Helping roll out and redesign 53 school websites in six months

Strong communication between Clovis USD and eSchoolView made migrating content to a new platform possible

In addition to facing a six-month deadline to launch new websites for 53 schools, Clovis USD planned on simultaneously releasing a phone notification system and mobile app. The California district—which was then using two different content management systems—also needed one sustainable platform that nontechnical staff could easily use. 

In February 2018, a six-person team from the district’s communications department chose eSchoolView to help with CMS consolidation, website redesign and the rollout. They decided the websites would go live by early August.

“We did not have much time to come up with the design and content, vet the beta sites, and then launch the websites, app and phone notification system,” says Kelly Avants, chief communication officer of the 43,000-student district.

The district deployed the first 15 websites in June and the rest by August. 

Improving communications

eSchoolview provided training videos to introduce and ease staff concerns about the new platforms.

This helped Avants’ team develop a plan and detailed schedule in early summer for principals and webmasters to review beta sites and submit adjustments. 

Avants’ team also filled out a detailed design questionnaire that eSchoolView developed to ensure the process went smoothly and met their expectations.

Today, the websites share a common design, allowing webmasters to communicate, share ideas and collaborate more often than before. 

‘They gave us a voice’

During design, eSchoolView allowed the district to provide creative input. “eSchoolView didn’t shoehorn us into a business model,” says Avants. “Their willingness to give us a voice in the development of the project was huge.”

eSchoolView also migrated Clovis USD’s existing content to the new websites, which involved Clovis USD deciding what content needed updating.

Easy to use

With office managers and teachers serving as webmasters, Clovis USD chose eSchoolView because its system was easily trainable and not overly technical. “My team doesn’t have the time to sit on every one of our 53 websites every day, so it’s great that we can now focus our efforts on supporting and training a team of site-based webmasters who are much more confident about managing these websites because they’re easier to understand,” says Avants. 

Recently, Clovis USD designed and imported banner images onto every school homepage as part of its annual report to the community. eSchoolView’s platform made that project effortless. 

While Clovis USD still has to roll out the district website, Avants already sees more parents and community members engaging with the “live” pages. 

“Research shows that parents really need organic connectivity—and our website, app and phone notification system are providing that,” she says.

For more information, please visit eschoolview.com

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