I spend many years making school websites – almost since the WWW first got off the ground. Those early days were really exciting, and, of course, I knew nothing about making a website, but I had a great time doing it and making it as gaudy as absolutely possible. I’m the first to admit that my design sense is generally lacking, although I think that I’ve learned a little over all these years. Since my tentative beginnings, I’ve made personal websites, school websites, and a few websites for businesses. But, the topic today is the school website.

Just about every international school has a website of one sort or another. Some are incredibly flashy and filled with information; others look like they’ve been designed by a Fourth Grader for a computer class project. What is it that makes a school website a plus for the school community? What are the functions of the school website?

In the process of writing my Ebook, The International Teacher, I’ve reviewed 200 school websites. Here are some of my thoughts on the questions that I raised above.

A school website can:

1. Serve as a PR tool for the School Board, school administration and parents.
2. Serve as a recruiting tool for prospective parents and students.
3. Serve as a recruiting tool for prospective teachers.
4. Serve as an integral component of the school’s resources.
5. Serve as a learning/teaching tool.
6. Serve as a venue for student and teacher work.

Let’s look at each of these points.

1. School Boards want their school to have a public presence. In this case, the school website is a PR tool with parents. A website can present information on the curriculum, school activities, test scores, and the teaching staff. This information will keep parents informed about what is going on in the school. Also, for those schools that depend on student tuition as the major part of their budget, a good website can help bring in additional students as well as justify the tuition that the school charges students.

2. Many parents of international school students are on assignment for a company or are serving a diplomatic, military or missionary mission. If they have school age children, one of the major considerations in their taking a job overseas is the type of school that their child will attend. One of the key considerations when looking at a school is how easy their child will fit in academically and socially in the new school, as well as how easily they will be able to fit back in to the school system in their home country once the parents’ job is completed. A good website will answer these questions in a number of ways: a) the school mission and philosophy will be prominently displayed on the website; b) the qualifications and experience of the teaching staff will be readily available; c) the school curriculum will be available in its complete form and in an easily downloadable format such as PDF; d) statistics on test scores and university placements will be available for those parents for whom such indicators of school quality are important; e) examples of student work will be prominently displayed.

3. The International Teacher is a resource for teachers looking for positions in international schools. In the book, I review school websites and look at several key areas that I consider to be important when I look for an overseas position. These areas are: a) number of students and faculty; b) whether the school is non-profit, or is a business; c) the school mission and/or philosophy; d) the school facilities: number of classrooms, recreational facilities, etc; e) the school curriculum; f) extra-curricular activities; g) technology; h) professional development opportunities; i) employment process, school expectations for teachers; salary and benefits. Some school websites address these areas completely, and when I look at them I get a real feel for what the school is like. The best of these websites make me wish that I had worked there or had my children in school there.

4. A school website should have the school newsletter updated weekly, homework requirements, class syllabi, curriculum documents; a calendar for the school year; a list of extra-curricular activities; and technology resources for students, teachers and parents. The best school websites serve as portals for the learning experience as well as repositories of important documents.

5. In schools with older students, the website can be a part of the school curriculum; older students can take responsibility for creating the website in entirety, or they can take responsibility for sections of it such as sports, school activities, classroom events, etc. A school website is a form of communication and one of the key things that we want students to be able to do is communicate. Working on the school website gives them real experience.

6. Teachers can have their own class pages where they communicate with parents and students. I worked with a teacher once who believed that parent communication was a key aspect of her job, and she updated her class webpages on a weekly basis. She never had questions about homework assignments, behavioral expectations or the dates for tests and projects because it was all out there for both students and parents to see. Students can put their projects, writing, music, and videos online. This gives them a purpose for what they are doing. The idea of knowing that others will be looking at their work can give them the incentive to push themselves to discover new things and find new ways to communicate their ideas. For many students, the idea of writing a long assignment for one teacher that is then going to be read, evaluated and then filed somewhere, just doesn’t cut it. Students are communicative creatures on their own – they text, email, blog, YouTube, and podcast to a wide community of friends and relatives on a daily basis – why do we want to restrict them to speaking to one person?

What do you think about school websites?