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Everett Public Schools to launch redesigned district website Oct. 1
Summary
The Everett Public Schools communications team previewed a redesigned district website that centralizes key links, improves mobile access and reduces clicks; the board heard training and a proposed Oct. 1 launch to accompany remote instruction.
The Everett Public Schools board on Aug. 25 heard a full demonstration of a redesigned district website slated to go live Oct. 1, a timeline administrators said would give staff and families time to adjust as the district begins remote learning.
Kathy Reeves and Brian Beckley showed board members a sandbox preview from Blackboard, the vendor the district selected after a spring listening process. Reeves said the district last overhauled its site in 2013 and the update aims to simplify navigation and reduce the number of clicks parents need to find common items.
"The last time we did an overhaul of the website was in 2013," Reeves said, noting inconsistent menus and confusing dropdowns on the old site. Beckley described the vendor review, the advisory council feedback and the work to train school webmasters and teachers over the summer.
The redesign will surface the top eight commonly searched items as universal icons across every school page, improve the mobile layout and embed social feeds. Reeves demonstrated a mobile view and said the district will provide continuing coaching for staff so pages present consistently across schools.
The presenters said the vendor delivered the template last week and that the team decided to target an Oct. 1 launch rather than September so staff and vendors would have a full day and the following weekend to address post-launch fixes.
Board members asked whether old pages would be removed or simply hidden; Reeves said pages not visited since about 2012 are being hidden rather than erased and that communicators will vet proposed changes centrally to keep districtwide standards. Directors praised the sneak peek and thanked the communications and vendor teams for the work.
The board did not take a formal vote on the website at the meeting; administrators said the launch plan and training will continue through September and into the start of the school year.
