The students are back, the days are shorter, and the leaves are turning shades of red, orange, and yellow. Amidst September’s busy back-to-school season, Finalsite was focused on launching dozens of school websites just as the new academic year kicked off. 

There’s a lot to explore from Finalsite this month, from a Quaker school founded nearly 240 years ago to a school with ties to its founding on the grounds of the White House.

Let’s recap the beautiful web design, user experiences, and content of the school websites launched by some of the top schools and districts across the country and throughout the world.

Bishop Lynch High School

Bishop truly makes a statement with its unique site design — lots of animations, textures, overlays, panels, and more make for a standout user experience.

BL creatively reused many of its custom design elements throughout the site — circular image buttons on its arts page, slideshows for its school’s history, testimonial styling for call-out text,  grid posts for athletic and club stats, and much more.

The images, event recaps, student testimonials, and social integrations all support the strong sense of the student community. It makes sense, too, considering BL’s nearly 60 student clubs and its house system that boosts increased student engagement, leadership opportunities, and camaraderie on campus.

Take a scroll and explore:

• Photography and video that's full of emotion & candid moments
• Integrated social media feeds, profiles, fast facts & community voices for powerful storytelling
• Custom image buttons, sliders, and testimonial designs all add a creative flair
• Beautiful branding that brings all the feels and a lot more!

Fellowship Christian School

You’ll see “remarkable” used often throughout Fellowship’s site, and it’s a great word to describe its new website. The user experience is intuitive, and subtle design elements help make the navigation feel like an curated experience.

A highlight video reel pops down from the hero area to follow users as they scroll down to learn more about its academic programs, innovation, and faith, and that's just the start. A lot of the homepage’s content falls nicely off a standard grid layout you’d find in a lot of other sites. The subtle designs, color gradients, and icons create a natural path for exploring its student testimonials, fast facts, and matriculation slideshow too.

Be on the lookout for:

• A beautiful homepage full of subtle animations, callouts, and creative designs
• An engaging Portraits of a Graduate page to inspire future students
• Great visuals to connect users to the voices of their Fellowship
• Helpful infographics to quickly navigate across the site
• An integrated & filterable calendar to sort through campus activities, holidays, and more!

Moses Brown School

Dating back to the late 17th century, Moses Brown School offers as much history as it does opportunities for meaningful societal change. As a co-ed, Quaker-based education for students in nursery through grade 12, the school recognizes and celebrates everyone’s “inner light;” a theme that’s made clear by its focus on community, equality, and the greater good. 

Testimonials stand out against a dark, bluish-purple before linking out the three divisions, while images of small group conversations, meaningful mentorships, and service opportunities are supported by pops of oranges, yellows, and green CTAs for enrollment and community news. 

A comprehensive “Why MB” page leads its main navigation, featuring the key values of its Quaker education, community learning, and service opportunities.

Be sure to check out:

• Beautiful landing page designs for admissions, athletics, and arts
• The latest campus news and spotlight stories, all easily searchable and filterable by topics and keywords 
• A custom directory with nearly 200 dedicated faculty, staff, and administrators

Green Vale School

Daily life is captured beautifully throughout Green Vale’s new site. Thanks to its social media integration, campus news, and video, there’s an extra burst of life and color that extends from its homepage to deep within its interior pages. 

The language that’s used is intentional, too. “We sow the seeds for your child’s relationship with school… “We” and “you” are interwoven throughout the site, and the connections between the user and the school start building the relationships that are clearly important to Green Vale.

There are hidden gems across the site that offer a bit of a different spin on content normally found on many other sites — its “about” page is framed as “Get to Know Us,” and the section titled “What We Love” is a creative twist on the community testimonials panel.

Check out some of the highlights, including:

• A stunning homepage full of videos, callouts, and creative designs
• A streamlined enrollment experience with Finalsite Enrollment
• Great visuals connect users to the voices of their community
• Custom designs to fully share the values and vision of the school & so much more!

Congrats to these schools for their outstanding new website launches!

National Presbyterian School

A beautiful site in the heart of Washington DC, launched with the support and guidance of Finalsite Advantage. Take a look at some of the custom and creative use of its design elements:

• Custom layout and background color elements used for its strategic plan
• Custom design element repurposed for its “Day in Life” timeline
• A creative repurpose of the homepage panel and slideshows, used as custom image elements on its community and mission pages

De La Salle High School

Just outside of Oakland, CA, is De La Salle High School, shaping the lives of young men through faith, education, love, and guidance. You get a real sense of the brotherhood among the young men, with captivating athletic, faith, and engaging student life pages. A beautiful site with a lot of Spartan spirit!

There’s a lot to explore:

A filterable course catalog makes finding academic programs a breeze with a Post filtered module
Information sliders highlight college counseling services and more  
Stats panels and subtle watermarks add a creative flair to pages and backgrounds

All Saints Episcopal Day School

Choosing to attend a private school is a big choice, and All Saint’s provides plenty of value to support a family’s decision to enroll. Community stories, impressive stats, matriculation information, and a streamlined “All Saints’ Difference landing page all work together to bring so much supportive information.

Take a look at some of the enhancements and content:

• A beautiful differentiator section that spans three-panels
• Video panels with students and parent testimonials
• A focus on the future with impressive matriculation lists and fast facts

Be sure to take a look at these beautiful school websites too!

• Ursuline Academy of Dallas Celebrating 150 Years
• Colegio Nueva Granada 
• All Saints Academy
• Moore School District I-2

Theme Launches

Many schools and districts also went live with their beautiful theme sites in September — congratulations on all successful website launches!

• Chesapeake School Public Relations Association
• Westminster School District
• Lowellville K-12 School District
• School District of South Milwaukee
• Hendry County Schools
   
• Cherry Creek Charter Academy
• Colegio Americano de Quito
• Splendora ISD
• Raytown C-2 School District 
• International School of Dakar
   
• Albert Lea Independent School District 241
• Cumberland Regional High School District
• Brooklyn City School District
• West Muskingum Local
• Lake Worth ISD
   
• Darien Public Schools #61
• Swedesboro-Woolwich Schools
• The Wesley School
• Fleetwood Area School District
• Mansfield Township School District
   
• Huber Heights City Schools
• Steamboat Springs School District
• Garfield County School District 16 
• Unisus School
• Derry Township School District
   
• Malden Catholic
• Bucks County Technical High School
• Huffman Independent School District
• Lower Moreland Township School District

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.