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York Suburban rolls out new district website, translation and mass-communication tools
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Summary
Communications lead presented a new Finalsite-powered website and mass-communication platform, highlighting accessibility features (dyslexia-friendly font, screen reader), five-language translation via Weglot, mobile app features and the ability to post district emergency pop-ups; the site migration included about 1,346 pages.
York Suburban School District unveiled a redesigned website and updated mass-communication system during the April 20 board meeting.
Communications lead Mrs. Foreman reviewed the migration from the district’s prior WordPress site to Finalsite and said the district began using the finalsite mass-communication product in July 2025. She described the migration of roughly 1,346 pages and emphasized accessibility upgrades: a dyslexia-friendly font, screen-reader support, and translation services (Weglot) in five prioritized languages. She also demonstrated the site’s quick links, school pages, searchable staff directory, a student-family one-stop page with menus and cycle days, and the mobile app that allows families to add event items directly to personal calendars.
Foreman said the site includes features intended for both families and staff: an improved district calendar, school quick links, a searchable contact directory, and an emergency pop-up capability that will display a message sitewide when needed. "We began using Finalsite for the mass comm side of things in July 2025," she said, and noted the staged launch helped staff and families adapt. She said the district used analytics and advisory-group feedback (students, parents, staff) to determine which pages and quick links to prioritize.
Why it matters: The move aims to improve family access to information (mobile-first design), expand language access for non-English-speaking households, and add a faster mechanism for emergency communication. Board members praised the visual and navigational improvements and thanked Foreman for a data-driven rollout.
Next steps: Foreman said the team will continue to refine pages, add athletics content midseason, expand department pages and train additional staff to manage content while keeping ADA compliance as a requirement for published pages.
