For the shortest month of the year, Finalsite was just as busy launching new websites for schools worldwide this February. From smaller independent and charter schools to larger public school districts, there was a wide range of inspiring content, creative user experiences, and beautiful site designs worth taking a closer look at for inspiration.

Here’s the latest roundup of school website designs that were launched in February with Finalsite!

Chappaqua Central School District

As a renowned school system with highly motivated students, talented staff, and an active parent community, Chappaqua’s new site shares a vision of a community that comes together for learning, growth, and connection.

There’s a lot to take in, including its strategic priorities, social media integration, and its district’s differentiators, all outlined in a multi-panel design element featured on its homepage.

Key announcements and a “what’s happening” section put the day’s news front and center. However, navigating across the site is easy with access to quicklinks, school sites, popular resources, and more, all within the main navigation.

The future-focused district also serves its prospective employees with a creatively design section on what it’s like to work and live in Chappaqua, with details about the surrounding communities and neighborhoods.

Don’t miss:

• One-click translation from Weglot
• Filterable news and announcements, searchable by keywords and date range
• Strategic support from Finalsite Advantage
• The in-depth board of education section, covering policies and regulations, meetings, budgets, strategic priorities, and more!

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles

With over 250 schools within the Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties, The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles is the largest Catholic school system in the country.

Its new site has much to offer, including inspiring language, professional imagery, and a video highlight reel leading its homepage experience. There’s a nice balance between modern design elements, visuals, and text throughout the site, and users on its homepage are cleverly guided from one area to the next by a snaking line that weaves in and out of content blocks.

A “we believe” phrase is repeated throughout the pages, highlighting its distinctions in excellence, empowering students, and faith. 

The video testimonial panel is a nice touch as well, with brief soundbites from parents, students, and administrators that help bring the people of its community to life.

Don’t miss these design highlights:

• A convenient school locator map with filters for search radii, zip codes, grade levels, and more
• Full-width content cards with background images to add style and branding
• A custom staff directory featuring the community, leadership, and governance
• Branded custom image cards to make the visuals pop 

NSU University School

This Florida school takes a mobile-first approach to heart with large, mobile-friendly image buttons highlighting the school experience, the different divisions, fast facts, and even its secondary programs.

Icons also streamline the browsing experience, replacing lengthy blocks of text with quick, to-the-point visuals for its admissions, athletics, giving, and student life pages.

Be sure to take a closer look at:

• Angled image buttons and inverse heading tags add a creative flair
• A slider featuring the latest college acceptances and matriculations, and more!

Fayetteville Academy

As a Pre-K–12th-grade independent school, Fayetteville encourages its students to "elevate" their purpose, potential, and future, and with a new website, its online presence is certainly soaring high.

Fayetteville claims, “Here, you can do it all,” and that sentiment is captured well with the sense of wonderment and curiosity from its youngest students throughout their time as older high schoolers, prepared for what comes next.

Assisted by the Finalsite Advantage team with its logo redesign and rebrand, there’s a great use of color and site structure, and the rounded arches of its custom image design are woven throughout the site to support its new branding. Well done!

Be sure to check out:

• Finalsite Posts that feature a mobile-friendly, filterable view of its curriculum and summer program
• Custom image buttons incorporating the school’s branded arch design
• Easily accessible parent and alumni zones put important resources and links just a click away

The Woods Academy

Serving children ages 3 to Grade 8, The Woods Academy is a Catholic community for families in the Bethesda, MD area.

Its homepage really focuses on the foundations of the Woods experience, with information on its students, community, programs, and graduates, each of which serves as the basis for future success. The school nurtures the whole child with academics, character development, and faith, all of which are explored in depth on its “Why Woods?” page — a great resource for prospective families.

There’s a real sense of a warm, supportive community with quotes and video testimonial panels from teachers and a pop-out window with the latest news and social posts from around the school, a useful area for parents or alumni looking to catch up on what's happening.

There’s a lot of fun extras on this site, including

• Custom headlines to make text pop
• A custom image slider to highlight the hallmarks of a Woods Academy education
• A great use of the Finalsite Posts module to list its dozens of clubs and activities 
• Custom image buttons and content cards to showcase content and spotlight important calls to action

Serendipity School

With lots of rounded edges, ovals, and irregular shares, Serendipity’s new site gives a very organic, fun, and playful feel. The site even defines Serendipity as “ the gift of discovering valuable or pleasant things that are not anticipated,” and its site design captures that essence so well.

A brief scroll on its homepage and users will see its expansive use of what’s known as “progressive disclosure.” Instead of showing every detail, the site gradually reveals more on scroll without overwhelming the user. Then, if they want to know more about a specific topic, users can click a button, a link, or a menu item to get more information.

It all makes for a very calm, pleasant viewing experience — perfect for younger children and families. Nicely done!

Take a closer look at:

• The custom hero and landing pages
• Subtle background colors that support the brand's secondary color palette
• Custom title treatment and content areas, like those found on the preschool page

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. As Finalsite’s Senior Content Marketing Manager, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.