Thoughts on school with no website or info on the web

I don't think it is odd for a school not to have a website within the last 15 years.

IME, the school district can limit or restict an individual school from having their own website. Until the district was ready to establish guidelines and rules for school websites, the individual schools could do nothing. In our WA school district (in the heart of Microsoft) school websites were often created initially by parent volunteers and varied greatly in content and style. The district had to really scramble to set a standard style and content. I've seen a couple of elementary school websites go completely stagnant after the initial parent team moved onto MS.

It's only been in the last couple of years that our current school district has invested money in a decent website.

If you are looking for test score, student demographics, etc., Great Schools was a decent source when we moved a few years ago.

ETA as a private school, I find it very odd they don't have a web presence to sell themselves

I would find it very odd but I'm in the UK and UK schools are expected by the inspecting body, Ofsted, to have an online presence. Before an inspector visits a school he/she will look at the website as part of the pre inspection.

as Per Ofsted
information on the school’s website, including its statement on the use of the pupil premium, in primary schools the PE and sport premium, the statutory sharing with parents of curriculum information (so the lead inspector can start to assess the breadth and balance of the school’s curriculum and whether it is likely to promote preparation for and an appreciation of life in modern Britain), the special educational needs (SEN) information report, the presence and suitability of the safeguarding guidance, taking into account current government requirements, information about the promotion of equality of opportunity and other information for parents


I was a school Governor and the Board of Governors made it a priority to upgrade, update and install a brand new website to replace the previous one - hours and hours were spent on the task.

If nothing else won't a school want to have a website as a marketing and communication tool?
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I am always amazed at people who can access their kids grades online and stuff. We do have teacher web for information about a teacher but I know my son's history teacher last updated his page in 2011. It might be a budget thing. Do those websites cost the schools?

The elementary is using some sort of teacher texting system this year, it's optional though. Out of the 5 teachers my kids have only 2 that sent home parent registration numbers. We have zero online/electronic registration. Every school year starts with about 12 papers to fill out including 3 similar contact information cards so that the teacher, front desk and school nurse all get their own copies. The classrooms were outfitted with smart boards about 4 years ago and have 3 or 4 PCs in them for AR tests (kids take turns). The computer lab is outfitted with 25 older PCs. Kids go to computer lab every other day and do things like study island. All announcements are still sent home on paper. No tablets. Still use full on hard backed textbooks. My daughter alone has 6 old fashioned composition notebooks. Cutting and pasting in graphs and charts etc.Yeah we are not in the electronic age at our school.

I would think there is an explanation somewhere. Is this a school your are currently enrolled in? I was thinking maybe it is a password protected secret website to keep the information private? idk - interesting this day in age with technology.

Interesting! Our schools don't have any of that - homework, reading assignments, a way to check up. This past year DS' Grade 8 teachers set up a site themselves for us to access and check up. But my girls never had that, and the high schools had some stuff, it depended on the teacher really.

But I would think a private school would have a website that is "all about us" kind of thing!

Our school's public website page has links to contact every department head and teacher by email. They post all announcements. They have their mission statement and newsletters. They have information from each department and courses. They have lots of guidance information and links to Naviance. They have standardized test information and average scores. They also post snow day information as soon as it's decided (not to mention automated phone calls.)

They have links to every teacher's website, and every teacher is required to have a website for assignments and schedules (some are on the public website, and some are links to the private websites.) Just about every teacher has a private password-protected comments area where the kids are required to participate in online discussions.

The grades are on a separate, password-protected website that parents can access.

ETA: I meant to say that it sounds very unprofessional, when practically every business in the country has a website, for a school to thumb their nose and not have all that information in one place available to parents, their community, and prospective students.

Honestly I would not be impressed by the lack of information. I might even think they have something to hide.

My kids go to a school similar to what you described, private, about 500 students etc. BUT we do have a public website, facebook page, instagram etc. and they proudly publish test scores ( ACT and SAT averages) for the school each year. They have teacher biographies available for anyone to read, course descriptions and booklists can be downloaded by anyone interested in the school. The school does not publish personal information of course, but it is seen as the front door of the school as prospective parents investigate options online.

ETA: In addition to the public web page, our school uses Renweb which is unique passcode protected (unique password for each family). There I can access the lesson plans for the week (necessary for the type of school), my child's grades etc.

The lack of a website and online access would make me also wonder what else is deficient? Supplies? Technology? Test Scores? Education?

The OP stated the school boasts about its technological capabilities, yet doesn't offer a website or online access. iMO, that seems a tad sketchy. I also makes me wonder what other claims are embellishments.

I would wonder how up to date they were in other aspects of education if they were not embracing the Internet.