DW Tips

These days, there's a website for everything.  As an education professional, you know that your school needs to have a website; but what, exactly, should your website include?  Do you need to update it regularly?  How are you supposed to keep up with all of it, anyway?  Designing school websites that parents will love (and therefore use on a regular basis) can be a challenge, but if you incorporate useful tools, you'll keep bringing your parents back for more.

Keep useful forms where they can be found easily

Absence reports, notes that allow one child to go home with another, and all the paperwork that gets stuffed down in students' backpacks at the beginning of the year should be readily accessible to parents.  If possible, allowing online submission of those forms will make the process easier for everyone - not just the parents who have forgotten to send it in with their students that morning, but teachers and administrators who don't have to listen to, "But I had it right here just a minute ago!"

Also consider allowing parents to submit competed forms through your website, which can greatly simplify the admin process. Forms like a parent's consent for absence can be handled through the website and reduce the workload of the admin staff.

Make sure your calendar is up to date

Many parents want to know what is going on at the school at a glance.  They want easy access to important dates, whether it's a day that their kids will be home from school or a day that they're expected to drive the kids back to school after hours for a dance or game.

The easiest way to keep your school calendar up to date is to use Google calendar, which can be easily integrated into a website. All the school administrator has to do is update Google calendar with the latest upcoming events and they will show up on the website automagically!

Don't forget about your newsletter

Sure, you could send a newsletter home with the kids every month, but how many of those brightly coloured pieces of paper will actually make it to their parents?  Instead, give parents the option to sign up to receive the newsletter straight to their inbox. They'll be able to see what's actually going on at school and you'll save on paper and toner costs--a win/win for everyone concerned.  

Readily Available Contact Information

One of the most common reasons why parents log in to a school's website is to locate the contact information of a teacher, aid, or administrator. It is important that they are able to easily locate phone numbers and emails for school employees that they may need to interact with. A smart school design will include the numbers and emails of all of their teachers to ensure that making contact with the right party is as easy as possible. 

Looking for a company that will help set up your school's website and make sure that you're able to easily update it as needed?  Contact us today to discuss how we can design a website for your school.

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net