Lehigh Carbon Community College's Carbon campus students can expect to take classes at a new site come the spring 2014 semester.

Officials announced today that the college will move its Carbon campus from its current location along Locust Street in Nesquehoning to the west wing of Jim Thorpe Area High School, 1100 Center St., Jim Thorpe. Students will use the Center Street entrance to access the college campus.The move will take place in late December, with the site officially opening on Jan. 10, 2014.The facility will serve the post-secondary educational and training needs of Carbon County residents and the surrounding community; as well as regional businesses of the county, LCCC officials stated in a press release this morning."We're very excited about the opportunity to join the community of Jim Thorpe," said acting LCCC president, Dr. Ann Bieber. "The Jim Thorpe site offers our students in Carbon County access to LCCC's strong academic programs combined with excellent facilities and the convenience of an improved location all as a part of the fourth most beautiful town in the country.""Every once in a while you have to make a change and I think the college feels that this is a move in a positive direction," Jeanne Miller, director of Carbon and Schuylkill County Educational Services, said. "The Jim Thorpe site is a little more centrally located and gives the northern part of the county more access to the college."Sean Dallas, public relations director for the college, added that the current site was an excellent stepping stone for LCCC."This is just the next logical step in Carbon County," he said.The new site will feature its own LCCC entrance; smart classrooms; Wi-Fi Internet access; a large, fully furnished student lounge for students; an outdoor veranda; computer lab and off-street parking at the high school. Staff will also be available to provide students with assistance for admissions and advising, easy access to the college bookstore and services for registration."We will be offering new academic programs and expanding our offerings to meet the needs of the students in Carbon County," Miller explained, noting that the college plans to move into areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). "We want to make sure we offer options for the future of the Carbon County job markets along with other academic programs for the residents."Dallas said that the overall "feel" of the new site will be more of a college campus atmosphere.A "Meet the LCCC Cougars" night is also being organized for early December for neighbors of the facility, county executives, Jim Thorpe borough leaders, Jim Thorpe Area School District administrators, teachers and students, and LCCC staffers, faculty and LCCC students, the school reported."The 'Meet the LCCC Cougars' night is a great opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors a little better," Miller said. "We'll have LCCC staffers there to answer any questions our new neighbors may have and open up lines of communication for everyone."LCCC has had a presence in Carbon County since 1994, when its campus was located the Carbon County Vocational Technical School, now known as Carbon Career & Technical Institute.LCCC moved to the Nesquehoning site in 1999.More than 2,000 students from Carbon County attend one of LCCC's six campuses for credit and noncredit classes.