Editor’s Note: Junior Michael Fleck is our new Allentown Central Catholic High School columinist. He is involved in numerous activities, including the marching and concert bands, the spring musical, cross country, track and field, PJAS, Central City Project (ACCHS’s community service program) and Key Club. We welcome him to our team bringing you news from ACCHS.

Allentown Central Catholic High School will kick off the 2017-2018 school year Aug. 28 for freshmen, with all grades reporting Aug. 29.

This year, Central Catholic will implement its Teach 1:1 Learning Initiative by providing each student with their own iPad for learning purposes and to help individualize student learning. Teachers received iPads last year to help prepare for the program’s rollout, which is sure to both modernize and improve the students’ learning experiences.

Randy R. Rice will serve as the interim principal at Central Catholic during the search for a new principal. Blair Tiger, who served as principal from 2015 to 2017, will be missed by the students, faculty and staff. Central Catholic will also welcome a new vice principal.

The ACCHS New Student Picnic will be held 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 27 in the school’s parking lot, fondly known as The Pits, at the corners of Chew and Jute streets in Allentown. Freshman and transfer student families are welcome to attend for an afternoon of food and fun. An RSVP is requested and may be returned to admissions@acchs.info.

Fall sports teams are hard at work preparing for their seasons. The Vikings’ first football game versus Freedom High School of Bethlehem will be held 7 p.m. Aug. 26 at J. Birney Crum Stadium. The full schedule, along with all fall sports schedules, can be found at acchsathletics.org.

Fans of Central Catholic’s athletic programs can express their fondness by joining the ACCHS Viking Booster Club. For a per family fee per year, fans can support a program which covers annual athletic program fees of approximately $150,000, which is used to cover uniforms, advertising, receptions, clinics, equipment and much more. More information can be found at acchs.info/booster-club.

The Central Catholic app, Allentown Central Catholic, provides essential Viking Nation information and can be downloaded from the App Store and the Google Play Store. Central Catholic can also be found on the following social media sites: Facebook - @ACCHSvikings; Twitter - @ACCHSVikings and Instagram - acchsvikings.