Waukee Schools Launch New Website

Parents perusing the Waukee Community Schools’ website today will find something new.

This week, the Waukee school district launched a new website. It includes the same basic information parents, teachers and students have always relied on, but with a whole new look and a few new features.

“I think parents will be pleased with it,” said Superintendent Dave Wilkerson. “I think they will be able to find everything they need to find. It’s cleaner, it’s more professional-looking and you can get to everything in just a few clicks.”

Steph Wilson, curriculum facilitator for Waukee Schools, said work on the site started at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. She said district officials felt it was time for a change.

“It was something that needed to grow with the district,” she said of the old website design. “We knew that there wasn’t enough on there for teachers and parents that they needed to keep communicating.”

Wilson said the new site, designed by local web design firm Flying Hippo, is easier to navigate, more complete and incorporates a few new items like teacher’s blogs and links to social media to keep up with the times.

Parents searching for information will find it simple to click on their child’s school and find links to everything from forms and the school handbook to staff lists, lunch menus and the Powerschool link, as well as a few helpful new features. 

“Each teacher will now have the opportunity to directly link a blog to their staff page,” said Wilson of one new feature. “Parents can access each teachers’ blogs and it will also keep students who have access in the know, too.”

Dale Bentlage, vice president of business development for Flying Hippo, said leaders with the Waukee Schools had a clear idea of the direction they wanted to take with their new website.

“They wanted the site to be well-organized, the content easily accessible and intuitive,” he said. “Whether it be a parent or teacher, they wanted to improve the searchability of the site and its aesthetic design.”

Bentlage said the look for the new site matches the quality of the school buildings. "They wanted that same level of visual aesthetic.“

The site went live on Aug. 12. Wilson said people may encounter a glitch or two but those should be fixed by the end of August. Cost for the project was $41,600, according to Lora Appenzeller Miller, Chief Financial Officer for Waukee Community Schools.