Shenendehowa previews new district website and brand guide, plans soft staff launch

The district communications office presented a redesigned district website and an internal brand guide intended to unify Shenendehowa’s online presence, email signatures and third‑party communications.

Kelly Barclay, the staff member credited with building the site, showed a streamlined layout intended to reduce clutter, increase access to frequently used items (calendars, hiring notices) and enable each school to customize tabs such as announcements and library pages. Barclay said the staff directory will move from a manual update process to nightly automated updates once data integration is complete and data cleanup is finished.

Barclay told the board the district expects to complete data integration by the end of the week and aims for a full site launch in mid‑February; she recommended a soft launch to staff first so internal users can surface bugs and content issues before the public rollout. The site includes a back end that allows designated school staff (for example, a principal’s secretary) to update calendars and post news in real time; larger content changes will trigger an approval workflow.

The brand guide is an internal document that specifies fonts, official colors and approved logo use, and provides templates for email signatures and social‑media graphics. Barclay said the guide will be used both by district staff and by external partners who produce materials for the district.

The board asked about launch timing, staff training and a soft‑launch process; Barclay said she plans office hours, in‑person training sessions and real‑time editing sessions with departments before the site goes live to the community.

Quotes and timecode references in this article come from the website and brand‑guide presentation during the meeting.