This week, Kyrene School District has launched new district and school websites with improved search, simplified navigation and modern design. Over the next several weeks, #TeamKyrene will work behind the scenes to rebuild and fine-tune our websites to ensure families, students and the community can find the critical information they need.

 

Why the change?

Due to a business merger, Kyrene’s current website platform will be eliminated in 2024. This change required Kyrene to seek a new website provider and presented an opportunity for significant online improvements. 
 

“The last website redesign, in 2019, dramatically improved Kyrene’s mobile responsiveness and improved site accessibility,” said Erin Helm, Executive Director of Communications and Engagement. “However, the 2019 changes were largely surface improvements. The platform on which our sites are built did not change. In fact, we’ve been using the same platform for more than a decade, and we continue to face challenges with navigation and search. The new site will provide a clean slate and, ultimately, a better experience for visitors.”
 

What’s new?

• Users will face fewer navigational choices on Kyrene home pages, with options streamlined into clear categories.
• Calendars, the most in-demand feature of every Kyrene website, will be higher on the homepage to reduce scrolling.
• The search bar will be replaced with a “Find it Fast” menu featuring quick links to the most searched items, from school lunch menus to Community Education options.
• All features of the desktop home page will display on mobile devices, including the icons used by many website visitors for quick shortcuts to popular pages. (These icons do not currently display on mobile devices.)

 

Thank you!

Kyrene sought input from a wide variety of stakeholders throughout the website selection and design process and is grateful to everyone who participated. A committee of school and district employees reviewed website vendors in the spring of 2023 and made a final selection last summer. Since then, the district has had more than 1,300 responses to a community website survey and has engaged focus groups of students, staff and parents.

“We think of our websites as virtual front offices,” Helm said. “For most families, the website is the first contact made with Kyrene, the first impression they get of a school. It was important to us to include the voice of our community in that design.”

Kyrene looks forward to bringing that community vision to life on the new www.kyrene.org!