Correction Aug. 26, 2010 — Lynette Waller was named principal of early childhood education for School District of Lancaster in July. The story below incorrectly listed the previous staff member who held that position.

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As schools open for the new year in the days ahead, students and staff members will notice plenty of changes.

At Penn Manor High School, pupils will be able to use their iPads, Web-linked cell phones and laptops in some classes — if teachers allow it.

Columbia High School upperclassmen will be able to take classes at Clarion University.

And Manheim Township students will face random drug tests if they plan to drive to school or participate in sports.

At nearly every school district, new faces will be greeting students at the front door.

The return to classrooms began Tuesday, when Lancaster Mennonite students started the new year.

Students at 14 public school districts start their school year Monday.

School District of Lancaster resumes classes for most students Sept. 2, and Columbia begins Sept. 7.

Warwick students will be the last to return, on Sept. 8.

Here is a sampling of new programs, policies and faces students will encounter in the new year at county public schools.

The information was provided by the schools and school districts.

Cocalico

The district will implement the Harcourt K-5 science program at its elementary schools.

According to Cocalico officials, the program was selected because it is hands-on, works well with the district's Harcourt Storytown reading program and was the only Pennsylvania-specific program tightly aligned with state curriculum standards.

Columbia

High school juniors and seniors will be able to take online college credit classes through Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Courses in literature, visual arts, psychology, earth science and mathematics will be offered at $510 each; scholarships will be available through the Columbia Education Program.

Conestoga Valley

CV will pilot a full-day kindergarten program at Leola and Smoketown elementary schools.

Each of the two classes will include about 20 students selected by lottery. Grant money was used to hire additional staff for the program.

The high school will implement a Freshmen Innovations program for about 40 ninth-graders who have struggled academically.

Students will receive project-based instruction from teams of teachers in communications, math, science and social studies.

The goal is to improve students' proficiency and assure they graduate.

The district hopes to expand the program next year to include 10th grade, and a total of 160 pupils, next year.

The high school driver's education teacher of 17 years retired, and his position will not be filled.

The school will offer an online course for a fee, but the cost has yet to be determined. Discounts will be available for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

CV also is studying whether to allow students to bring their own electronic devices, such as laptops and netbooks, into classrooms.

For students without their own gear, officials are considering providing district-owned computers to ensure that every student has his or her own computer.

Andrew Graybill is the new principal of Brownstown Elementary School. He replaces Kelly Cartwright, who was promoted to director of elementary education following the retirement of Michael Young.

Lisa Mumma is replacing Bill Feeley as the district's math supervisor, and Michelle Trasborg replaces Deann Buffington as communications supervisor.

Donegal

The high school will offer two new advanced-placement courses: chemistry and language and composition.

The district also is implementing a new language arts program in kindergarten through grade six and a new English curriculum in grades seven through 12.

Students will be using new textbooks and, in some instances, computer netbooks in the classroom.

The technology education department is expanding the high school and middle school curricula.

Gateway to Technology courses in design and modeling, automation and robotics and energy and the environment will be offered to seventh- and eighth-graders.

At the high school, Donegal will offer Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles of Engineering through Project Lead the Way, a science, technology, engineering and math program.

John Haldeman is a new associate principal at the high school.

Eastern Lancaster County

Elanco plans to incorporate more web-based learning into its curriculum.

Over the summer, teachers taught English, world cultures, American history and earth and space courses using a mix of online and classroom instruction.

In the fall, ninth-graders will take a computer concepts course that incorporates both types of instruction. As the year goes on, more classes will add online learning components.

The change will help students who prefer online instruction, said Linda Hitchcock, assistant to the superintendent for learning.

It also will provide more opportunities for students to get caught up on work from home via the Internet, she said.

The district also is establishing an online alternative school for students who previously would have attended Washington Educational Center.

Because of a change in status by the state, WEC this year is enrolling only students from Ephrata Area School District.

Elanco has contracted with NovaNET to provide an online virtual learning program for up to 20 alternative-education students.

The students will follow a different schedule than their peers.

In personnel changes, Sue Sneed has been named principal of New Holland Elementary School, replacing Brenda Leidy, who retired.

Sneed's former position as middle school principal has yet to be filled.

Elizabethtown

The high school will offer three new courses, Competition Science, Chinese 1 — provided through a distance-learning arrangement with Hempfield High School — and Hilter, Nazi Germany and World War II.

In the new science course, students will work on projects to enter in local and regional science competitions.

Fairview and Mill Run elementary schools have a new principal — Amanda Hann, a former first-grade teacher at East High Street Elementary School.

The district has a new bus transportation provider, Petermann Ltd.

Ephrata

This fall, the district will open its own cyber-charter school, the Ephrata Virtual Academy.

Previously, Ephrata paid tuition to cyberschools outside the district for students choosing to take online courses.

The tuition savings are expected to exceed start-up costs for the new program, district officials said.

Ephrata also is revising its alternative education program at Washington Educational Center.

Because of a change in status on the state level, the school now must provide 990 hours of instruction per year to each student.

Previously, students could learn at a much slower pace.

To comply with the instructional time requirement, WEC students will attend classes at the school and complete online courses outside of school.

Ephrata High School is adding courses in Global Perspectives, Introduction to Statistics, 3-D computer animation, advanced-placement biology and Accounting 4.

Hempfield

The district is implementing a new language arts curriculum that emphasizes reading strategies and encourages independent reading. The program includes 32,000 new books.

At four elementary schools — Farmdale, Centerville, Rohrerstown and Landisville Primary — students will have recess before, rather than after, lunch this year.

The pilot program is designed to foster better eating habits and reduce food waste that resulted from students racing to finish lunch so they could play outside.

The district has expanded its student services to provide a counselor at every elementary school. It also has hired its own occupational therapist, rather than contracting out for that service, and has added a psychologist to work with at-risk students.

Each of the district's middle schools now has a classroom equipped as a distance-learning lab, where students can take "virtual field trips" and participate in high school-level courses.

Also this year, the district will be evaluating attendance-area boundaries and may recommend changes later in the year.

Kim Rauscher is the new principal of East Petersburg Elementary School.

Lampeter-Strasburg

The high school will offer several new courses, including advanced-placement calculus, Clay and Sculpture 3 and Photography 2.

Jamie Raum, the former assistant principal at Martin Meylin Middle School, has been promoted to principal.

Jeffrey Smecker, a former elementary assistant principal, is the new assistant principal at Martin Meylin.

Manheim Central

A transition to a new science curriculum is under way and should be completed by the 2011-2012 school year. Subjects will include earth science in seventh grade, life science in eighth grade, physical science in ninth grade and biology in 10th grade.

The district is implementing a bullying-prevention program that uses student survey data, classroom discussions and intervention strategies to address bullying.

All schools will participate.

Jeff Hughes is the new principal at Manheim Central High School.

Manheim Township

The district will become the seventh in Lancaster County to test its students for drug use when it implements a random testing program at its high school and middle school in the fall.

Students who test positive will be banned from extracurricular activities and/or driving to school.

The district also will pilot a full-day kindergarten program at Reidenbaugh Elementary School that could lead to a districtwide program in 2012.

Manheim Township is continuing plans to implement an International Baccalaureate program at its high school in 2011-12 but has dropped plans to offer single-gender classes, also at the high school.

Recent research did not support the need for the classes, district spokeswoman Marcie Brody said.

The district also has added a second autistic support classroom in response to an increase in students with autism spectrum disorders.

Jason Reifsnyder, former Neff Elementary sixth-grade principal, has been named principal of the middle school.

Christopher Zander replaces him at Neff.

Joni Lefever has been named to the new position of supervisor of special education.

Octorara

To cut expenses, the district eliminated funding for its middle school athletic program.

Football and field hockey will be the only Octorara fall sports for grades seven and eight. They'll be funded through private donations.

The status of winter and spring sports has not been determined.

Sixteen staff positions (including 11 teaching, one administrative and four clerical support) have not been replaced.

Under a new policy, the district will charge fees to outside groups using Octorara schools and other facilities. For up to three hours of use, the district will charge $250 for the high school gymnasium $100 for cafeterias and $25 for athletic fields.

Penn Manor

The district has altered its electronic use policy to give teachers the option of allowing students to use their own iPads, laptops, web-linked cell phones and other devices in the classroom.

Students would need prior approval before they could bring the devices to school.

"The technology is not going away," said Charlie Reisinger, Penn Manor's director of technology. "We need to leverage the tools and open the door instead of adopting a blanket policy that says 'Just don't use it.'"

The district is upgrading its infrastructure so "guest devices" can be connected to Penn Manor's network, which provides filtered access to the Internet.

The ban on the use of cell phones for personal conversation and texting will remain in effect.

Pequea Valley

The district is using federal stimulus funds to implement a pilot program that will put laptops in the hands of 140 high school students.

Pupils will use the computers in English, physics and math classes, and will be permitted to take them home.

The program is designed to better tailor instruction to each student's needs through the use of computer-based instruction.

If it proves successful, the program could be expanded in future years to the entire school.

School District of Lancaster

The district has eliminated 8 1/2 gifted teaching positions at its elementary and middle schools.

Regular classroom teachers have been trained to provide gifted instruction to students at least one period a day.

Under the previous arrangement, gifted instruction was provided only one or two days a week.

In other curricular changes, Discovery Math, a program piloted in grades nine through 11 last year, will replace the high school's Interactive Math Program, which has been criticized in recent years for failing to prepare students for college.

SDL has added a second Chinese teacher to its staff and will expand the program to kindergarten students at Fulton Elementary, second-graders at Ross and Wharton elementary schools and eighth-graders at Reynolds Middle School.

In addition, McCaskey High School students will be able to take a level-three Chinese course.

A second bilingual teacher has been added for the Spanish/English dual immersion program, which is now offered in kindergarten and first grade at Wharton Elementary School.

New principals have taken over at several schools.

• Scott Richardson is the new "focus principal" at Hand Middle School, and Diane Patton is assistant principal for instruction.

In addition, about 15 Hand teachers have been replaced.

The changes are part of a restructuring designed to improve academic achievement and community involvement at the school.

• Former Hand principal Larry Mays is now acting principal of Phoenix Academy, replacing Tom Haley, who left the district for a job in Roanoke, Va.

Phoenix assistant principal Jeffrey Fair left that post to work as an art teacher at McCaskey East High School.

• Jay Butterfield, former McCaskey East principal, was named to the new position of McCaskey campus focus principal.

He'll be responsible for improving academic achievement at McCaskey East and J.P. McCaskey High School.

Bill Jimenez is the new principal of McCaskey East.

• Deb Leese was named to the new position of principal of early childhood education.

• Christopher Lopez, former assistant principal at King Elementary School, was promoted to principal.

Solanco

The classroom segment of driver's education will now be taught online at the high school.

The district has eliminated after-school activity buses to save money.

Shirley Hunter is the new principal at Clermont Elementary School, replacing Beverly Keeger, who retired. Hunter also is Solanco's director of elementary education.

Diane Boff replace Hunter as principal of Providence Elementary School.

Warwick

The district has consolidated its administrative positions and now has a supervisor of special education, Erin Smith, and a supervisor of student services, Yvette Line-Koller.

The supervisor of federal programs/staff development is Kathy Delsely.

The director of curriculum and instruction position was eliminated.

Two assistant superintendents now oversee elementary and secondary instruction. Keith Floyd is in the elementary post; the secondary post is vacant.

The changes, which took effect July 1, saved the district about $48,000, officials said.

Some sections of courses at the high school and middle school have been eliminated, increasing the sizes of some classes. A district official could not say which classes will be affected.

The district is updating its attendance guidelines for all schools to reduce students' unlawful absences and tardiness.

Staff writers Diana Martin and Taylor Bundy contributed to this story.

bwallace@lnpnews.com