Challenge
The Aurora School is a unique private elementary school founded in 1988. Its mission is to develop individuals who are academically excellent, socially compassionate, and emotionally secure. The current Aurora School website has problems with design, maintenance and usability. While the school is known for its welcoming and diverse community, they also have a “PR” problem — the popular misperception is that Aurora School is a “hippie school” without a rigorous academic curriculum. In addition, usability problems inhibit the site from becoming a useful tool and resource for member families. The site contains all the critical information users need but it’s too hard to find. On the administrative side, making even simple updates to the web site is expensive and slow. All changes require coordination with an outside web designer.
Solution
Redesign website on a custom WordPress CMS platform. Update the look and feel. Create information architecture with user needs in mind. A content management system will solve many administrative problems with the current site and providing a simpler platform with which staff can control content.
Results
Maintenance, usability, relevance all dramatically improved with the new site. -The website now attracts new families and website visibility and relevance is improved -The site now reflects both the socially compassionate nature of the school and its academic excellence -Parent interaction with the site has increased. A useful, accessible resource for families has been created -Website maintenance is simplified enabling Aurora staff to make content updates quickly and without third party involvement -The unique and exploratory learning atmosphere of Aurora is being conveyed by featuring examples of lessons and events on the home page.
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