SWAMPSCOTT — A new mobile-first website for the Swampscott Public Schools has gone live, modernizing its outdated former site.
Stirling Technologies, a web marketing firm based in Winchester, launched the new website for the school district this summer. Designers transformed the website into a contemporary innovation to better serve each of the school district’s audiences of students, parents and faculty, according to the company’s press release.
“We started about a year out from the project and quickly decided that we should go full steam ahead and do the entire district at once,” said Lytania Mackey Knowles, administrator of digital learning and educational technology for Swampscott schools, in a statement. “(Stirling) rose to the challenge and met our due dates for the summer. The website looks a million times better.”
The website has a responsive, mobile-first design, which adjusts the way content is presented based on which device someone is using to access the site. Some features include a simple navigation hierarchy, site-wide alerts, and a calendar that can be used to subscribe to events by school.
The new, user-friendly platform allows staff to post regular updates, and the built-in news and teacher pages will help maintain communication with parents and students on homework and announcements, the company said.
Knowles said Stirling staff led focus groups in the district, which was a “vital source of information.” She said the focus groups allowed the school district to learn the top things parents, students, teachers, and the community members wanted from the site, which later became a reality.
“Our new site is vibrant, dynamic, organized and provides clear information for all stakeholders,” said Knowles in a statement. “My personal favorite is the Google calendars that are on the site. It makes managing our district events so much easier and we saved money by no longer needing to pay a vendor for a calendar program.”