Welcome to the new website!
As of October 1, www.stjohnshigh.org has a new look! Explore our new site and learn more about the newest facet of Saint John's technology and communications.
Every year, the Saint John’s website has tens of thousands of page views. Whether accessing announcements, applications, news, athletics schedules, alumni event information, or class information, members of our community visit the website every day. The website is the first stop for anyone seeking information about Saint John’s High School, and as such should accurately reflect the quality of the institution it represents.
A key component of the website restructuring was assessment of the website’s use as an effective educational tool and teaching resource in addition to identifying methods of maximizing its potential as a communication tool between teachers, administrators, students, and families.
Because the last website redesign took place in 2008, the school identified a need to update and refresh the look and capabilities of the platform to suit the community as a whole.
“Our main mode of communication at Saint John’s continues to focus on person-to-person interactions,” said Headmaster Michael Welch. “In today’s society, we find that in order to reach people in effectively, such a platform is critical for streamlined communcation.” The website reflects Saint John’s as a vibrant school community that has thrived in Central Massachusetts for 120 years. All the while, the school has stayed on the cutting edge of educational resources, facilitating informative relationships between students, teachers, administrators, and parents, and remained connected to thousands of active and engaged alumni all around the world.
What does this redesign mean?
The first facet of redesigning the website was an examination of the “public face” of the site. This includes any information presented to the public, including admissions applications, school news and events, and general interest information.
The second facet of this undertaking was an implementation of an online learning management system (“On Campus”). Along with a design and implementation team at Whipple Hill (now Blackbaud), the new website provider, the communications and technology team at Saint John’s worked with teachers and administrators to establish extensive online communication tools and teaching resources that would benefit teachers, students, and parents alike in the coming years.
As the school will communicate in more detail in the coming months, the new website platform will have countless benefits for the alumni, student, and parent communities. Built-in features include extensive classroom resources, smart calendars, athletic updates, emergency notifications, and online applications and payment options for every member of the Pioneer community.
The new website will incorporate a design that allows the school to share more stories and pictures from throughout the school year of the vibrant student and alumni communities. The entire website is responsive for viewing on all size screens, from desktops to tablets and smartphones.
The Process
Late 2012 Identify lack in former website model by frequent users, and through assessment of analytics on page views, popular visits, individual site-viewers and logins, and general website traffic.
Late 2012/Early 2013 Engage faculty and staff in focus groups to bring to light needs and desires with regard to web-based communications and tools.
Early 2013 Technology & Communications team begins researching companies that could best serve Saint John’s as a private, secondary educational institution, bearing in mind student, parent, faculty, alumni, advancement, admissions, and administrative needs.
Late 2013-Mid 2014 Bring together committees of faculty, staff, and administrators to work on outlining necessities and desires of new website.
Administrative team assesses and re-defines the school’s Communications & Technology philosophy
Mid-Late 2014 Technology & Communications team begins design of the new website’s “public side.”
Late 2014 –Mid 2015 Training begins with top-level site administrators at the school, and continues as department committees define personal goals for the website and join in on training sessions.
Summer 2015 New “On Campus” Learning Management system is integrated into internal school community.
A key component of the website restructuring was assessment of the website’s use as an effective educational tool and teaching resource in addition to identifying methods of maximizing its potential as a communication tool between teachers, administrators, students, and families.
Because the last website redesign took place in 2008, the school identified a need to update and refresh the look and capabilities of the platform to suit the community as a whole.
“Our main mode of communication at Saint John’s continues to focus on person-to-person interactions,” said Headmaster Michael Welch. “In today’s society, we find that in order to reach people in effectively, such a platform is critical for streamlined communcation.” The website reflects Saint John’s as a vibrant school community that has thrived in Central Massachusetts for 120 years. All the while, the school has stayed on the cutting edge of educational resources, facilitating informative relationships between students, teachers, administrators, and parents, and remained connected to thousands of active and engaged alumni all around the world.
What does this redesign mean?
The first facet of redesigning the website was an examination of the “public face” of the site. This includes any information presented to the public, including admissions applications, school news and events, and general interest information.
The second facet of this undertaking was an implementation of an online learning management system (“On Campus”). Along with a design and implementation team at Whipple Hill (now Blackbaud), the new website provider, the communications and technology team at Saint John’s worked with teachers and administrators to establish extensive online communication tools and teaching resources that would benefit teachers, students, and parents alike in the coming years.
As the school will communicate in more detail in the coming months, the new website platform will have countless benefits for the alumni, student, and parent communities. Built-in features include extensive classroom resources, smart calendars, athletic updates, emergency notifications, and online applications and payment options for every member of the Pioneer community.
The new website will incorporate a design that allows the school to share more stories and pictures from throughout the school year of the vibrant student and alumni communities. The entire website is responsive for viewing on all size screens, from desktops to tablets and smartphones.
The Process
Late 2012 Identify lack in former website model by frequent users, and through assessment of analytics on page views, popular visits, individual site-viewers and logins, and general website traffic.
Late 2012/Early 2013 Engage faculty and staff in focus groups to bring to light needs and desires with regard to web-based communications and tools.
Early 2013 Technology & Communications team begins researching companies that could best serve Saint John’s as a private, secondary educational institution, bearing in mind student, parent, faculty, alumni, advancement, admissions, and administrative needs.
Late 2013-Mid 2014 Bring together committees of faculty, staff, and administrators to work on outlining necessities and desires of new website.
Administrative team assesses and re-defines the school’s Communications & Technology philosophy
Mid-Late 2014 Technology & Communications team begins design of the new website’s “public side.”
Late 2014 –Mid 2015 Training begins with top-level site administrators at the school, and continues as department committees define personal goals for the website and join in on training sessions.
Summer 2015 New “On Campus” Learning Management system is integrated into internal school community.
