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.

The winners, based on unofficial results, are Democratic candidates: Kimberly Jaramillo, Luis Melecio, Josh Rager and Chris Sykora — who ran together on a slate.

Ambassador Vinay Kwatra spoke to a crowd of more than 130 people about the collaboration between India and the United States over the past decade on topics such as defense and AI.

Unofficial results from Tuesday's election show four first-time school directors will join the board and serve for the next four years. One incumbent won a two-year term.

There were several contested school board races in Lehigh and Northampton counties for Tuesday's general election. Here are the unofficial returns as reported by the counties.

Wilson Area School District joined other members of the PSBA in sending a letter to state government urging them to pass a budget in order to get education funding to schools across the state.

Alice P. Gast led Lehigh University from 2006 to 2014. She died at age 67 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Easton Area School District has joined several other Lehigh Valley schools to withhold charter school payments until the state budget is resolved.

The schools will select the books available in the vending machines to reflect student interests.

Easton Area School District's board passed a resolution that will let it reimburse its own funding drawn from the general fund to support capital projects such as the new high school.

Moravian University and DeSales University both have announced bachelor of science degrees in aviation management.

Though some school directors supported KingSpry's work in recent months, others were critical of the firm's legal advice and communication with the board.

Rebuilding the pool complex would cost millions of dollars. One school director said new investments shouldn't be made at an "ancient" school like Allen High, which opened in 1916.