Daily Brief

Early College Academy Graduates Second Cohort, Expands by 38% for 2026

As schools across Pennsylvania continue to face educator shortages and families seek more affordable pathways to higher education, Kutztown University's Early College Academy (ECA) is demonstrating what can happen when school districts and universities work together to create intentional pathways from high school to college and careers. Now entering its third year, the Early College Academy recently celebrated its second graduating cohort while welcoming 94 students for the 2026-27 academic year, a 38.2% increase over last year's enrollment. The cohort includes students from 27 school districts across Berks, Lehigh, Schuylkill, Montgomery and Northampton counties.

Early College Academy Continues Successful Enrollment

University Relations

The Fourth Planet

Philadelphia's best and foremost fusion jazz group comes to Kutztown 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research, to perform many of their original tunes, with a unique combo of synthesizer, vibraphone, bass and drum. If you enjoy anything from Louis Armstrong to King Crimson, you'll love this one.

Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research Tickets

Andrew Veit, Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research

Fall Fest on Main

Kutztown Community Partnership is hosting its second annual Fall Fest on Main 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, between the 200-400-blocks of Main St. Join us for food and craft vendors, in-street dining, music and so much more. Main St. will be closed during the event from College Blvd. to Noble. St. We hope to see you there.

University Relations

KU Awarded $1 Million U.S. Dept. of Ed. Grant for COE Vision Program

Kutztown University has been awarded a five-year, $1 million U.S. Department of Education Braille Training Program grant to advance mathematics learning and independent living outcomes for individuals with visual impairments. The project, "Advancing Access through Braille: Transforming Unified English Braille (UEB) Math Learning Nationwide," will strengthen UEB Math instruction in PreK-6 classrooms, enhance teacher preparation and support transition-age students as they develop practical math skills for independent living and career success. As the nation's largest postsecondary preparation program for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI), KU is uniquely positioned to lead this important work. The grant will expand educator training, develop innovative resources and increase access to high-quality instruction for learners with visual impairments across the country. Congratulations to Dr. Nicole Johnson on this outstanding achievement.

College of Education

KU Editorial Style Guide

Check out Kutztown University's style guide. KU's style guide is offered as a resource to university communicators to establish consistent and appropriate editorial style for correspondence, print publications, websites, social media, etc. written for and about Kutztown University. This guide relies primarily on “The Associated Press Stylebook.”

University Relations

Professor Emeritus Parson Exhibits Art Video in Malmö Sweden

From Sept. 8-12, the European Conference on Computer Vision's Art Gallery exhibited works by 52 artists, including Dr. Dale Parson, retired from the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT), in Malmö, Sweden and online. Parson's video, "Dimensions Alpha in 3 Movements," inspired by stages of image processing in the human visual system, will also be running without sound on the Rohrbach Library monitor outside the coffee shop during the fall semester. This video builds on technology used by Parson and his students in the CSIT department's multimedia programming courses. The linked online exhibit will remain open after the conference.

Dr. Dale E. Parson, Computer Science and Information Technology

Early Alert Progress Survey Available

The Fall 2026 Early Alert Progress Survey is available for faculty in Starfish until Thursday, Sept. 24. Faculty are encouraged to use the survey to send kudos to students as words of encouragement, to acknowledge good work and to reinforce student success early in the semester. Faculty can also raise flags of concern for attendance issues, missing/late or low-scoring assignments or submit a fully customized academic concern flag. Every kudos and flag template has the option to add custom content; two options are completely customizable. All message templates can be viewed in Starfish D2L. For additional assistance, please visit Starfish in D2L, email starfish@kutztown.edu, call 610-683-4106 or attend a Starfish Express Workshop, 3-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 and Tuesday, Sept. 29, and 11-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, via Zoom.

Center for Student Success and Academic Excellence