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Planning and Building Your School's Web Pages

Pre-planning

• Web sites are designed to communicate to an audience. As you begin planning ask the question, "Who are we designing this for?" Also ask what information do we wish to share with the world and what information should remain within our local school and community.
• Another beginning question should be, "Where will the school site be posted?"

About Our School
Web sites provide a potential communication channel for telling the world about your school and community in your own words.

1. Mission statements provide direction. Post your mission statement and examples of how you are accomplishing your school's goals.
2. A principal's welcome page can be used to address current issues.
3. A listing of teachers and staff can be used to provide short biographies or E-mail links.
4. Information about students can vary from achievements, features and learning activities.
5. Record the reflections of your school's alumni.
6. Information about your school's facilities can include floor plans, proposed renovations or a guide to classrooms.
7. Provide the location of your school for those who wish to visit. This can include the address, directions from major streets, phone numbers, etc.
8. Highlight various curriculum activities unique to your school.
9. Every school has a parent's organization. Putting information about this organization on your web site can improve communication and possibly participation.
10. Don't forget to highlight your school's extra curricular activities.

About Our Community
Schools are often the social and financial hub of communities. Use your web site to highlight this bond. Think about how you can provide others with a snapshot of your community.

1. Highlight unique people in your community - especially those involved with your school.
2. Provide historical information about your community.
3. Describe your Local Geography.
4. What is the business and industry base of your community.
5. Highlight the values and traditions of your local community and the associated festivals and fairs.
6. What are the local recreation opportunities?
7. Providing a daily weather report not only provides a service to your community, but it keeps visitors returning.

Student Participation

Involve your students in activities that not only provide content for your web site, but incorporate learning goals.

Etiquette and Legal Issues
Because the Internet is such a new technology, there are concerns over its proper use in terms of etiquette and legal issues. While most of these concerns are not new, the Internet has creates some gray areas that educators should be aware of before developing a web site.

1. Legal copyrights and intellectual property are currently hot topics in relationship to the web. Be sure to get a signed release form if you plan to publish a picture of a student or others on your web pages.
2. Give credit for ideas and efforts of everyone who is involved. Before publishing your web pages consult the students, faculty, staff, parents and community in relationship to using the web? The broader the ownership of your school's web pages, the more they will be talked about and used.

Tech Stuff
After you have the planning well under way you can begin to consider some of the technical issues for developing your web page.

Four Directions has received support from the Technology Innovation Challenge program, U.S. Department of Education. It is administered by the Pueblo of Laguna Department of Education.