There are several characteristics that all school websites should have, such as easy access to the school calendar, contact details, and forms. A school website should inform potential parents about the school's mission statement, history, and unique qualities and provide current parents with updates, notifications, and sign-ups for volunteer programs.
As it is the parents who often visit school websites, your website should have a professional color palette and layout. However, if your website has an integrated student information system, consider a more child-friendly look in your design.
If you are starting a new school, use our school AI website builder to create a clean and professional website for your business.
Zarla checks that sites meet basic web standards for mobile and desktop. We also use Google's PageSpeed Insights, and WAVE, a service that evaluates accessibility for individuals with disabilities. PageSpeed scores and accessibility are important factors for search engine rankings. PageSpeed scores may not match user experience and can vary substantially.
Fontana, California, U.S.
Stoneridge Preparatory School is a private school for secondary education students in grades 6 to 12. The site highlights the different types of learning students can do, from remote to on-campus and offers visitors an overview of the academic programs with FAQs.
The floating menu eases navigation and offers a clean, concise design that doesn't overwhelm visitors with information. Visitors can easily find all the information they need, but the information on applying for funding seems to be missing, and the site lacks a student portal, staff introductions, and a calendar of events.
The site highlights the school's professionalism and commitment to education with the blue tones and clean layout and offers users simple navigation that is not overwhelming. Admission FAQs provide visitors with quick access to important information.
The site is not compliant with assistive technologies and WAVE reports a significant number of errors on the site, including poor contrast, empty headers, and missing alternative text. Most of the images used on the site are stock images.
The clean layout shines on the desktop site with plenty of white space creating an easy reading experience. However, it is a bit static with the lack of interactive elements. With the missing alternative text and empty headers as well as slower loading times, PageSpeed Insights gives the desktop site an accessibility score of 84/100 and an overall performance score of 70/100.
The mobile site is well optimized, with the text and images remaining legible and high quality. However, some elements, such as certain CTAs, are cramped. The mobile site offers a useful back-to-top button for navigation, and the hamburger menu is simple. Google's PageSpeed Insights report notes very slow loading times for the mobile site, leading to an overall performance score of 56/100.
https://www.fossswimschool.com/
Various locations, U.S.
Foss Swim School teaches swimming as a child enrichment program, with a focus on safety, fun, and social benefits. The site highlights this focus on individual children with large, cartoon-style lettering, tones of blue, and enticing photos of happy, laughing children in and around the pool.
Visitors will find the school calendar prioritized in the top menu, laying out enrollment and summer camp dates followed by a list of all the areas that Foss School operates in. Customer reviews, a blog on water safety, and highlighting the school's draw, an Olympic swim star, build customer trust.
The site conveys the school's friendly, personable qualities and offers clean legibility and easy navigation. By highlighting their recent partnership with an Olympic medalist who started her swimming journey at Foss, this site gives parents a solid reason to trust the school with their children.
WAVE reports a number of missing alternative text and contrast errors, and the site is not compliant with assistive technologies. PageSpeed Insights also notes room for improvement on both desktop and mobile sites.
The desktop version shines with larger text sizes and high-quality images. Selecting the school nearest the visitor to the site allows them to see more in-depth information, including tuition fees, class availability, and a virtual tour.
The desktop site also features a chatbot function that is unique in this niche. Google's PageSpeed Insights report awards the desktop site a performance score of 89/100, with accessibility and SEO scores also in the 80s.
For the most part, the mobile site is well-optimized for smaller screens, but some of the hero images are cut off. The contrast of the color palette is stronger on the mobile site, and the navigation remains constant, with "Menu" written out rather than using the more common hamburger image.
The individual location websites may overwhelm customers with long blocks of small text. Due to slow loading times reported by PageSpeed Insights, the mobile site receives an overall performance score of 59/100.
Hilo, Hawaii, U.S.
Hilo High School is a public school for learners in grades nine through twelve, located on the island of Hawaii. The website echoes the school's mascot and team colors of blue and gold, which makes for an engaging visual appeal.
While the navigation of the site is straightforward, there are a lot of pages, which may make finding specific information a little tricky. However, the site does feature a quick-access menu for the most important information. A downloadable app is a great touch that will put all the school's information at the visitors' fingertips.
WAVE reports only a handful of empty link and contrast errors. The site is straightforward, has easy access and a responsive design, and is consistent with the school's branding. The home page shines with current information and news alerts for current students.
The site is only semi-compliant with assistive technologies and lacks engaging graphics. The site is very information-dense, requiring a lot of scrolling by visitors to find the information they need.
For the most part, the desktop site displays information in a clean grid pattern, but the news pieces highlighted on the home page under "Front Page News" are confusingly cramped. Most of the pages feature large blocks of text, which would benefit from being condensed and streamlined for ease of reading. Despite strong real-world experience, PageSpeed Insights awards the desktop site a low 55/100 for performance.
The mobile site is well suited to smaller screens but is cramped and overwhelming with large blocks of text that necessitate a lot of scrolling. Large content leads to slow loading times, according to the PageSpeed Insights report, lowering the desktop's score even further to a poor performance score of 24/100 for the mobile site.
Dawson City, Yukon, Canada
The Yukon School of Visual Arts is part of the Applied Arts division of Yukon University and offers an eight-month program in visual arts. The site features some useful navigation help, such as a prominent CTA and the school's address and contact details in the footer of the page.
The information is neatly organized on the site, with enticing images on every page to create visual interest. Visitors to the site will easily find all the information they need, including tuition and supply fees, staff introductions, and course layouts.
WAVE reports only a missing text error and some contrast errors on the site. The consistent color palette and quality images are visually appealing, and highlighting the school's mission and vision is a great addition.
The site is only semi-compliant with assistive technologies. The contrast between the text and the background should be stronger and the site lacks images of the campus and a map and GPS location.
The desktop site shines with a spacious design and plenty of white space that allows the student artwork to shine and the site to maintain its professional appearance. The site could use a back-to-top button to ease navigation, but on the whole, the site is very well organized. On Google's PageSpeed Insights report, the desktop site scores well for SEO and best practices, but the poor contrast has resulted in a performance score of 83/100.
The mobile site features perfectly resized elements and the hamburger menu maintains easy navigation. The mobile site also includes the handy back-to-top button the desktop site is missing, as the long blocks of text can lead to a lot of scrolling and can overwhelm the visitor. Some larger content slows down the loading times, leading to a performance score of 45/100.
https://www.ecolemcisaacschool.com/
Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
École McIsaac School, located in Manitoba, Canada, promotes education in an environment in which students feel valued and safe. The website has a clean and simple design so visitors to the site can find all the necessary information.
However, some of the information is included as screenshots of A4 pages, making this difficult to read due to the small size of the resulting image. Some visitors may find the site a little pushy, as there are two pages on the menu dedicated to requesting donations.
The site is functional and offers bilingual content. WAVE reports only two missing alternative text errors and a handful of contrast errors. Information on how to order school clothing is a good addition to the site.
The site is only semi-compliant with assistive technologies, some text is too small to read, and the site lacks enticing images and detailed curriculum information. The site seems to focus on getting donations.
The simplicity of the site shines on the desktop, with the clean layout allowing for easy navigation and quick access. However, the site does look old-fashioned by using PDF files instead of adding the content directly to the site.
The desktop site has a good performance rating of 89/100 on Google's PageSpeed Insights, but the best practices scores are in the 70s while accessibility and SEO scores are in the 80s, leaving room for improvement.
The clean and simple design ensures the site looks great on mobile screens. The color palette has a more green tone than the desktop and the screenshot information is mostly read easier on the small screen, although some images are still too small. According to PageSpeed Insights, the mobile site has better accessibility, with a score of 94/100, but slower loading times lead to an overall performance score of 40/100.
Truro, Cornwall, England, U.K.
Truro School is an independent school that caters to students aged three through eighteen. The site offers plenty of information, helpfully organized into various categories for different ages, parents, alumni, and prospective parents, and includes curriculum and after-school activity information, as well as admissions information.
The dark blue and gold color palette emphasizes the school's values of excellence, integrity, and knowledge while highlighting the school's awards helps build trust. The sudden use of a red background on the site can be a little jarring when scrolling.
The site is professional with plenty of information and high-quality images. All the necessary school information is categorized by age group, easing navigation, and the site highlights the school's facilities and extracurricular activities.
WAVE reports a number of different errors on the site, including missing alternative text, missing labels, and contrast errors, and the site is not compliant with assistive technologies. The school's branding is not consistent on the site, with the addition of bright red blocks.
The site shines on the desktop, with the space on the larger screens highlighting the grid layout. The well-organized layout ensures easy navigation, as does the back-to-top button at the bottom of the page and the floating top menu. The site clearly highlights all the school's contact details and social media on the home page. The desktop site performs well on Google's PageSpeed insights report, with scores in the 90s for performance, best practices, and SEO.
The mobile site adapts well to the smaller screen, maintaining the well-organized menu in the hamburger format. The school's awards are more prominent, appearing under the video banner rather than in the top corner of the video banner on the desktop site, but some sections are a bit cramped.
While the scores for best practices and SEO remain in the 90s on PageSpeed Insights, the mobile site scores 85/100 for accessibility and 62/100 for performance. Real-world tests also show significant lags in the video banner.
https://www.mercycollegebelfast.com/
Belfast, Northern Ireland, U.K.
Mercy College Belfast is a secondary school that aims to help pupils achieve their full academic, physical, social, and spiritual potential. The school highlights its branding in the consistent use of the school colors and offers visitors information on the staff, curriculum, and events.
There is a section dedicated to parents and students looking for current information, such as uniforms, lunches, and exams, as well as a look at the Pastoral Care Program, which focuses on the school's mission and ethos.
The clear navigation offers prominent contact information and high-quality, engaging images, and WAVE reports only one contrast error on the site. The site provides in-depth information about the school in an easily accessible style.
The site is not compliant with assistive technologies and WAVE reports a number of empty link errors. Many of the pages feature long blocks of text that impact the user-friendliness of the site.
The desktop site makes good use of the screen size and white space to highlight the grid layout of the site. The organization of the site is simple and the site loads quickly, with the contact details clearly available. However, the parental login link could be more visible.
PageSpeed Insights reports strong SEO and best practices scores on the desktop, but the missing links and contrast errors lower the accessibility score, leading to an overall performance score of 53/100.
The mobile site is well-optimized to the smaller screen and maintains the easy navigation in the hamburger menu, but the font may be too small for most readers. The long blocks of text are particularly difficult on mobile screens and could be condensed and streamlined for a better user experience. While the mobile site loads slower than the desktop, according to PageSpeed Insights, it has a higher performance score of 56/100.
https://www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com/
Cardiff, Wales, U.K.
St. John's College educates children aged 3 to 18 and emphasizes smaller class sizes, pastoral care, and a Catholic ethos. This site features a clean layout with clear navigation, while the prominent header displays the school's emblem, name, and contact information.
The site features great contrast between the text and background, with only one contrast error noted on WAVE, and the color palette and images create an appealing visual. The school's branding is used consistently on the site, and adding awards creates trust in parents.
The site is not compliant with assistive technologies and it isn't easy to find the virtual tour of the campus. WAVE reports a handful of empty buttons and missing alternative links. The site lacks application information for bursaries and scholarships.
The desktop site offers a spacious layout and a unique hamburger menu option that keeps the design clean. A back-to-top button is helpful for navigation, and the quick links at the bottom of every page lead visitors to the most important information. According to PageSpeed Insights, some elements of the desktop site load slowly and the SEO could be improved, leading to an overall performance score of 55/100.
The responsiveness of the web design looks great on mobile screens, but the smaller design may lead to some pages looking cramped. The hamburger menu is consistent with the desktop, and the mobile site offers smooth scrolling, including the back-to-top button.
While the mobile site lacks the Google Maps image present on the desktop, it provides visitors with a link to get directions. According to PageSpeed Insights, the mobile site loads slower than the desktop, leading to an overall performance score of 44/100.
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Brisbane Independent School teaches children from Year 1 to Year 6 with a holistic approach to education focused on an integrated curriculum. The site is well-balanced between large text and engaging images and offers a simple user experience.
The site highlights some great CTAs, including one to book a tour of the campus, giving parents a useful insight into the school and how it functions. Visitors to the site can find all the information they need, helpfully organized into clear, intuitive categories, but the site lacks information on funding and scholarships.
WAVE reports only one empty button and several contrast errors and the site is enticing and visually engaging. Navigation is clean and simple with all the necessary information present for visitors to scroll.
The site is not compliant with assistive technologies and it lacks interactive elements like a video tour or campus map. Visitors will miss information on funding and bursaries as well as a school calendar with important dates noted.
The desktop site makes good use of the space and the simple grid layout to provide easy navigation. However, the site could be more visually appealing with interactive elements. The desktop site ranks very highly on Google's PageSpeed Insights, with best practices and SEO scores of 100/100, an accessibility score of 93/100 with room to improve the contrast, and an overall performance score of 93/100.
The mobile site has been resized well to fit smaller screens, but certain elements, such as text blocks and images, could be streamlined further to improve functionality and provide a more seamless user experience.
The mobile site maintains the perfect best practices and SEO scores on PageSpeed Insights, but cramped content and poor contrast lead to an accessibility score of 84/100, with slow loading times contributing to an overall performance score of 75/100.
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The King's School features a girls' and boys' primary school (Pre-K to Year 6), a boys-only preparatory school (Pre-K to Year 6), and a boys' senior school. The site is clean and professional, featuring a grid layout for easy navigation and a video banner to engage the viewer and enhance the school's commitment to education and integrity.
The off-white and grey color palette conveys sophistication and professionalism, and the menu is well-organized for navigation. The school's mission statement and curriculum are clearly outlined on the site, as are school news and events.
The site is visually appealing and WAVE only reports a single link missing alternative text. Navigation on the site is made simpler through a split menu, including the in-depth menu with all the pages, and a quick links menu for easy access.
The site is only semi-compliant with assistive technologies and some heavy images lead to slow loading times. The site is very information-dense, and WAVE reports several contrast errors on the site.
The desktop site shines with its spacious design offering an elegant presentation and high-quality images engaging viewers. The quick links menu offers visitors access to important information, including a virtual tour, term dates, information for prospective parents, and information for current parents.
According to Google's PageSpeed Insights report, there is room for improvement regarding SEO and accessibility, but the desktop site has an overall performance score of 92/100.
The mobile site is well optimized, with the font at a good size for reading, images maintaining their high quality, and the navigation remaining clean and contributing to an easy user experience. The hamburger menu preserves the split menu, but the quick links aren't as immediately apparent as on the desktop, as they're lower down the vertical menu layout.
PageSpeed Insights shows room for improvement on the mobile site, and the larger image files lead to slower loading times. The mobile site has a performance score of 57/100.
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We have curated a list of 10 existing school websites and broken down the pros and cons of each site in a short review to help you create your own functional site.
Consistently showcasing your branding on your website reinforces your school's identity and helps customers link your website to the school. A cohesive look is created by consistently using your school's colors, logo, and font across your site.
By offering easy access to user-friendly application forms, you can streamline your application process and allow families to more easily apply to your school in a convenient format.
The best school websites use functionality and aesthetics to highlight the schools' branding and brand message. The best sites offer an easy user experience with clean navigation.
Your website should feature high-quality images and videos to showcase your facilities. Consider hiring a drone to capture aerial photographs and videos.
