This March, while the US college basketball world was busy with brackets and buzzer-beaters, Finalsite was focused on launching some of the latest school websites, capturing attention with their design, user experience, and compelling content. 

That's about all I know about college basketball, but I do know that every school has a story to tell, and these independent and private schools are doing it beautifully. Let's take a look at how these schools are effectively communicating their missions, values, and unique offerings to the world, thanks to their recent website redesigns with Finalsite.

Branksome Hall Asia

We’re kicking things off with Branksome Hall Asia, which recently launched its beautifully redesigned website for a new dynamic online experience. 

The homepage features the text overlay of "Empowering the leaders of tomorrow," which transitions smoothly from a video in the hero area to an introduction of the school. Users quickly meet Branksome Hall Asia’s mission and are guided into its core messaging about why prospective families should choose the school. The design incorporates sticky calls to action (CTAs) that tag along the scrolling, ready for when visitors want to get in touch, take a tour, or explore campus events.

To highlight what makes Branksome Hall Asia stand out, the website showcases differentiators like their athletics program, university counseling, and boarding program, which are supported by fast facts, like being the only school in Asia with an ice rink on campus. On key pages, like those for experiential learning and performing arts, you'll find tabs that help you explore those topics in greater detail.

The purple and complementary green in the content blocks and CTAs is a nice touch, along with subtle leaf elements derived from the school seal. Plus, the beautiful images in the hero sections really give you a feel for the school's location and culture. 

The website’s interior pages are well-organized, with accordions to present detailed information in a mobile-friendly way. Kudos to the school for demonstrating a solid understanding of on-page SEO, too, with natural linking within the page content, which not only helps people find the information they need but signals to Google that they’re a reputable source.

Branksome effectively uses Finalsite’s website notifications to highlight upcoming admissions events, and when prospective families are ready to take the next step, the website makes it simple. A branded Finalsite Enrollment form lets them easily inquire, schedule an information session, or book a tour with just a few clicks. This form also helps the school gather important details about each family's academic and extracurricular interests so that they can provide more personalized communication moving forward. It’s a win-win!

Evergreen Country Day School

Evergreen Country Day School's new website is now live, and it's a great example of how much flexibility you can have with Composer’s design elements and layouts to elevate the entire site experience.

• The homepage offers visitors a clear view into Evergreen's signature programs and community as users click through a slideshow, learn more about its location, and get to know its students and teachers through their testimonials.
   
• The mountain imagery, which you’ll find in the school’s logo, is also cleverly used in a pointed mountaintop design within the content blocks.
   
• The branding colors are vibrant, and the greens and blues are used effectively throughout its pages, from the content block’s design to the calls to action.

Evergreen strategically uses many of Finalsite’s modules, like Finalsite Forms, embedded video elements, and branded content blocks. You'll also see embedded maps, slideshows, accordions, and icons that add more creative flair to the site's functionality. Beautiful site, congrats on the launch!

Shady Side Academy

Now...this is a site to see! Shady Side Academy's new website is a breathtaking example of best-in-class design that brings an immersive experience. There’s a lot of movement through animations, scroll effects, and video that tell the story of educational journeys, wonderment, and personal growth. A variety of interesting design graphics, like the waves and cutouts, make the content visually striking, while subtle animations and typography treatments add energy and movement to the page.

The site captures a real sense of exploration, growth, and the developmental journey from the school's pre-K through grade 12 program with bold text, like "Make the world your classroom" and "Learning that moves," to reinforce that message of movement and growth. 

It’s also a great example of how the message informs the design, and vice versa; the layout and elements feel motivated by statements like "Purpose that moves," "Connections that move," and "Thinking that moves," and this energy comes through on every page. 

Videos are embedded throughout the layout, and vibrant colors and text treatments are paired with parallax effects and horizontal scrolling. 

The site also features beautiful landing pages, such as the admissions pages and content focused on community and graduates. The language used on these pages, with phrases like "Explore admission," "Think expansively," "Belong here," and "Forever SSA," is particularly effective and different than what you’d find on most sites—it works well, though. Don’t miss this one, it’s amazing!

Christopher Columbus High School

Miami’s Christopher Columbus High School is celebrating the launch of its newly designed site, which is complete with strong visual branding and features blues, reds, and whites. The homepage captures your attention right away with a dynamic sizzle reel showcasing different areas of the campus and flyovers of its facilities. "Adelante," Spanish for "forward" (Thanks, Google!), greets users head-on and sets the stage for progress. 

This leads into fast facts about the school, such as its student-teacher ratio and the variety of sports offered. The "Explorer Experience" section highlights some of the school's key differentiators, and further down the homepage, you'll find the "Hallmarks of Excellence," which uses animation to guide you to information about the school's Marist identity, its college and career counseling center, and its hall of fame.

• Social media integration provides a live look at the school's active community, and in a creative design choice, the footer includes animated calls to action that extend vertically — a nice twist to an often-overlooked area of the site.
   
• The site uses a simplified main menu with three hash marks that expand into a detailed subnavigation, making it easy for users to find what they need.
   
• A keyword search bar and quick links to news, calendars, alumni pages, and opportunities to support the school all make navigation intuitive and mobile-friendly.

You can really sense the strong sense of brotherhood and the school's commitment to supporting young men in their faith, academics, and pursuit of excellence. It's a truly beautiful site!

Malden Catholic

Malden Catholic, located just north of Boston, has a new website that showcases some really nice design elements with circles, lines, and waves, along with their branded blues, greens, and pastel oranges.

The homepage greets visitors with an offset video, smoothly transitioning into the school's mission and some quick, informative facts. An "Around Campus" section provides recent news and ways to connect with the school.

You can’t miss its core values through a tab element with custom-branded icons, sharing its approach to compassion, trust, zeal, and humility. The main navigation and omnimenu, aligned to the right, are straightforward and intuitive, offering quick links to inquire, apply, or access the latest news.

The interior pages continue with a strong design, and once again, you'll find those nice secondary branded colors natively in the design elements like its main navigation, calls to action, and interior page navigation. It’s a cohesive and user-friendly experience all around!

Fairfield College Preparatory School

Fairfield College Preparatory School brings you right in with a compelling video that sets the tone for all they offer, which is quite a lot!

The design uses some really distinctive visual elements, like the arch from the school seal that’s replicated in photo frames, and the branded reds, whites, and grays used as backgrounds for parallax design and typography treatments. Vertical scrolling elements add a nice interactive touch, too, keeping users engaged as they explore the homepage.

The homepage provides a comprehensive overview of the school's brotherhood and how it prepares students for success, including its alumni outcomes. Prospective families have multiple ways to connect with the admissions office, with easy access to on-campus tours, open houses, and shadow day experiences through Finalsite Enrollment. The site also simplifies the process of inquiring about financial aid or registering for information nights, all through one branded embedded form.

As you scroll, you'll see animated typography underscoring the school's Jesuit mission and values, highlighting how they develop young men who are open to growth, intellectually competent, and committed to justice. A custom design element showcases how Fairfield cares for the whole boy, with interactive scrolling and hover effects over differentiators like its teachers, campus ministers, coaches, and counselors.

More highlights include the custom headlines, cards, slideshows, and a spectacular Athletics page for its 17 varsity sports. The site is well-organized, with an alumni page featuring upcoming events, resources for graduates, and ways to communicate with the school, like submitting class notes or supporting the school.

The website also segments content for specific communities, such as parents and families, alumni, faculty and staff, and the Board of Governors to create a more personalized experience—nice work!

Waldorf School of Baltimore

You only need a moment on Waldorf School of Baltimore's new website to sense that it's a special place. A few more seconds, and you’ll see how focused they are on caring for and supporting young children in their academic journey, or, as their history page recounts, a small school that’s embarked on a significant journey.

The website's video and imagery are filled with joy and youthful energy, and the design, with its slightly curved edges and colors, evokes a youthful feel and a real sense of the journey of discovery that the young children are on. The incorporation of the tree and its vertical lines guides users through that experience, supported by subtle animations of content blocks that detail its three programs, from Early Childhood through Middle School.

There’s a good amount of news and events, flowing into testimonials that speak to the school's experience, and at the bottom of the homepage, the tree reappears, sitting atop a hill within the footer.

Waldorf School also has a great grasp of effective content marketing with its blog and news posts, tapping into hot topics in childhood education, which will attract prospective audiences looking to learn more about similar experiences. It's a beautiful site, and it will be exciting to see them grow!

Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart

“Experience Edgewood” is the message that greets users on Edgewood's new site, which is now live and ready to greet current and prospective families. As a Catholic high school, Edgewood centers itself on the values of truth, compassion, justice, community, and partnership. You can see these mission components highlighted through a series of tabs right on the homepage.

The site uses some nice branding elements, drawing on the school’s shield and seal in its design, and as users scroll, they’ll notice a nice parallax effect as they make their way down to browse upcoming events.

The main calls to action—apply, visit, and give back—are clear, and Finalsite Enrollment simplifies the admissions and enrollment process, allowing families to complete an inquiry form and receive essential communications and event information.

Don't miss the beautiful arts pages, which provide detailed information about the school’s performing, musical, and visual arts programs with an animated content panel sliding in to showcase details about each program. That page, in addition to other main navigation pages, is well-optimized for mobile, featuring large, full-width panels that maintain their visual appeal across smartphones and tablets. Bravo!
 

Fisher College

Last but not least is Fisher College. Located in the heart of Boston, not too far from the State House, Fisher clearly understands the advantages of its location in one of the country's most vibrant cities. The website’s strong imagery and focus on admissions and enrollment highlight the opportunities its programs offer to undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies students alike.

The site features a range of testimonials and stories from students and faculty, supported by impressive fast facts, such as its alumni network of over 18,000 graduates and its small student-to-teacher ratio. The interior pages, like those for Athletics and Student Life, offer a detailed look at life outside the classes, while the pages detailing the college itself and academics are well-organized and intuitive.

The Admissions and Financial Aid pages are also well structured to provide the detailed logistical information prospective students need about inquiring, applying, and acceptance. Given Boston's competitive higher ed market, it's great to see Fisher College presenting itself so strongly with this site!

Congrats to Fisher and all the other schools on their recent website launches with Finalsite!
 

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. At Finalsite, 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.