Unit 2: School Websites

When looking at multiple school websites of different school districts in South Dakota, it was obvious that websites are very important for school districts.  One of the first things that I noticed about the Sioux Falls school website was the color coding they had for the stage or phase they are in for COVID in each of their buildings.  This is a really nice feature that allows parents at all times to understand what is going on in each building in the district in regards to COVID.  The Harrisburg school website was really well put together and was aesthetically pleasing.  I also really enjoyed the alumni page.  I do not know this for sure, but I am guessing that they have a communications director or someone who their job is to literally take care of the website and probably not much else, where at Eureka, if I brought that up to the school board they would literally laugh at me and think I am joking.  Finally, the Brandon Valley website was another website that I thought was pretty good.  I especially enjoyed looking at the Superintendents page and like how he communicated with his patrons through the school website.  Overall, these three districts are doing a great job of using their school website.

When looking at the website for the Eureka School District and comparing it and analyzing what we are doing, I notice a few things.  First of all, I do not feel like our website is as easy to look at as some of these other ones.  I know we use google sites for our website as it is free, but comparing it to a website that is made from apptegy, you can see why ours is free.  On our website, we do include the important information  such as schedules, lunch menu, and important links to sites that parents and staff members would like to reach.  We also have a link to every teacher's lesson plans or individual websites on the school website that way parents can access that information and know what is going on.  One thing that I do not like about what we have going on is that this year in particular we are changing our schedules about 3 or 4 times a week and then I am updating about 3 or 4 different things instead of just updating it at one spot and having it pushed out to the other platforms.  It is one of the reasons I am looking at different products for a new school website that would allow us to do those things.  Lastly, I do think it would be beneficial for our school to have students and staff post things on our school website that people can see what we are doing in our school.  This would be a good way to connect with the public so they can see what their tax dollars are being used for.  Overall, websites are really important for schools and need to be utilized as such.

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2020 at 7:19 PM

    Certainly, the size of school district somewhat dictates how a website is maintained. It is a bit easier for a larger district to spend the money to have a quality website. I do believe all schools need a good website. It is a great marketing strategy to attract new families. And, it provides up-to-date information for families with students in your school. Websites should be user-friendly and inviting.

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