November has flown by, and just as the dust settled from the start of the academic year, schools worldwide were busy preparing to go live with their Finalsite websites. November’s a strategic time to go live — it’s a sweet spot that avoids the hectic back-to-school season and allows your community to explore the site before the holiday breaks.

From stunning best-in-class custom designs to more than 40 impressive themes, there’s a lot to explore this month, including everything from the amazing design of a top private Christian school to a district offering the first Electric Vehicle class in Georgia.

Let’s take a closer look at the web design, user experiences, and content of the school websites launched by some of the top public districts and private schools throughout the world!

Birmingham Public Schools

As one of Michigan's top-performing public school districts, BPS’s new site showcases the remarkable experience of more than 7,500 students at 15 different school locations throughout the district.

Leading with the priorities and values that guide the district, news, and social media integration popouts call attention to the latest updates and social posts. Calling on students to “Be bold, Be brilliant, Be Birmingham," it’s a useful site that’s just as meaningful for prospective parents as it is for future employees; sections for mentorships, professional development, career opportunities, and its onboarding program round out an impressive career section, right on the homepage.

There’s a big focus on enrollment, too, which allows users to select their enrollment path and learn more about what it means to join the district as a younger child, an older student, or even through its lottery system. A comprehensive enrollment page outlines the process and resources for new families, including mobile-friendly forms for school tours and interactive boundary maps.

A few noteworthy details:

• BPS partnered with Finalsite Advantage to bring its creative vision, branding, and user experience to life, giving the site an edge.
• Virtual webmasters assisted with content migration and page buildout — a very helpful resource when you have dozens of sites needing to go live.
• A detailed Bond page outlines the district’s accomplishments and what’s to come next.
• There are many impressive design elements throughout the site, including reusable CTA buttons, custom resource panels, and full-width panels and callouts.

Mount Paran Christian School

Set on nearly 70 acres at the foot of the beautiful Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia, Mount Paran aims to “move mountains” with its mission of faith, service, and commitment to excellence. Its new site is impressive, with large, impactful visuals and text throughout the design to drive home the school’s values.

There’s an excellent sense of balance throughout this design — curved edges are paired with standout content blocks, groups of text, and design elements that bring everything together nicely.

There’s a lot to explore, so be sure to take a closer look at:

• The comprehensive landing pages covering faith, admission, alumni, arts, and the support the school provides.
• A custom map to explore its beautiful 68-acre campus.
• An impressive list of college matriculations is showcased by an embedded slider on the homepage.
• Great storytelling elements throughout the site, supported by blogs, testimonials, and filterable and searchable campus news.

Taipei American School

As one of Asia’s top independent schools, TAS delivers an American-based education with a joyful, global perspective. That sense of joy and excellence is felt throughout the site with a focus on its students’ character and values formed during their time at TAS.

It’s worth noting that TAS partnered with Finalsite Advantage to bring in an additional level of strategic support and planning with its branding and redesign, and the difference is noticeable. 

When families are ready to inquire, tour, visit, or apply, Finalsite Enrollment is there for a personalized and streamlined enrollment process with embedded forms, convenient event registration, and secure portal logins.

There’s also a group of extensive public-facing “zones” for alumni, students, and parents alike, putting helpful resources conveniently within reach.TAS also used Finalsite's services to produce a beautiful launch video to celebrate the announcement of its new site.

There’s an engaging careers page with testimonials, job openings, faculty profiles, and fast facts; a wonderful student life page that captures the range of experiences in and out of classrooms; and be sure to check out its thoughtful community page to see a great example of showcasing the culture and networks existing between students, families, alumni, and faculty.

Enhancements include:

• Custom video panel and custom image sliders are found on its admissions page 
• Branded content cards on its student life page
• Different styled tabs, image buttons, and custom post elements
• Animated text/image duos, like on the community page 
• Accordions with images
• A fully integrated Finalsite mobile app with quick access to content on its public website, as well as community portals, calendars, announcements, lunch menus, and more.

Many other schools are celebrating their recent launches — congratulations to these amazing sites that went live toward the end of October and throughout November!

• Mount Saint Joseph Academy
• Thaden School
• Richland School District 2
• Los Lunas School District
• Central Catholic High School
   
• Kennett Consolidated District
• Dana Hall School’s Campaign Microsite
• Jackson Preparatory School
• Medford School District
• Veritas Academy
   
• Harrow International School - New York
• Croton-Harmon Schools
• Belton School District
• Community Day School
• Panama-Buena Vista Union School District
   
• St. Andrew’s Episcopal School - CA
• Colorado Springs D11

Theme Launches

Many other schools and districts beat the holiday rush and went live with their beautiful theme sites in November — congratulations on all these successful website launches!

• Greene County School District
• Gower SD 62
• York County School Division
• Maple River School District 2135
• J Sterling Morton High School District 201
   
• Claiborne Parish School District
• Kutztown Area SD
• Sandridge School District 172
• Waterloo CSD
• Wolfeboro Camp School
   
• Gloucester County Institute of Technology
• Highland Local School District
• Patterson Unified School District
• Charlotte Catholic High School
• Lakeland Joint School District 272
   
• Glen Falls Common School District
• Maple Lake Independent SD
• Godley Independent School District
• Washington Central SU 32
• La Pryor Independent School District
   
• Mid-Cities SELPA 
• Cleveland School District
• Grand Forks Publics 
• Trident Academy
• North Shore Country Day School
   
• Middleborough Public Schools
• Tenafly Public Schools
• Goliad Special Education Cooperative
• Elk River ISD 728
• St. Nicholas School
   
• Pierce County School District
• Margate City School District
• Yakima School District
• Santa Anna Independent School District
• Liberty Charter School District
   
• Legacy Charter School 
• Victory Charter School 
• Kettering City Schools
• Barbourville Independent Schools
• Mounds View Public Schools
   
• Abbotsford School District
• Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES
• Oroville Union High School District
• Lone Oak Independent School District
• DePaul Cristo Rey High School
• Long Beach Island Consolidated School District
• Marion P. Thomas Charter School
• St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES
   

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.