August was another busy month for Finalsite’s professional services — more than 90 beautiful school websites launched amidst the last hot and humid days of summer, just in time for the back-to-school rush.

From a school steps away from the harbor to a one-of-a-kind, all-girls school in Florida, here’s a recap of just some of the web design, user experiences, and content of the schools that launched beautiful and accessible new websites with Finalsite.

Pingry School 

Beautiful site! There’s a collection of subtle animations that work together to bring the page to life — users are pulled through text, logos rotate in tandem with the scroll, side panels load into the frame while exploring the fast facts, and a listicle highlights just some of the standout reasons to love Pingry. It's great to see so many faces and read so many testimonials; it really brings a lot of personality to the school community.

Pingry’s athletics microsite complements the redesign with social integrations, student-athlete profiles, alum stories, and, of course, the latest scores and recaps. It’s the perfect platform for highlighting the long and distinguished history of Pingry’s Big Blue athletics.

Be sure not to miss:

• A comprehensive timeline with infographics detailing the history of the school
• A great use of the Post modules to share the latest campus news 
• Image buttons to help navigate and elevate the user experience across the site 
• Slideshows to call out impressive matriculation highlights and more!

Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart

While part of the international network of Sacred Heart schools, Carrollton is the only Catholic, all-girls Montessori-3 through Grade 12 college preparatory school in Florida. Its best-in-class website is now another differentiator for this stand-out school.

Its homepage features a rotating slideshow that greets users before transitioning into panels that call out their values of faith, intellect, service, community, and wisdom, each overlaid with brief but descriptive text. Fast facts go a bit deeper into the ideas of the community before introducing video testimonials that introduce the stories of engaged students and committed faculty and staff. It all flows so well together to present a school of strong faith and community.

It’s a beautiful site, all brought together with: 

• A history page detailing Carrollton's foundation and the impact of its presence in Miami
• An enticing employment page with testimonials, fast facts, and professional development opportunities that highlight the benefits of working at Carrollton
• Rotating slides proudly display the prestigious schools where alums have continued their learning
• An extensive alumnae section with professional directories, opportunities to get involved, and six decades' worth of yearbooks, each meticulously scanned and digitally presented for graduates to browse and revisit their experiences on campus

Tabor Academy

Tabor’s message to its students is to "make waves" and leave a lasting impact — an easy feat for its new best-in-class website.

Fresh off a rebrand, this “school by the sea” has launched another major marketing initiative featuring a first-class website that captures all the perks of living steps away from the sea.

As Stacy Jagodowski, Tabor’s Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications, commented in a recent news post, “We are thrilled to unveil the fresh look of Tabor’s brand with our newly redesigned website. As we kick off a new school year, our revamped online presence reflects our commitment to embracing change while staying true to the spirit of Tabor.”

An extensive student life page captures how students connect as a community, and a boarding life section details life by the sea. Signature programs are front and center on the homepage, integrated social media feeds pull in the latest posts from Instagram, and the admissions-focused calls to action creatively prompt users to “chart your course” by inquiring, visiting, or applying.  

There's also great branding across the site: a sailboat silhouetted against a harbor slowly glides across the page and subtle nautical calls to action like “set sail” and “dive in.” Love it!

Anchors away — there’s lots of fun content to explore!

• Image slideshows to showcase its academic programs
• A filterable Post module for its extensive course catalog
• Custom image buttons and sliders to promote upcoming athletic matchups
• A comprehensive collection of its publications and stories

Waterbury School District 

Belen Michelis, Director of Communications for Waterbury Public School District, put it best when the district launched the site: “We are excited to announce the launch of the new website and allow our users to navigate through the new layout. One of our goals in the redesign was to have the website become a reliable information source where parents, students and staff can visit for more accurate and up-to-date information. Additionally, the design allowed for each school to display all the great things happening at their school.”

“This is an exciting time for Waterbury Public School,” added District Superintendent Dr. Verna Ruffin. “The newly designed website project was taken on with the users functionality in mind. We hope the design and abundance of information will allow our community to better understand our district goals and our mission here at Waterbury Public Schools.” 

Icons help streamline navigation across the site, making key pages like transportation, health services, and lunch menus quickly within reach. The latest district news and important calendar dates are highlighted so families can stay informed about community events, and slick animation for its fast facts quickly tally some impressive stats, like the district's 200+ student performances and 17 AP courses.

Be sure to check out:

• The single-click translation features translate the site content into several languages thanks to Weglot, Finalsite’s preferred translation partner.
• Social media feeds pull content directly from Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, helping keep its homepage content fresh
• Individual school sites now reap the benefits of a familiar design, brand, and user experience thanks to its consistent style and layout.

Take a look at more creative school website designs just launched by some of the top schools and districts from across the country and worldwide.

• Pace Academy 
• French International School of Oregon
• Toronto Prep School
• Fort Wayne Community School District
• Holton-Arms School
   
• Mulgrave School
• NIST
• Academy of Notre Dame de Namur
• Villa Academy
• Mankato Area Public Schools
• Sacramento Country Day School
   
• Bloomfield Hills Schools
• Stevens Cooperative School
• Glencoe School District 35
• Dover-Sherborn Public Schools
• Gahanna-Jefferson
• Leyden School District 212
• Liberty Common School Athletics Site
• East Greenwich Public Schools

Theme Launches

Many schools and districts also launched their beautiful theme sites in August — congratulations on all successful website redesigns!

• Kadoka Area School District
• Visalia Unified School District
• Santa Paula Unified School District
• Oak Grove Union School District
• Estes Park School District
   
• Great Valley School District
• Northern Bedford County School District
• Robertson County Schools
• Whitney ISD, TX
• Rowland Hall Athletics
   
• Wadsworth City School District
• Community High School District 94
• Treutlen County School District
• Our Lady of the Lake School
• Silsbee Independent School District
   
• Dupree School District
• Rothsay School District 850
• Tri-County Career Center
• Momentous Institute
• Bethel School District 403
   
• St. David's Episcopal School
• Bladen County Schools
• Franklin County Schools
• Millbury Public Schools
• Endeavor Charter School
   
• Choices Charter School
• Lehighton Area School District 
• St. Joseph's Catholic School
• Friends School of Wilmington
• Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School
   
• Avonworth School District
• Pentucket Regional School District
• Fairfield Public Schools
• Northeast Arkansas Career and Technical Center 
• Willamette Education Service District
   
• St. Helens School District 502, OR
• Greene County School District
• Elma School District 68
• Public Schools of the Tarrytowns
• Eastern Center for Arts and Technology
   
• Danville Area School District
• Stanislaus County Office of Education
• Northboro-Southboro Regional School District
• Grace Church DBA Forge Christian High School
• Dudley-Charlton Regional School District
   
• Wilson Elementary School District 7
• Havre School District 16-A
• ICA Cristo Rey Academy
• Elizabethtown Area School District
• Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle
   
• Monroe County School District
• Robertson County School District
• Springfield School District
• Groton Public Schools
• Everman Independent School District
   
• Covington Independent Public Schools
• Snoqualmie Valley School District 410
• Warren County Public Schools
• Shoreline Public Schools
• Northern Highlands Regional High School District
   
• Mother Seton School
• Regional 14 Schools
• Oneida Herkimer Madison Boces
• Williamson Central Schools
• The Christian Academy
   
• Glen Cove School District 
• Crawfordsville Community School Corp
• Union County Educational Services Commission
• Millbrook Central School District
• North Rose-Wolcott Central School District
• Lycée Français Jean Mermoz de Dubai

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.