorists in years and headlining a slate of new laws set to roll out across the Commonwealth.

With the new year comes a new season of high school musicals, as hundreds of student performers begin rehearsals, hoping for a nomination at the 24th annual Freddy Awards.

Shiv Patel, 18, has spent his winter break in Ahmedabad, India, leading robotics workshops for elementary school students.

A new app developed by Moravian Academy students aimed at detecting and warning developers about waste runoff has secured over $10,000 in funding from successful pitch presentations.

The data dashboard will be made publicly available on the Allentown School District's website in early 2026. It will show attendance and absentee rates by school, grade, student groups and more.

The Coursemojo pilot was funded by the philanthropy arm of Digital Promise, a global education nonprofit. The cost of the pilot is $45,754.

The district plans to build academic and athletic additions at the school site to accommodate more grades and the theme-based academy's focus on health, science, innovation and technology.

The mural, by artist Mercedes Salazar, is a collaboration with Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance, Community Action of Development of Allentown, The Chamber Foundation and Allentown Mural Arts.

The grant program would allow schools to recruit students, paraprofessionals and other community members to pursue a career in education. It passed the House with bipartisan support last year but has been stuck in committee in the Senate since then.

Opposing forces came to a head during a discussion about public use of Easton Area School District's Cottingham Stadium, with talks of potential costs, liability, and a connection to the public dominating the conversation.

Bethlehem native Julianna Rodrigues, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Collaborative at Moravian University, on Tuesday morning.

The East Penn School Board approved the district's 2024-25 budget with a property tax increase of 4.12% It maintains existing programs and staff positions sought by school administrators.

A Democratic-sponsored proposal to boost public school funding by billions and impose stricter rules on cyber-charter schools is on its way to the Pennsylvania Senate after passage in the state House.

Says Cathy Leibensperger, Saucon Valley High School's wrestling scorekeeper for 44 years: “I look at the other inductees and I see people that have traveled the world, people that coached champions — I’m just a little scorekeeper from a little high school in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.”

Aryash Shyam and Sudha Chandrasekaran, sixth-graders from Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School, won first place at the state competition of National History Day earlier this spring. They compete in the national round of the contest next week with their exhibit on the Great Depression.

A group of Northampton County judges selected a new school director to join the Northampton Area School Board, filling a vacancy that had been open since mid-March.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board voted 5-4 to adopt a final 2024-25 budget with a 4.5% tax hike at its May 28 meeting.

Parkland School District administrator Frank Anonia is the subject of an internal investigation. He was recently deposed in a lawsuit that alleges the district knew another teacher, Christian Willman, was sexually assaulting students but did nothing to stop it.

Miara Mitteff, a Dieruff High School senior, will study integrated business and engineering at Lehigh University in the fall on a full-ride scholarship from the U.S. Army.