With the 10-year Fontana Regional Library agreement up for review, commissions in all three counties are considering changes to the document.

The Haywood County School Board moved quickly to approve a new principal for Waynesville Middle School after the sudden departure of previous Principal Jennifer Reeves. 

Western Carolina University has been chosen as one of four universities leading an effort to bolster research innovation in North Carolina. 

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners decided it intends to grant the loan request from Summit Charter School in the amount of $2.5 million. 

A new independent private school is set to open in Sylva by fall of 2025, with a focus on serving gifted and talented students. 

This year, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that allows charter schools to request capital funding from their local board of commissioners.

With accountability data released from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, all charter schools in the Smoky Mountain News’ four-county coverage area showed an increase in the percentage of students passing state exams during the 2022-23 school year compared to 2021-22 school year. 

Sometimes, it feels like we’re just nowhere in this life. It was like that for me in the early 1980s.

Last week, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released performance and growth data for the 2022-23 school year, and none of the four school districts in the Smoky Mountain News coverage area received a low-performing state designation. 

For the third year running, freshman enrollment has increased at Western Carolina University, a metric that university leaders hope will signal an end to multiple years of falling enrollment in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic.