Here is a glance at area schools as we head into the new school year:

Carbon Career & Technical Institute

Enrollment: 380

Grades: 9th to 12th grade.

Breakfast and lunch prices: Free for all students. A second lunch is $3 for Type A students; $5 for adults.

Transportation company: CCTI owned van, plus school district buses.

New principal: Michele Connors.

New superintendent on record for the Joint Operating Committee: Jason Moser, Lehighton School District.

This year: Second year of the school’s new pre-engineering course. This program prepares individuals to apply knowledge and skills in the engineering field. Instruction includes, but is not limited to safety, ethics, power, problem solving, teamwork, engineering graphics, automated systems, fundamental electronics, manufacturing systems as well as adhering to the STEM initiatives.

Recruiting/ career and technical awareness activities planned for the year: Presentations to 5th grade classes in Carbon County, Open House Oct. 13, 6-8 p.m., 8th and 9th grade tours, shadowing, and 9th grade exploratory program.

Jim Thorpe Area School District

Buildings: L.B. Morris (K-8), Penn Kidder Campus (K-8), Jim Thorpe Area High School (9-12).

Projected enrollment at each school: Jim Thorpe Area High School, 501; L.B. Morris, 640; Penn Kidder Campus, 546.

Lunch prices: Free with CEP program.

Bus company: Rohrer Transportation.

Top things that are new for this school year:

• Hired three school social workers, with one for each building. “They will play a very important role in helping with student truancy and providing mental health services for our students,” said Superintendent Robert Presley. “These are positions that never existed in the district prior to this year.”

• Ryan DeLong, principal, and Avery Hower, assistant principal, are the new administrators at the high school with the retirement of long time principal, Thomas Lesisko.

• Adoption of an AI policy for students and staff. Moving in the direction of utilizing this technology with staff and then moving it out to students throughout the year.

• All classrooms were equipped with Active Panel Promethean Boards for teachers to use to engage students in all classes. Previously they used Apple TVs to project, but they lack the ability for students and teachers to interact with.

Lehighton Area School District

Buildings: Lehighton Area Elementary Center (K-5), Lehighton Area Middle School (6-8) and Lehighton Area High School (9-12).

Enrollment: Elementary Center, 975; Middle school, 480; High school, 640.

Bus company: George’s Transportation Company.

Lunch prices: Free via the CEP program.

Top things new in district:

• A comprehensive assessment system to help guide instructional practices.

• New administrative model at the Elementary Center with Tricia Foster in place as the new principal of academic achievement and interventions.

• Curricular framework development throughout the school year to provide consistency.

Northern Lehigh School District

Projected enrollment: About 1,600 students districtwide.

Schools and grades: Peters Elementary School (K-2); Slatington Elementary School (Grades 3-6); Northern Lehigh Middle School (Grades 7-8); Northern Lehigh High School (Grades 9-12), with some attending Lehigh Career & Technical Institute.

Student transportation modes: A mix of walkers, bus riders, parent/guardian drop off and pickup, student drivers (where applicable), and participants in its virtual program.

Transportation provider: Krise Transportation.

Number of bus routes: 155 (includes a.m. and p.m. routes for all schools and out-of-district placements). In all, 139 routes serve district students, as well as 16 routes that serve charter/parochial schools.

Number of crossing guards: There are no district-employed crossing guards.

Capital improvements: Completion of the district’s new baseball and softball complex for student-athletes and the community; high school flooring project (Multiphase epoxy flooring renovation, funded 75% through the Public Schools Facility Improvement Grant Program) Phase 1 (second floor) is scheduled for completion by the start of the school year; additional security cameras across buildings and campuses; electronic ID scanners added to secure vestibules for enhanced access control; upgraded network servers with strengthened protections; and a systemwide transition to Windows 11 on staff devices; new Chromebooks for kindergarten and 5th grade, as kindergarten Chromebooks will be touch-screen compatible.

Updates: Structured Literacy: Full implementation of Amplify CKLA (Grades K-5) and Amplify ELA (Grade 6); expansion to Grades 7-8 in 2025-26 with continued professional development.

Science (PA STEELS Alignment): Soft launch of OpenSciEd in Grades 6-8 this year, with broader expansion planned for 2025-26 to deepen inquiry-based learning; high school enhancements: introduction of a Financial Literacy course ahead of the state’s 2026-27 graduation requirement, continued refinement of the Lunch & Learn model to support academic flexibility and student services.

Special programs & services: New Emotional Support classroom at Slatington Elementary; new Life Skills Support classroom at the Middle School; continued support for Bulldog Academy (district’s online learning program) with an updated handbook and curriculum.

Curricular planning & pathways: K — Algebra I math program evaluation underway, guided by evidence-based practices (e.g., Building Thinking Classrooms, mathematical discourse) for a 2026-27 adoption; graduation pathway realignment to better connect coursework with postsecondary goals, informed by work on a districtwide Portrait of a Graduate.

Curriculum transparency: Families can access nearly all curriculum documents via the district website; artificial intelligence (AI) integration.

Policy & oversight: Formal Use of Generative AI in Education policy adopted August 2024; integrated into updated district and building-level staff and student handbooks;

Instruction & pedagogy: Guidance for educators to use AI tools responsibly; piloting a high school Research in AI course in tandem with Financial Literacy.

Support for diverse learners: Professional development on leveraging AI for multilingual learners; prototype AI chatbot to provide native-language + English parallel texts aligned with WIDA proficiency levels.

Collaboration & integrity: School AI collaboration spaces for structured team work; training and evaluation protocols to ethically identify potential AI misuse.

Looking ahead (2025-26): Broader classroom use of AI to support personalization, differentiation, real-time feedback, and teacher-facing tools for interpreting and acting on student- and class-level data.

Palmerton Area School District

Buildings: Parkside Education Center (K-1), S.S. Palmer (2-6), Towamensing Elementary (K-6), Palmerton Area Junior High School (7-8), Palmerton Area High School (9-12).

Projected enrollment at each school: Parkside Education Center — 151; S.S. Palmer — 393; Towamensing Elementary — 316; Palmerton Area Junior High School — 269; Palmerton Area High School — 489

Lunch prices: Elementary lunch $3.15; secondary lunch $3.25; milk, 55 cents.

Transportation: Walkers in town; 15 bus routes in both the morning and afternoon

Bus company: George’s Transportation Company.

Top things that are new for this school year:

• We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Joshua Nenscel as our elementary dean of students to serve our K-6 students.

• We are making strong efforts at creating a unified educational experience for all our students, especially at the K-6 level.

• Our focus areas this year are: Establishing a uniform process for Multi-Tiered System of Supports at the elementary level; professional development for staff in the responsible use of AI to enhance the learning experience; a focus on instructional leadership for our administrative team; we continue to plan our addition of classrooms and flexible-use spaces for the high school; and continuous improvement in the area of security.

Panther Valley School District

Projected enrollment: 1,918.

Schools and grades in each building: Panther Valley Elementary, kindergarten to 3rd grade; Panther Valley Intermediate School, 4th to 6th grade; and Panther Valley Junior/Senior High School, 7th to 12th grade.

Name of transportation company: Kistler Transportation.

Upgrades throughout the summer: The high school and intermediate school got roof repairs, and the intermediate school also got new windows and a hot water update. Maintenance crews worked on painting classrooms, repairing the high school bleachers and all the walls in the elementary were painted and ceiling tiles replaced.

Pleasant Valley School District

Projected enrollment: 4,294.

Schools and grades in each building: Elementary — kindergarten to 2nd grade; intermediate — 3rd to 5th grades; middle school — 6th to 8th grades; high school — 9th to 12th grades.

Transportation: “Students ride buses and some have parents drop them off at school. We have a fleet of 115 buses, and 92 of those buses are long buses that cover 110 square miles,” Superintendent James Konrad said.

He said, “Security is located in high-traffic areas near each school for the students’ safety.”

Name of transportation company: First Student.

Upgrades throughout the summer: “We have done upgrades throughout the district during the summer to enhance our learning environments. These enhancements include HVAC upgrades, carpet upgrades, new student furniture at the middle school and high school, and major renovations at our high school.”

Tamaqua Area School District

Projected enrollment: 2,100.

Schools and grades in each building: Tamaqua Elementary and West Penn Elementary, kindergarten to 5th grade; Tamaqua Area Middle School, 6th to 8th grade; and Tamaqua Area High School, 9th to 12th grade.

Do some students walk to school? Yes.

Name of transportation company: Kistler Transportation.

Any upgrades throughout the summer: The district replaced the high school roof, rehabilitated the tennis courts including drainage, replaced the railing along Stadium Hill, as well as routine building maintenance.

Any other upgrades: The administration spent much of the summer filling vacancies ahead of the new school year.

Weatherly Area School District

Projected enrollment: 640.

Schools and grades in each building: Two schools, prekindergarten to 8th grade, and 9th to 12th grade.

Lunch prices: Elementary lunch, $2.90; middle school and high school lunch, $3.15.

Name of transportation company: Rohrer Bus Transportation.

Terry Ahner, Jarrad Hedes, James Logue Jr. Kristine Porter, Kelly Socha and Jill Whalen contributed to this report.