The best school websites have certain characteristics in common — stunning imagery, clean navigation, an amazing user experience that feels personal —features that align to represent a school’s mission in a captivating way. 

At Finalsite, we see a lot of those best practices every day, but every so often, a website is launched that really stops us in our tracks for all the right reasons.
 
The sites that really “wow” us take their design and content to the next level and offer something new — a fresh take on the tried-and-true strategies that elevate their brand while putting user experience at the forefront of their site. 

When it comes to creating a top-notch private school website, several key characteristics make a big difference. These features not only make the site more appealing and user-friendly, but they also play a crucial role in a school's marketing and communication strategies.

Let's review what the best private school websites have in common:


• Clean and Professional Design: The best private school websites have a clean and professional look. Colors and fonts that reflect the school's brand, along with high-quality images that showcase the school's environment, students, and activities.
   
• Mobile-Friendly Navigation: Most people use their phones to browse the Internet. This means your site should look good and be easy to use on smaller screens. Menus should be simple to navigate, and information should be easy to find with just a few taps.
   
• User-Friendly Interface: Navigation should be intuitive, meaning visitors can easily find what they're looking for, whether it's information about enrollment, academic programs, or upcoming events.
   
• Engaging Enrollment Experiences: The enrollment section should be engaging and informative, providing prospective students and parents with all the information they need. This includes details about the application process, tuition, financial aid, and any unique programs or offerings.
   
• Integrations: Integrating your school's website with various data systems can streamline operations and enhance the user experience. This involves connecting your site with internal systems like student information systems (SIS), customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and other platforms.
   
• Amazing Content: The content on your website should be well-written and informative. It should accurately represent your school's values, programs, and achievements with regular updates, news, events, and blog posts.

If you’re looking for inspiration for your next redesign, you don’t need to look further. These school websites are (in no particular order!) some of our favorite independent school sites that raise the bar to a new standard for school web design.

Bishop Lynch High School

Bishop Lynch, known as the biggest co-ed private school in Texas, really sets itself apart with its distinctive website design. The site is filled with exciting features like animations, textures, overlays, and panels, all coming together to create an impressive and memorable user experience.

The school cleverly repurposes various custom design elements across its website. For instance, you'll find circular image buttons on the arts page, engaging slideshows that walk you through the school's history, eye-catching testimonial styles for highlighted text, and organized grid posts that display athletic and club statistics. These creative touches add a lot of character!

Baylor School

Baylor's website feels like an exciting adventure. With its horizontal scrolling, split columns, and sliding panels, the site brings to life the experience of being a part of Baylor — where inspiration, curiosity, independence, and challenge thrive.

Every click and scroll on the "Baylor Leads" homepage feels impactful. It showcases the vibrant campus life through highlights, the school's signature colors, captivating images, and graphics. You'll see students and faculty fully engaged in their roles, whether as boarding or day students. Take a moment to explore the site; it's not just visually stunning but also feels incredibly purposeful.

Saint Andrew’s School

Running a website for a boarding and day school like Saint Andrew’s, located in Baton Raton, Florida, is no small feat. The site needs to effectively represent the school community, which becomes a second home for many students. Saint Andrew’s does this beautifully!

The website highlights the boarding life, the growing alumni community, and the school's unique values and qualities. As you scroll through the homepage, you'll notice standout phrases like “This is our edge and what makes us different.” It's straightforward, distinctive, and draws your attention.

The design of the internal pages is just as captivating and user-friendly as the homepage. With mobile-responsive image buttons, navigation is a breeze. The site uses custom tabs for organized content and full-width image sliders & text panels for special features, visible in sections like athletics, community involvement, and arts.

Bancroft School

Bancroft's website is all about encouraging you to build, create, become, do, learn, and play. It radiates love and passion in everything it presents. From the moment you see the subtle animations in the “Who we are” section on the homepage, you can feel the sense of community. The site captures both the small and significant moments, highlighting the journey of finding one’s voice and growing stronger.

The website offers an excellent experience for desktop users, but it’s equally impressive for mobile users. The large images that double as buttons make navigation simple, and the “at a glance” figures are perfectly sized for smartphone screens. The intuitive layout, coupled with easy access to “inquire, visit, and apply” options in the footer, makes moving around the site seamless and enjoyable.

Canterbury School

Canterbury School understands that every student's path is packed with unforgettable experiences that shape a significant educational journey. The school's website enthusiastically declares, "This is your school. This is your journey. This is the extraordinary opportunity your story deserves." Love this approach!

In a highly competitive area like the northeast, Canterbury smartly teamed up with Finalsite Advantage to craft impactful strategies, and it's clear they've succeeded. As you navigate through the site, each scroll and click reveals the joy and engagement of students, showcasing the lively and connected atmosphere of their boarding life.

La Salle College High School

La Salle's latest website embraces the concept of the educational journey, emphasizing that every student is on a voyage of self-discovery. The site features profiles of students and faculty, inviting visitors to go deeper into their experiences and explore their paths. Highlighting the different paths to success, a section on the site showcases the various routes that "...lead to distinction."

This is beautifully tied together in a section called “grounded in possibility,” conveying the idea that, regardless of where life takes you, the La Salle community will always be a place to call home.

KLA Academy

The logo of KLA stands out as a noteworthy design — it creatively uses curves and non-linear shapes to form a 'K', yet leaves room for different interpretations. The website for this infant to 5th-grade school in Miami is just as welcoming. It features soothing shades of baby blue and tinted sea greens, creating an environment where children are deeply engaged.

At the bottom of the site, there’s an Instagram feed that beautifully captures the dynamic life at KLA, tagged #theKLAway. It’s a vibrant mix of student art, science classes, outdoor activities, and more. Additionally, the footer of the website is thoughtfully designed to highlight KLA's proximity to about nine nearby neighborhoods, effectively communicating the school's convenient location.

Cardinal Gibbons High School

The left-sided navigation is a nice touch to this gorgeous site — it feels like you’re comfortably anchored to the page as you scroll through its homepage, which is focused on its program, community, and faith. The last panel is an entire section prompting users to take the next step — make a gift or inquire and apply with Finalsite’s admissions and enrollment software.

More highlights of this site include a custom directory that introduces its board members and school leadership and images that are used as quicklinks, which make browsing its academic programs easy. Don’t forget to check out its engaging timeline chronicling the school’s history since its founding in the early 1900s.

Emma Willard School

Starting off with an engaging sizzle reel, the website showcases its stunning 136-acre campus, which reminds you of a classic UK boarding school. The site draws visitors in with the latest school news, summaries of alumni reunions, and details about summer programs, all complemented by Emma Willard’s enduring unique features.

The content on this site truly stands out. Custom design elements, gentle prompts for action, and stunning photography are skillfully combined with bursts of secondary colors and icons across the pages.

The Lovett School

Lovett has a significant story to tell as one of the biggest K-12 independent schools in Atlanta, and with 1,640 students, it ranks among the largest in the nation.

Its dynamic landing page serves as an excellent model for standing out in a competitive educational landscape. By weaving together core values, a concise narrative, and essential highlights, the page crafts a compelling storyline that distinguishes Lovett from other schools. Love it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. As Finalsite’s Senior Content Marketing Manager, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.