article school websites

Awesome Articles for Students: Websites and Other Resources

All of these sites are free.

In today’s digital world, we seem to be surrounded by news. Clickbait, anyone? Yet the pervasive and often intrusive nature of internet news articles belies the fact that many of these sites are behind a paywall, biased, or feature low-quality reporting.

Still, online articles are a great starting point for all kinds of learning assignments across the curriculum. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best free article websites for students. Many of these sites offer not only high-quality topical articles on every subject, but also ideas for lessons, such as questions, quizzes, and discussion prompts.

Student Article Websites

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CommonLit With thousands of high-quality, Common Core-aligned reading passages for grades 3-12, this easy-to-use literacy site is a rich source of English and Spanish texts and lessons. Search by theme, grade, Lexile score, genre, and even literary devices such as alliteration or foreshadowing. Texts are accompanied by teacher guides, paired texts activities, and assessments. Teachers can share lessons and track student progress with a free account. 

DOGOnews News articles featuring current events, science, social studies, world events, civics, environment, sports, weird/fun news, and more. Free access to all articles. Premium accounts offer extras such as simplified and audio versions, quizzes, and critical thinking challenges. 

CNN10 Replacing the popular CNN Student News, CNN 10 provides 10-minute video news stories on current events of international importance, explaining how the event fits into the broader news narrative. 

KiwiKids News Created by a New Zealand primary school educator, Kiwi Kids News features free articles about health, science, politics (including U.S. political topics), animals, and the Olympics. Kids will love the “Odd Stuff” articles, which focus on unusual news, from the world’s biggest potato to centenarian athletes. 

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PBS NewsHour Daily News Lessons Daily articles covering current events in video format. Each lesson includes a full transcript, fact list, summary, and focus questions. 

NYT Daily Lessons/Article of the Day The New York Times Daily Lessons builds a classroom lesson around a new article each day, offering thoughtful questions for writing and discussion, as well as related ideas for further study. Perfect for practicing critical thinking and literacy skills for middle and high school students, it’s a part of the larger NYT Learning Network , which provides an abundance of activities for students and resources for teachers.

The Learning Network Current event articles, student opinion essays, movie reviews, students review contests, and more. The educator resource section offers top-notch teaching and professional development resources. 

News For Kids With the motto “Real News, Told Simply,” News for Kids strives to present the latest topics in U.S. and world news, science, sports, and the arts in a way that’s accessible to most readers. Features a coronavirus update page .

ReadWorks A fully free research-based platform, Readworks provides thousands of nonfiction and fiction passages searchable by topic, activity type, grade, and Lexile level. Educator guides cover differentiation, hybrid and remote learning, and free professional development. Great resource for teachers.

Science News for Students Winner of multiple awards for journalism, Science News for Students publishes original science, technology, and health features for readers ages 9-14. Stories are accompanied by citations, recommended readings, glossaries, readability scores, and classroom extras. Be sure to check out Top 10 tips to stay safe during an epidemic . 

Teaching Kids News A terrific site that publishes readable and teachable articles on news, art, science, politics, and more for students grades 2-8. Bonus: The Fake News resource section links to online games about fake news and images. A must for any digital citizen.

Smithsonian Tween Tribune An excellent resource for articles on a wide range of topics, including animals, national/world news, sports, science, and much more. Searchable by topic, grade, and Lexile reading score. Lesson plans offer great ideas for the classroom and simple, usable frameworks for implementing these in any grade. 

Wonderopolis Have you ever wondered if llamas really spit or if animals like art? Every day, the award-winning Wonderopolis posts a new standard-based article exploring intriguing questions such as these. Students may submit their own questions and vote for their favorites. Be sure to check out “Wonders with Charlie,” featuring acclaimed writer, producer, and director Charlie Engelman.

Youngzine A unique news site for young people that focuses on climate science, solutions, and policies to address the myriad effects of global warming. Kids have an opportunity to express their views and literary creativity by submitting poetry or essays. 

Scholastic Kids Press A multinational group of young journalists ages 10-14 report the latest news and fascinating stories about the natural world. Features sections dedicated to coronavirus and civics.

National Geographic Kids A fine library of articles about animals, history, science, space, and—of course—geography. Students will enjoy the “Weird But True” short videos, featuring fun animations about oddball topics.  

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Our Best Education Articles of 2022

Our most popular education articles of 2022 explore how to help students feel connected to each other and cultivate character strengths like curiosity and humility, amid the many stressors and pressures that young people are facing today. They also offer support for educators’ and school leaders’ well-being, and reflect on hopes for transformative change in education. 

If you are looking for specific activities to support your students’ and colleagues’ social and emotional well-being in 2023, visit our  Greater Good in Education  website, featuring free research-based practices, lessons, and strategies for cultivating kinder, happier, and more equitable classrooms and schools. For a deeper dive into the science behind social-emotional learning, mindfulness, and ethical development, consider our suite of self-paced  online courses  for educational professionals, including our capstone course,  Teaching and Learning for the Greater Good . Or join one of our new communities of practice that focus on educator well-being, offering space for rest, reflection, togetherness, and hope—and some science, too!

Here are the 12 best education articles of 2022, based on a composite ranking of pageviews and editors’ picks.


Six Ways to Find Your Courage During Challenging Times , by Amy L. Eva: Courage doesn’t have to look dramatic or fearless. Sometimes it looks more like quiet perseverance.

Calm, Clear, and Kind: What Students Want From Their Teachers , by Jenna Whitehead: Researchers asked students what makes a caring teacher—and these same qualities may help support your well-being as an educator.

How to Help Teens Put Less Pressure on Themselves , by Karen Bluth: Self-compassion can help teens who are struggling with toxic perfectionism. Five Ways to Support the Well-Being of School Leaders , by Julia Mahfouz, Kathleen King, and Danny Yahya: Burnout rates are high among principals. How can we fight burnout and promote self-care?

How to Help Your Students Develop Positive Habits , by Arthur Schwartz: Small habits repeated regularly can help students cultivate character strengths like patience, gratitude, and kindness.

Can We Make Real, Transformative Change in Education? , by Renee Owen: A new program is preparing leaders to facilitate systemic change in education in order to better serve all students.

Five Ways to Help Students Feel Connected at School Again , by Jennifer de Forest and Karen VanAusdal: According to students themselves, they are yearning for opportunities to connect with friends and peers as they head back to school.

How to Prepare for the Stresses of College , by Erin T. Barker and Andrea L. Howard: Researchers explain the most common causes of stress and distress at college, and what students can do to thrive during a big life transition.

How Humility Can Make Your Students the Best People Ever , by Vicki Zakrzewski: Simple ways for educators to help students move from “me” to “we.”

Four Ways to Inspire Humble Curiosity in Your Students , by Amy L. Eva: Humility and curiosity can encourage students to be passionate about learning and open to others’ perspectives.

What Middle Schoolers Can Teach Us About Respect , by Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman and Lia E. Sandilos: Teens are developing a nuanced understanding of what respect means. Here are some ideas for cultivating more of it in the classroom.

Why Teachers Need Each Other Right Now , by Amy L. Eva: Here are four simple ways to find social support as an educational professional.

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The 15 Best School Websites in 2023

Published: April 03, 2024

School websites can be overwhelming because they typically house a lot of information. Additionally, figuring out the target audience of your school website can be tricky, as there are visitors with different search intents landing on your site. From parents to potential students to educators to currently enrolled students, school websites have to speak to users with various reasons for visiting.

We've rounded up 15 school websites that effectively balance function and aesthetic appeal. Here are our favorites.

What are the best school websites?

The best school websites balance function and aesthetics

Ready to check out our favorite school websites? Here are 15 examples that demonstrate what excellence looks like. And when you're ready to get started creating your own for your educational institution, you can begin for free with Content Hub .

1. LIM London

Additionally, the font is easy to read and contrasts nicely. We love the color combination and how the homepage features testimonials and frequently asked questions as you scroll down.

2. Metropolitan Montessori School

The homepage flows well , offering an image that shows students at the school, then providing information regarding the education students receive. A section for recent updates also demonstrates the institution's commitment to transparency.

3. Ocean School

We also love that there are separate sections for parents, educators, and "explorers" to discover what the school offers, as each user has a different intent by visiting the site.

4. Solanco School District

The site also features links to the school's social media accounts, allowing visitors to connect with the institution there. We also enjoy the icons adjacent to related links , such as the middle school menu and the site's built-in calendar of upcoming events.

This site also stands out to us because it's accessible, thanks to the color contrast toggle and font-size toggle.

5. Marist College

As you scroll down, Marist College presents compelling statistics regarding its reputation, post-grad employment rate, and study abroad program. Also on the homepage is a section highlighting announcement blog posts. The footer also has many options, making navigating the site simple.

6. Canterbury School

We love how this homepage features a focus on upcoming events. The Canterbury School also provides visitors with statistics on the institution, its campus, and what it offers, which is effective for potential students landing on the site.

7. LIM College

This demonstrates that you can (and should!) lean into what your institution does when creating your website. Let your school's branding influence the site design. We love how this site puts announcement blog posts front and center, plus how you can learn more about alumni employers as you scroll down.

8. Washington Market School

9. School of X

10. New York University

11. Columbia Business School

12. Porto Business School

13. The New School

14. Parsons at The New School

15. Westbourne Grammar School

The best school websites balance function and aesthetics.

As you can tell from these examples, the best school websites can successfully tell the institution's story in an engaging yet aesthetically appealing manner.

Don't forget to share this post!

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What Makes a Great School Website Design [with Practical Tips and Examples]

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A school website is much more than means to list information online. It’s the front gate to your school community, representing its values and philosophy. A well-made school website design and structure can help build a reputation for the institution, create an entire concept for how first-time visitors will view it, and ultimately give the school an advantage over competitor schools. In this article, we’ll talk about what makes a great school website, with many examples and practical tips on how to improve your virtual hub of knowledge!

Things Great School Websites Have in Common

• Event Calendars
• Virtual Tours
• Teachers Introduction 
• Clubs and Achievements

Easy Contact Info

Language options.

• News and newsletters
• Social Media Share

Useful Resources for Online Education

Easy application forms.

• Optimization and Security

Interactive Event Calendars

Most school websites will use posts to convey information about upcoming events. In order for visitors to find them out, they will need to scroll around. There is a better way to approach this and make the information easily accessible with a few clicks. Use  interactive event calendar s instead with the names and dates of your events. It’s a great way for visitors to have an overview of all your upcoming events at first glance and make them interested to click and view more information or book a ticket, all in one click!

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum , for example, has a great calendar that displays not only when and where the event will be, but also additional information on how to attend.

Lausanne ‘s calendar is also easy to scan and allows you to see all events for the current month with their respective time and locations.

Offer Virtual Tours

Being able to show people around even in lockdown conditions will be much appreciated by everyone and will convey more way more information than you could with photos or descriptions. Creating the virtual tour is very easy, all you need is a camera, computer, and a free tool like klapty.com

King School has a great virtual tour experience, that allows students to get to know their future school in the comfort of their home.

Rider is a great example of diverse ways to present information. They allow you to choose the interactive method of exploring their campus, including a printable map.

Add photos and videos to your website

Give a great first impression of your facilities with photos and videos. Being able to control the lighting and angles you can make amazing images. Another good idea is to consider is hiring an FPV drone pilot to make breathtaking videos of your building inside and out.

A photo gallery is very important in order to see how past events have gone and to soak on the nostalgia from before. Norwich School is a great example of how that should be done.

Introduce Your Teachers

A school wouldn’t be a school without its teachers whose work builds the reputation and community. With this in mind, introduce your teachers with photos or short videos and list their experience and expertise in 1-2 sentences. This way you will start building trust with the parents of the potential student.

Finalsite is a great example of how to welcome new team members. They have information about who the teachers are, what would it mean to work with them, and even an introduction video.

Sometimes just putting pictures of your staff isn’t enough. You could go an extra step to show your teacher’s strengths and what makes them great mentors to students. Gilman School , for example, has added video introductions.

Show off your Clubs, Achievements and Other Interesting Features

A school is not only a place to learn, it also has one of the biggest social factors among any other institution. It is very important to communicate what extracellular activities a student can join. Use your website in order to communicate why students would love your beautiful school.

McDonogh, for example, has a lot of clubs and activities to offer. So many, in fact, that they organized them into collapsable menus by subject.

You might have one club or activity that is doing really well and you are proud to show. This is the case with The Prep.

Drexel  on the other hand, has a different approach. They use data visualization to share statistics and numbers to reassure their potential students.

Invite Investment, Donations, and Funding

Being able to afford renovations, new equipment, and funding for clubs and sports teams will increase the prestige of the school. In order to ask for donations, make sure to include sections that explain exactly how the money will be spent. It’s always better if you include different payment methods (like PayPal , IBAN, credit and debit cards).

Branding is Everything!

Being able to clearly communicate your school’s core values is very important. This is your brand: your logo, anthem, slogan, mascot, and cherished values. In order to achieve memorable branding, keep it consistent in your website, newsletter design, and even during school ceremonies. For example, on any page of your website, there should be your logo and the same color scheme and design as all the other pages, possibly including the school homepage. Your logo and general design should also be included in every email sent by the administration.

Source:  amandamartocchio.com

Tbcsc.org  show what they believe in and what they stand for.

Archer is a great example of standing out from the crowd. They have a page specifically dedicated to how and why they are different from similar schools.

Your contact info should not be more than a click away from the homepage. People should have easy access to phone numbers of the administration, email addresses and a map with the physical location.

Times2 , for example, includes a convenient build-in mab for easy directions to anyone new.

The Summit Country Day School  has great administrative office organization. Being able to call the specific office saves time and gives an impression of great structure, organization and professionalism.

Add a drop-down menu on the top of the sides of your school website homepage, that allows people to switch between different languages!

Every school website should have language options for international and transfer students. Round Rock is a good example of that.

News and Newsletters

To make sure everyone knows about the most recent developments, news, events, and plans of action, you will include them on your school website. However, it’s always better to go extra safe (and extra professional) by sending newsletters.

Having a news page like Webb School of Knoxville is crucial as it is where parents and students will first go to find more information about anything that is going on in their school.

The newsletter is also a great way to include daily updates. Stuartholme School does that right.

Social Media Sharing

Your school website will accumulate a lot of posts about students winning in competitions, sports and participating in different events. This is information that parents will be highly motivated to share.

St. George School ‘s website has clickable share buttons for all the popular social media platforms.

Even without the current situation that makes it necessary to offer online education, it’s always essential to have reading materials and tools for students to read or download. This grants your students access to what they are studying at any time.

Harvard Resources Page

MIT Resources Page

Applying for your school should be an easy experience accessible from your homepage. It’s good to add detailed information about acceptance criteria, needed documents, and a very easy-to-fill intuitive form. One good tool you can use to make custom forms is  123formbuilder.

Add to Optimize

With the increase in digitalization and digital storage of information, it is getting more and more important to consider good cyber security. If you are looking for a simple solution that doesn’t require a specialist you can use one of the most downloaded and best-rated WordPress plugins for that is WordFence .

With tools such as  Google Analytics you can easily see how many people have visited your website, how many return, how much interest is based on location, and other useful data, that can help you understand your target visitors better.

In conclusion

Your website is an expression of your company. The same goes for your school website: it represents your school, values, and community. You can take advantage of your school website to build trust and reputation and strengthen the community.

In the meantime, on the topic of online education, you might be also interested in checking some of the related articles.

• The 25 Education Tools Teachers Need To Know About (Apps, Extensions, and Platforms)
• Top 25 Teaching Blogs To Help Your Educational Process
• Inspirational Small Business Website Examples That Do It Right

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New advances in technology are upending education, from the recent debut of new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT to the growing accessibility of virtual-reality tools that expand the boundaries of the classroom. For educators, at the heart of it all is the hope that every learner gets an equal chance to develop the skills they need to succeed. But that promise is not without its pitfalls.

“Technology is a game-changer for education – it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences, and it creates fundamentally new ways of teaching,” said Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), who is also a professor of educational technology at the GSE and faculty director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . “But there are a lot of ways we teach that aren’t great, and a big fear with AI in particular is that we just get more efficient at teaching badly. This is a moment to pay attention, to do things differently.”

For K-12 schools, this year also marks the end of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding program, which has provided pandemic recovery funds that many districts used to invest in educational software and systems. With these funds running out in September 2024, schools are trying to determine their best use of technology as they face the prospect of diminishing resources.

Here, Schwartz and other Stanford education scholars weigh in on some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom this year.

AI in the classroom

In 2023, the big story in technology and education was generative AI, following the introduction of ChatGPT and other chatbots that produce text seemingly written by a human in response to a question or prompt. Educators immediately worried that students would use the chatbot to cheat by trying to pass its writing off as their own. As schools move to adopt policies around students’ use of the tool, many are also beginning to explore potential opportunities – for example, to generate reading assignments or coach students during the writing process.

AI can also help automate tasks like grading and lesson planning, freeing teachers to do the human work that drew them into the profession in the first place, said Victor Lee, an associate professor at the GSE and faculty lead for the AI + Education initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. “I’m heartened to see some movement toward creating AI tools that make teachers’ lives better – not to replace them, but to give them the time to do the work that only teachers are able to do,” he said. “I hope to see more on that front.”

He also emphasized the need to teach students now to begin questioning and critiquing the development and use of AI. “AI is not going away,” said Lee, who is also director of CRAFT (Classroom-Ready Resources about AI for Teaching), which provides free resources to help teach AI literacy to high school students across subject areas. “We need to teach students how to understand and think critically about this technology.”

Immersive environments

The use of immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality is also expected to surge in the classroom, especially as new high-profile devices integrating these realities hit the marketplace in 2024.

The educational possibilities now go beyond putting on a headset and experiencing life in a distant location. With new technologies, students can create their own local interactive 360-degree scenarios, using just a cell phone or inexpensive camera and simple online tools.

“This is an area that’s really going to explode over the next couple of years,” said Kristen Pilner Blair, director of research for the Digital Learning initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, which runs a program exploring the use of virtual field trips to promote learning. “Students can learn about the effects of climate change, say, by virtually experiencing the impact on a particular environment. But they can also become creators, documenting and sharing immersive media that shows the effects where they live.”

Integrating AI into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level, Schwartz said. “If your VR experience brings me to a redwood tree, you could have a window pop up that allows me to ask questions about the tree, and AI can deliver the answers.”

Gamification

Another trend expected to intensify this year is the gamification of learning activities, often featuring dynamic videos with interactive elements to engage and hold students’ attention.

“Gamification is a good motivator, because one key aspect is reward, which is very powerful,” said Schwartz. The downside? Rewards are specific to the activity at hand, which may not extend to learning more generally. “If I get rewarded for doing math in a space-age video game, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be motivated to do math anywhere else.”

Gamification sometimes tries to make “chocolate-covered broccoli,” Schwartz said, by adding art and rewards to make speeded response tasks involving single-answer, factual questions more fun. He hopes to see more creative play patterns that give students points for rethinking an approach or adapting their strategy, rather than only rewarding them for quickly producing a correct response.

Data-gathering and analysis

The growing use of technology in schools is producing massive amounts of data on students’ activities in the classroom and online. “We’re now able to capture moment-to-moment data, every keystroke a kid makes,” said Schwartz – data that can reveal areas of struggle and different learning opportunities, from solving a math problem to approaching a writing assignment.

But outside of research settings, he said, that type of granular data – now owned by tech companies – is more likely used to refine the design of the software than to provide teachers with actionable information.

The promise of personalized learning is being able to generate content aligned with students’ interests and skill levels, and making lessons more accessible for multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Realizing that promise requires that educators can make sense of the data that’s being collected, said Schwartz – and while advances in AI are making it easier to identify patterns and findings, the data also needs to be in a system and form educators can access and analyze for decision-making. Developing a usable infrastructure for that data, Schwartz said, is an important next step.

With the accumulation of student data comes privacy concerns: How is the data being collected? Are there regulations or guidelines around its use in decision-making? What steps are being taken to prevent unauthorized access? In 2023 K-12 schools experienced a rise in cyberattacks, underscoring the need to implement strong systems to safeguard student data.

Technology is “requiring people to check their assumptions about education,” said Schwartz, noting that AI in particular is very efficient at replicating biases and automating the way things have been done in the past, including poor models of instruction. “But it’s also opening up new possibilities for students producing material, and for being able to identify children who are not average so we can customize toward them. It’s an opportunity to think of entirely new ways of teaching – this is the path I hope to see.”

WEBSITE ESSENTIALS

11 best school websites (+ how to make your own)

• Jenna Romano

As in-person lessons start again and schools, administrators, students and parents reenter the school year, they’re changing the way they teach, communicate and interact daily. This is thanks to a newfound relationship with technology after several school years of remote or hybrid learning. For example, while school websites were once strictly informational, they now play an essential part in the academic experience, opening doors for effective information distribution and streamlined enrollment processes.

Whatever type of educational institution you’re a part of—whether it’s informal or formal, virtual or classroom-based, primary or higher learning—a good school website will educate and inform visitors. In this article, we’ll show you how to make a website for school with an A+ design, going over the benefits of having one, along with guidelines and examples.

Create the perfect site for you with Wix's website builder .

What is a school website?

A school website has two essential functions. The first is an online database for current students, parents and faculty. The second is a showcase of the school at its best to encourage prospective students and parents to enroll.

The best school websites instill a sense of pride in their community, while communicating a curriculum, list of activities and educational approach to its visitors. Of course, designing a school website requires time and effort—but it’s well worth it.

Best school website examples

Lightway Academy

Finland International School Maldives

Ready, Steady, Go | Primrose Hill

Heather Field School

Cobbers Childcare Centre

The Brides Academy

Public School 25 | The Bilingual School

Aga Academy

Miss Porter's School

William Moore Elementary

01. Lightway Academy

Lightway Academy’s website tells a strong visual story about their admirable program. For example, a slideshow on the homepage showcases photos of Lightway Academy’s campus, classroom setting and athletics. Additionally, the site’s minimalist design is easy-to-navigate with ample room for informative text. Together, these features help captive parents and interested students and lead them to reach out for new information using the contact form on the footer of the website.

02. Finland International School Maldives

Finland International School Maldives’ uses the school’s color and logo to create an excellently-branded school website bursting with school spirit. It also cleverly offers parents and prospective students engaging information to entice them into learning more about the school. For example, infographics in the top fold highlight relevant facts, such as the number of enrolled students, pedagogical staff and the teaching ratio. Visitors can also easily navigate through sections on the school’s mission statement, and teaching staff. And for those captivated by the “typical day” section, admission forms are easily accessible.

03. Ready, Steady, Go | Primrose Hill

The Ready, Steady Go exemplifies a simple, inviting and warm preschool website that engages families—both prospective and current. For future Ready, Steady Go students, a website carousel (also known as a slider) on the first fold effectively showcases the school’s aesthetics within a single page. For those looking for a multi-dimensional experience, the school also offers a virtual tour.

Ready, Steady, Go proudly highlights its Ofsted report—a UK-based educational standards system—and keeps it up-to-date. This unified symbol of excellence instantly lets prospective parents know the school is trustworthy and reputable.

Additionally, enrolled families can directly engage with the school via a password-protected members area .

Tip: Learn how to create a membership site to share relevant information to enrolled families. Wix Website Security protects both your site and your student’s information.

04. Heather Field School

The Heather Field School’s website reflects their innovative holistic approach to education. Use of high-quality photographs and the school’s custom logo exhibit the school’s sense of community—both current and prospective. The strong “About Us” page and a well-structured navigation menu make it easy for first time visitors to find the information they need. Additionally, current students can access extra information about important topics, such as healthy eating and therapy.

05. STM School

STM School’s website demonstrates the high caliber of the school, further inspiring students to enroll in their program or contribute to a sense of school spirit. The homepage features school facts, such as the ratio of students to teachers and the amount of money raised for charity. An added Instagram feed also displays that the school is active and up-to-date. Current students can engage via an online store to purchase school merchandise, a savvy move on the school’s part to increase revenue.

06. Cobbers Childcare Centre

Cobber's school website displays the childcare center’s creatively cute essence to parents within seconds. It’s hard not to smile at the images of children dressed as pirates on the banner image.

The site’s clear and colorful menu highlights information about the school’s philosophy, enrollment, and location details right within the first fold. Cobber’s also includes their happy families with parent testimonials. The school website showcases “learning stories” via a blog and displays their happy students playing in the school’s many rooms and outdoor places via an image gallery.

Cobbers also integrates their social media feed alongside a clear call-to-action for parents to access up-to-date information via the school’s Facebook page.

07. The Bridges Academy

The Bridges Academy school website offers a plethora of information delivered to prospective and current students through a cohesive brand identity that helps create recognition and a sense of pride. For example, the school crest is used throughout the website, including the favicon (small icon that appears in the browsers address bar), and a video in the top fold showcases all that the private elementary school has to offer.

Parents will find it easy-to-navigate through important and up-to-date information (including a designated COVID-19 section), as each page uses clear categories. And for prospects who are simply visiting the website for the first time, a pop-up invites them to an open house.

Tip: Create your school website with Wix and get free website hosting with 99.9% uptime.

08. Public School 25 | The Bilingual School

Public School 25, The Bilingual School’s website, instantly gives visitors a feel for the school’s bright, bold and welcoming spirit. Principal Raquel Pevey who refers to the school as “P25,” places the school’s mission statement prominently on the first page, to proudly share the school’s philosophy and commitment to multi-language learners and students with special needs.

Another important element is that the website itself is a multilingual website , offering visitors an easy-to-find menu to select the relevant language, reinforcing the school’s accessibility mission.

09. Aga Academy

The Aga Academy website shows its commitment to building a sustainable and successful future for its students. Upon entry to the school website, a powerful CTA instantly greets visitors and asks them, “What are you waiting for? — Give your future a boost at AGA Academy.” Visitors can then navigate to courses, applications, and new.

Aga Academy also effectively uses its blog to build community, sharing relevant and upcoming events to keep students engaged and involved in the school.

Start your own blog with the Wix blog creator.

10. Miss Porter’s School

Miss Porter's School website showcases the school’s values while also making it appealing to prospective students. A large section of the school website highlights key metrics, like teacher to student ratio, student enrollment, number of countries represented and percentage of students of color.

Upon entry to the school website, a carousel of images showcases the school's myriad activities, from creative arts to outdoor education. In the bottom right corner, a chat feature easily connects prospects to relevant representatives within the school. Miss Porter’s takes it one step further with their peer portal that lets real students connect with new students via chat. Tip: Add a chat button to your school website to easily and effectively improve communication, regardless of your type of website .

11. William Moore Elementary

William Moore’s school website portrays the online community ’s sense of comradery, through their tone, inclusion of core values, as well as support for parents, students and teachers alike. The easy-to-navigate website content is clearly laid out, with sections dedicated to students and parents. In addition, this school website has a specific section for virtual learning, complete with the relevant links, social platforms and communication channels for students to get online with ease.

While mostly business, William Moore Elementary’s school website keeps users engaged with eye-catching animated transitions throughout each fold.

Benefits of a school website

Let’s touch on some of the benefits of c reating a school website.

Make a good impression

Prospective students and parents will visit your website to browse your school’s academic program, extracurricular activities, notable awards and so on. Presenting a positive first impression of your school’s culture and achievements will help you boost enrollment.

Keep parents and students informed

Schools usually include important announcements and events like PTA nights or webinars on their website as a seamless way to keep parents, students and teachers informed. Amidst their busy schedules, school members appreciate regular updates, calendars and notifications—all of which can be easily accessed online.

Make administration easier

With all the incredible web design features available, school websites can make administrative tasks more efficient and paper-free. Teachers can assign homework, post grades and even facilitate exams online, and parents can enroll, register and pay tuition with convenient forms and payment tools.

Encourage community involvement

You can also place video classes, events and discussions directly on your school website to help bridge the gap if school is closed or a student/parent can’t attend in person.

Live streaming events can also increase the participation and frequency of these happenings. Plus, to further harness your community’s involvement, you can create a forum for parents, students and teachers—facilitating an online discussion where they can address school-related topics.

Pro tip: Wix Tomorrow offers meaningful learning and creating experiences at every stage of a young learner’s web creation journey, from creating a first website, to learning industry-standard skills, to making real-world impact with hands-on projects.

How to design a school website

The goal of school website design is to achieve the right balance of professionalism, functionality and appeal. While reflecting your school’s values and spirit with attractive visual elements, your website should be informative and seamless to navigate. Let’s have a look at some key design elements to keep in mind, as you create a school website of your own:

Make it professional

Tell your school’s story

Add high quality images and videos

Create a membership area

Include a calendar of events

Make it mobile friendly

01. Make it professional

Visitors of all technological-abilities will appreciate a user-friendly site that brings them directly to the information they need. Your school website should present a clear map for students and their parents.

Add a website navigation menu that outlines the sections of your site and what type of information will be found there. This should guide parents of both prospective students and already enrolled students—as well as the students and staff—to find what they’re looking for with ease.

Additional web design tips that will enhance your school website’s professional appearance include: clear language, strong calls to action and a visual hierarchy.

Learn more: How to make a website with AI

02. Tell your school’s story

Create a compelling About Us page that relates your school’s mission, accomplishments and upcoming programs to potential enrollees.

Be sure to distinguish your school from other academic institutions. Use strong, professional language and include imagery that gives visitors a taste of your school's unique atmosphere.

Take the lead from commercial brands and strengthen your school's brand identity by using a color scheme that reflects your school colors and adding a logo or images of your school’s mascot to the website.

Tip: Use a free logo maker to design a school logo.

03. Add high quality images and videos

Showcasing your school’s accomplishments requires sharing photos and videos of students, classrooms and events. Try adding a slideshow, incorporating images into your background, or adding a photo gallery. Just remember: You must have parental consent before displaying images of children online.

Keep in mind that whichever way you choose to exhibit your photos and videos, you should make sure to maximize their impact by using only high quality images.

04. Create a membership area

Gone are the days when dogs ate the homework and parents amassed collections of old report cards. Now, everything can be put online. By creating a password protected membership area, your school’s website can include an interactive space for teachers, registered students and parents.

This convenient and secured spot can be used to upload homework assignments and grades, establish parent-teacher forums, and so much more.

You can also add a forum (check out these best forum builders ) in order to keep your community members connected.

05. Include a calendar of events

The sheer amount of annual school events can be overwhelming—especially for working parents with tight schedules. Adding an online calendar will ensure that all school members have easy access to your academic year’s schedule of events. Sync it with the users’ Google calendars (or any other online agenda) so that you can send reminders to parents before the event and improve attendance.

06. Make it mobile friendly

Most people use a smartphone to browse the internet, so make sure your school website has a mobile-friendly version. Mobile web design for websites is easier than ever, and can help your website's performance. Not to mention, it will amplify your visitor’s experience.

Ready to make a school website of your own? Get started with these educational website templates .

School website design FAQ

What are some school website design tips and ideas to keep in mind.

You'll want to create a school website that's simple and easy to navigate. To achieve this use a clean layout with a school color palette, ensuring easy navigation for parents, students and staff. Include sections for news, events, and resources. Implement clear calls-to-action, such as enrollment or contact forms. Showcase student achievements through a dedicated gallery. Integrate multimedia elements like videos or virtual tours for an engaging and informative user experience for prospective students.

What are some school website templates to use?

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Design, UI, UX , Website Examples

15 of the best school websites in 2024 for inspiration, a collection of excellent school website examples in the wild, all worthy of a+..

• By Sandra Boicheva
• March 21st, 2024

Looking for inspiration and ideas for your school’s website? You’ve come to the right place! We’ve curated a collection of 15 of the best school websites out there.

These websites excel in user-friendly design and engaging content, making them ideal models for colleges, high schools, and elementary schools alike. They provide valuable information as well as they have visually appealing layouts and effortless navigation. So, let’s dive in and explore what makes them so impressive. If you’re considering revamping your current site or starting from scratch, this inspirational article will surely serve as a source for valuable insights.

1. UMS Wright Preparatory School

The UMS-Wright Preparatory School website, designed by Mighty, offers a captivating online experience highlighting the institution’s rich legacy and esteemed reputation. It features a royal red and white color palette, evoking prestige and tradition. Visitors are greeted with a dynamic introductory video in the hero section, showcasing the vibrant school community. As users explore, they encounter a compelling About section detailing the school’s extensive history, accompanied by stimulating visuals.

Key Highlights:

• Engaging Introductory Video: Welcoming video showcasing the vibrant school community.
• Sophisticated Color Palette: Use of royal red and white colors reflecting the school’s prestigious status.
• Informative About Section: Detailed content about the school’s extensive history.
• Immersive Experience: Visitors can explore informative sections providing insights into the school’s spirit and heritage.

2. Wellington College

Wellington’s education website sets a new standard, showcasing its unique approach to learning. Visitors are captivated by full-screen videos of the college and its activities. Engaging scrolling animations and parallax effects enhance user interaction. The “Meeting the Headmaster” section provides insights into school leadership. Additionally, the site presents statistics about the Wellington community and academic performance. With well-structured navigation, users can easily access information. For instance, the Admissions menu offers comprehensive options for prospective students, including enrollment details, fees, and virtual tours.

• Horizontal scrolling.
• Full-screen videos and scrolling animations enhance user engagement.
• “Meeting the Headmaster ” section provides insights into school leadership.
• Statistics highlight key metrics about the Wellington community and academic achievements.
• Well-structured navigation with sub-levels.
• The admissions menu offers comprehensive options for prospective students.

3. School of X

The School of X website stands out with its bold and vibrant color scheme, creating a visually appealing and engaging experience. It strikes a balance between being playful and informative, making it enjoyable for visitors to explore. One cool feature is how the website integrates past Instagram posts directly onto its pages, allowing visitors to easily connect with the school on social media. The font used throughout the site is easy to read yet visually pleasing, contributing to a positive user experience. Additionally, when you first land on the homepage, you’re greeted with visually striking layered images that add depth and interest to the design.

• Bold Color Scheme: Creates a visually appealing atmosphere.
• Instagram Integration: Embeds past Instagram posts for easy social media connection.
• Readable Font : Ensures ease of reading while maintaining visual appeal.
• Layered Images: Homepage features visually striking layered images for added depth.

4. Duck English School

At Duck English, learning English means changing lives. This Russian-based school takes teaching seriously, focusing on homework and real results instead of quick fixes. While they don’t promise fluency overnight, they guarantee progress.

The website reflects their unique approach with a crowned duck mascot, clean design, big text, and neon accents. It’s dynamic, with scrolling animations and features like teacher introductions, downloadable stats, student testimonials, and a success story blog.

• Unique Branding: Crowned duck mascot and neon accents create a distinctive look.
• Modern Design: Sleek layout enhances user experience.
• Prominent Text: Big, clear text ensures important information is easy to find.
• Engaging Features: Scrolling animations and various sections keep visitors interested.
• Comprehensive Content: From teacher introductions to student testimonials, the website offers a wealth of information.

5. Cambridge Club Kyiv

Cambridge Club Kiev is a popular English language school in Ukraine, offering both in-person and online training programs. They specialize in preparing students for exams like C1 Advanced, TKT modules 2 and 3, and Cambridge exams. Their website features a modern design with soft colors, fun 3D characters, and smooth scrolling animations.

On the homepage, you’ll find a simple layout listing all their training options, highlighting their advantages, and showcasing their global partners. They also include real testimonials from students, sourced from Google Reviews, to give you an idea of what to expect. Plus, they have a handy footer with all the site’s links neatly organized for easy navigation.

• Diverse Training Programs : They offer a range of English courses and exam preparations.
• Modern Website Design: The website has a fresh look with appealing visuals and smooth animations.
• Easy-to-Navigate Layout: The homepage provides clear information about their offerings and partnerships.
• Genuine Student Feedback: Real testimonials from Google Reviews offer insights into the school’s effectiveness.
• Convenient Site Navigation: The footer includes all site links for hassle-free browsing.

6. Tilton School

Tilton’s Digital Viewbook gives students and families a firsthand look into its unique boarding school experience. Designed to boost applications, foster community, and showcase the school’s brand, the viewbook features a captivating background video in the hero section, along with prominent UI elements and a thorough video tour of the campus. Rich in UI animations and interactions, it includes parallax effects, scrolling animations, and a broken grid layout, with custom shapes adding visual appeal.

Motion typography adds energy to the content, while authentic audio testimonials from students offer genuine insights. Visitors can explore success stories through written and video testimonials.

• Engaging Background Video: Grabs attention with dynamic visuals.
• Comprehensive Video Tour: Offers an in-depth look at campus facilities.
• Rich UI Animations: Enhance user engagement throughout the viewbook.
• Custom Layout: Utilizes unique shapes and a broken grid for visual appeal.
• Dynamic Typography: Adds energy to the content presentation.
• Authentic Testimonials: Provides genuine insights from current students.
• Success Stories : Showcases achievements through written and video testimonials.

7. The Online School

The Online School provides personalized education for every student, following the British curriculum. Their focus is on learning driven by curiosity. The website has a modern design with moving backgrounds.

• Personalized Learning: Education that fits each student’s needs.
• Easy Access: Tutors are just a click away with a prominent button.
• Trustworthiness: Collaborations with publishers and global partners ensure high-quality education.
• Physical Locations: They have drop-in centers in Dubai, London, and Oxford.
• Engagement Options : Students can take quizzes and fill out forms to get started.

8. The Solanco School District

The Solanco School District website welcomes visitors with a powerful message: “Connecting. Inspiring. Empowering.” This statement immediately grabs attention, setting the tone for the visitor’s experience. The site makes it easy to connect with the school through links to its social media accounts. Icons accompany related links, like the middle school menu and upcoming events calendar, making it simple to navigate. Additionally, the website prioritizes accessibility with features like the color contrast toggle and font-size toggle, ensuring that everyone can easily access and engage with the content.

• Strong Message: “Connecting. Inspiring. Empowering.” sets the tone for the visitor’s experience.
• Social Media Links : Make it easy to connect with the school online.
• Iconic Navigation: Icons alongside links improve user experience and navigation.
• Accessibility Features: Color contrast toggle and font-size toggle prioritize inclusivity.
• Calendar Integration: Provides convenient access to upcoming events within the district.

9. Pulteney School

Pulteney, a leading co-ed school in South Australia, proudly presents its educators’ dedication and students’ motivation through its engaging and professionally designed website. With a history dating back to 1847, Pulteney cherishes its legacy as a school committed to academic excellence.

The website has a professional government-style design in navy blue and white, showing the school’s serious and professional side. It provides curriculum details tailored for different age groups and has a comprehensive FAQ section to answer common questions. Visitors can easily book a tour of the campus with a teacher, giving them a chance to experience the school firsthand.

Additionally, the website’s full-screen menu organizes content into clear categories, making it easy to find what you need.

• Professional Design: Reflects the school’s serious and professional approach.
• Comprehensive FAQ Section: Answers common questions.
• Campus Tours : Let visitors experience the school firsthand.
• Clear Navigation: This makes it easy to find information on the website.

10. CIS International School

CIS International School’s website is designed to inspire students to become responsible, innovative, and open-minded global citizens, while also showcasing their academic excellence and social skills. The website has a professional yet engaging design, proving that modern websites can still look polished.

The school focuses on helping students succeed academically and socially. With sliders stylishly showcasing relevant content, the website makes a great first impression. Its easy-to-use menu lets visitors explore different education levels effortlessly.

Plus, there are sticky sidebar links to keep visitors engaged and connected with the school community.

• Empowering Design: Encourages students to take responsibility and be innovative.
• Academic Excellence: Highlights students’ academic skills and social abilities.
• Dynamic Presentation: Sliders display content stylishly to capture visitors’ attention.
• User-Friendly Navigation: A simple menu makes it easy for visitors to find what they need.
• Social Media Integration: Sticky sidebar links keep visitors engaged and connected.

11. Adelaide Botanic High School

Adelaide Botanic High School’s website has a sleek and modern look, focusing on the school’s branding and images. The menu is straightforward to use, so you can find what you’re looking for without any hassle. Interactive features like the interactive map make the website engaging and give visitors a real sense of what the school is like.

• Modern Design: Highlights the school’s branding and images.
• User-Friendly Menu: Makes navigation simple and hassle-free.
• Interactive Features: Such as the interactive map, add engagement.

12. Nuasin Next Generation School

Nuasin Next Generation is a free K–12 public charter school that’s all about helping students thrive in college, career, and life. Whether you’re after a sleek website design or timeless elements, they’ve got you covered. Their website stands out with bold primary colors, especially red. With images that focus on people, classic design, and vibrant colors, this site offers great insights into effective web design.

• People-Focused Images: Putting students and educators front and center for a personal touch.
• Classic Web Design: Embracing timeless principles for a lasting impression.
• Highly-Tinted Images : Using vibrant colors to make the website memorable and engaging.

13. Winchester College

Winchester College is a prestigious boys’ boarding school with a 600-year history. It recently underwent a significant repositioning project and launched a new website. This effort aimed to modernize the school’s image and ensure its relevance in the present day.

• Rich Legacy: Winchester College boasts a centuries-old history of excellence.
• Modernization Efforts: The school has undertaken initiatives to update its brand and appeal to contemporary audiences.
• Website Revamp: The launch of a new website reflects Winchester College’s commitment to staying current and accessible.

14. Sanderling Waldorf School

Sanderling Waldorf School’s website is designed to look good and give information, making it attractive for people thinking about sending their kids there. The main picture at the top of the page immediately grabs your attention with important details about the school.

One cool thing about the site is a video where current students and parents talk about their experiences, giving a real sense of what the school is like. The warm colors used across the site make it feel friendly and inviting, which matches the school’s values.

• Eye-Catching Homepage Banner: Shows important school details right away.
• Testimonial Video: Features real students and parents talking about their experiences.
• Welcoming Color Scheme: Gives the site a friendly feel that matches the school’s values.

15. Marcellin College

And last, we have Marcellin College. This Catholic boys school in Melbourne shows its dedication to students’ education through its website design. Founded by the Marist Brothers to educate boys in Melbourne, the site has a modern look with simple, animated features.

• Modern Design: The website has a sleek, updated design with animations for a more engaging experience.

10 Tips for Designing an Effective School Website

Crafting a top-notch school website will help keep everyone in the loop, from students to parents and everyone involved. This is why, we’ve put together 10 handy tips for designing a school website that gets the job done from making your homepage easy to navigate to integrating social media.

✔️1. Make the homepage user-friendly

Keep things simple and easy to find. Put important info like news, events, and links to key pages right up front. For example, you could have a big banner with the latest news, a calendar showing upcoming events, and a menu with quick links to things like admissions and curriculum.

✔️2. Make it accessible

Your website should be easy for everyone to use, even if they have disabilities. Use clear fonts, describe images for people who can’t see them, and make sure the colors work well together. You could even try using a screen reader to check how accessible your site is.

✔️3. Get Social

Add buttons for sharing and following your school’s social media accounts. This helps people spread the word and feel more connected. You could let visitors share articles or events on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

✔️4. Keep navigation simple

Organize your menu so it’s easy to find what people are looking for. Use clear labels and categories like About Us, Academics, Admissions, and Contact Us. That way, visitors can quickly find the info they need.

✔️5. Highlight important pages

Put popular pages like contacts, curriculum, admissions, and the calendar front and center. This makes it easy for everyone to find the most important stuff. You could have a “Quick Links” section on the homepage for fast access.

✔️6. Use a CMS to update your site more easily

Choose a content management system (CMS) that’s easy for anyone to use. That way, staff can keep the website up to date without needing technical skills. Platforms like WordPress or Squarespace are great options.

✔️7. Show your calendar

Make sure your school’s calendar is easy to find. This helps everyone stay in the loop about events, holidays, and other important dates. You could have an interactive calendar on the homepage that lets people filter events by date or category.

✔️8. Celebrate student success

Create a section of your website dedicated to showcasing student achievements. This lets everyone see the awesome things your students are doing. You could feature profiles of outstanding students and their accomplishments.

✔️9. Add some flair

Use photos, videos, and other multimedia to make your website more interesting. This helps bring your school’s story to life and gives visitors a glimpse into campus life. Share photos from events, take people on a virtual tour, and include testimonials from students and parents.

✔️10. Get feedback and get better at it

Ask parents, students, and staff for feedback on your website. Use their suggestions to make it even better. Add a feedback form or survey to your site so people can easily share their thoughts. Then, review the responses regularly to see where you can make changes.

Alrighty, folks, that’s a wrap!

So, what have we learned from these school websites? Well, they’ve shown us that a great school website is about being user-friendly, informative, and engaging. Schools can create websites that truly serve their communities. From making navigation a breeze to incorporating social media, there are plenty of ways to make your school website shine. So, here’s to building websites that students, parents, and teachers will love to visit!

Hey, before you go, don’t forget to check out our other awesome articles on UI/UX design! We’ve got loads of tips and inspiration to help you create stunning designs that will blow your mind.

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70 years after brown v. board of education, new research shows rise in school segregation.

As the nation prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education , a new report from researchers at Stanford and USC shows that racial and economic segregation among schools has grown steadily in large school districts over the past three decades — an increase that appears to be driven in part by policies favoring school choice over integration.

Analyzing data from U.S. public schools going back to 1967, the researchers found that segregation between white and Black students has increased by 64 percent since 1988 in the 100 largest districts, and segregation by economic status has increased by about 50 percent since 1991.

The report also provides new evidence about the forces driving recent trends in school segregation, showing that the expansion of charter schools has played a major role.  

The findings were released on May 6 with the launch of the Segregation Explorer , a new interactive website from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. The website provides searchable data on racial and economic school segregation in U.S. states, counties, metropolitan areas, and school districts from 1991 to 2022. 

“School segregation levels are not at pre- Brown levels, but they are high and have been rising steadily since the late 1980s,” said Sean Reardon , the Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education at Stanford Graduate School of Education and faculty director of the Educational Opportunity Project. “In most large districts, school segregation has increased while residential segregation and racial economic inequality have declined, and our findings indicate that policy choices – not demographic changes – are driving the increase.” 

“There’s a tendency to attribute segregation in schools to segregation in neighborhoods,” said Ann Owens , a professor of sociology and public policy at USC. “But we’re finding that the story is more complicated than that.”

Assessing the rise

In the Brown v. Board decision issued on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and established that “separate but equal” schools were not only inherently unequal but unconstitutional. The ruling paved the way for future decisions that led to rapid school desegregation in many school districts in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Though segregation in most school districts is much lower than it was 60 years ago, the researchers found that over the past three decades, both racial and economic segregation in large districts increased. Much of the increase in economic segregation since 1991, measured by segregation between students eligible and ineligible for free lunch, occurred in the last 15 years.

White-Hispanic and white-Asian segregation, while lower on average than white-Black segregation, have both more than doubled in large school districts since the 1980s. 

Racial-economic segregation – specifically the difference in the proportion of free-lunch-eligible students between the average white and Black or Hispanic student’s schools – has increased by 70 percent since 1991. 

School segregation is strongly associated with achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups, especially the rate at which achievement gaps widen during school, the researchers said.  

“Segregation appears to shape educational outcomes because it concentrates Black and Hispanic students in higher-poverty schools, which results in unequal learning opportunities,” said Reardon, who is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . 

Policies shaping recent trends 

The recent rise in school segregation appears to be the direct result of educational policy and legal decisions, the researchers said. 

Both residential segregation and racial disparities in income declined between 1990 and 2020 in most large school districts. “Had nothing else changed, that trend would have led to lower school segregation,” said Owens. 

But since 1991, roughly two-thirds of districts that were under court-ordered desegregation have been released from court oversight. Meanwhile, since 1998, the charter sector – a form of expanded school choice – has grown.

Expanding school choice could influence segregation levels in different ways: If families sought schools that were more diverse than the ones available in their neighborhood, it could reduce segregation. But the researchers found that in districts where the charter sector expanded most rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s, segregation grew the most. 

The researchers’ analysis also quantified the extent to which the release from court orders accounted for the rise in school segregation. They found that, together, the release from court oversight and the expansion of choice accounted entirely for the rise in school segregation from 2000 to 2019.

The researchers noted enrollment policies that school districts can implement to mitigate segregation, such as voluntary integration programs, socioeconomic-based student assignment policies, and school choice policies that affirmatively promote integration. 

“School segregation levels are high, troubling, and rising in large districts,” said Reardon. “These findings should sound an alarm for educators and policymakers.”

Additional collaborators on the project include Demetra Kalogrides, Thalia Tom, and Heewon Jang. This research, including the development of the Segregation Explorer data and website, was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.   

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To Address the Teen Mental Health Crisis, Look to School Nurses

I t’s a deadly time to be a teenager. The most recent CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey reports that in 2021, more than one-fifth of high schoolers seriously considered committing suicide. Worse, 10% tried. Even without pandemic data , rates of youth depression almost doubled over the past decade, making youth mental health a current top priority for the U.S. Surgeon General .

There are already people on the front lines to combat this teen mental health crisis : school nurses, the trusted healthcare professionals who provide holistic care for every student’s physical and mental wellbeing . But because our culture routinely separates mental health from physical health care , school nurses are commonly overlooked when funding is recommended to increase school behavioral health staff. Additionally, since school nurse positions are rarely protected by mandates, their services are too often the first to be cut when trimming education budgets. And yet, history shows that school absenteeism declines, and the collective health of our nation improves, when schools employ nurses. That remains true as we ask questions about how to address the mental health crisis youth face today.

The position of school nurse was created at the turn of the 20th century. The idea was that nurses placed in primary schools could help treat and prevent communicable diseases so that children could stay in school and receive an education. In 1902, pediatric nurse Lina Rogers became New York’s—and our nation’s—first school nurse. Funded by the Henry Street Settlement , Rogers set up clinics in four schools to care for the district’s students, all of whom lived in poverty with their families in the tenements of Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Read More: To Solve the U.S. Nursing Shortage Crisis, the Country Must Change Its Immigration Policies

Drawn there by the promise of opportunity, large numbers of immigrants faced health and hygiene challenges in this densely populated area. Living conditions were overcrowded, unsanitary, and full of contagious diseases, which children then spread throughout classrooms. Before school nursing, instead of being treated, sick children were simply excluded from school . And since most parents couldn’t afford or couldn't access care, many students never returned.

Rogers’ impact was immediate . By the end of her first month, Rogers treated 829 cases, including 93 excluded students who were then able to return to school. The results were so impressive that the New York Board of Health immediately funded 12 more school nurses, each responsible for approximately 10,000 students. Between September 1902 and 1903, the combined work of these school nurses caused the number of students missing school for medical reasons to plummet from 10,567 students to 1,101. Over the next five years, health officials in other major cities, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Chicago, followed suit.

During the next few decades, the school nurse model was replicated throughout the country. By 1911, over 100 cities employed school nurses. Historical databases highlight the positive influence of school nursing during the 1918 influenza pandemic as far reaching as Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. By the years after World War II, healthcare delivery was shifting from home-based to hospital. This, combined with the discovery of multiple classes of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, shifted the school nurse role to focus more on health education over treatment, with emphasis on cleanliness, good nutrition, dental care, and sleep—the beginnings of the Coordinated School Health Program model used today .

Then came widespread vaccination thanks to the 1962 Vaccination Assistance Act , which led to the practical eradication of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, smallpox, and measles. By 1980, every U.S. state required children to be vaccinated to enroll in school. Through the use of state registries to maintain records, facilitate vaccine compliance, and identify at-risk unvaccinated students during disease outbreaks, school nurses were and are at the very heart of this progress in communicable disease prevention.

Legal changes also affected the relationship between school nursing and youth wellness. The passage of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and The Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975 helped clarify that all students were entitled to and worthy of a public education. Disabled children were mainstreamed into traditional school systems with individual health plans (IHPs), student-specific plans of care created by the school nurse. While IHPs made the school nurse role more personalized, they also made nursing services less visible, as most of the individualized care became clinic based, hidden from school administrators and any parent whose child didn’t have an IHP. “Parents whose children benefit from daily school nursing—like those with diabetes and asthma —know it’s school nurses who enable their children to remain in school and focus on learning,” explained Suzanne Winefordner, RN, a Virginia-based school nurse.

This hidden healthcare put nursing positions on the chopping block during education budget cuts —despite the fact that 40% of school-aged children have a chronic health condition—resulting in widespread school nurse disparities throughout the country. Rural communities remain disproportionately affected with only 56.2% employing a full-time school nurse compared to 70.3% of their urban counterparts.

Read More: Why U.K. Nurses Voted to Strike for the First Time Ever—and What That Means for Hospitals

The COVID-19 pandemic elucidated these gaps when school nurses were brought to the forefront of this public health emergency. For schools lucky enough to have a nurse, these RNs were heralded as key players in stopping the virus’s spread in schools and communities , reminding society that they stand ready to battle widespread disease. But, assisting with mitigating the risk of medical contagions is only one aspect of the school nurse role in population health. RNs also have the skills to address the mental health crisis.

“Too often, schools silo student mental health to the counselor,” says Yale professor Joanne Iennaco, a psychiatric nurse practitioner with a Ph.D. in chronic disease epidemiology. “Instead, the school nurse must be considered an integral member of a school’s behavioral health care team. ”

The skyrocketing rates of adolescent depression disproportionately affect girls , LGBTQ youth , and Black teens . As experts debate what to do, from limiting social media and smartphone usage to reducing stress , adolescent mental health continues to suffer. “Depression is treatable , especially when caught early ,” Dr. Iennaco explains. And since 50% of mental illnesses begin by age 14 , “this high-risk zone for developing psychiatric illness is where a professional school nurse can make all the difference with early assessment and care coordination.”

With over 22% of youth in the U.S. meeting criteria for a mental disorder with severe impairment across a lifetime, school nurses like Winefordner are doing this work already. “Students often start with me,” she reflects, “because there isn’t any stigma associated with visiting the school nurse. Plus, I usually have a previously established relationship with them, so they feel comfortable with me as a trusted adult.”

Winefordner’s experience aligns with the National Association of School Nurses Position Statement on student behavioral health: “school nurses are often the initial access point to identify concerns, determine interventions, and link families to school and/or community resources.”

The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory Report recommends the expansion of school-based mental health workforce through federal funds to increase staff, including nurses. Full-time nurses currently cover only 65.7% of public schools . Passing the One School, One Nurse Act , a bill that would provide every public school in America with a full-time RN, would be a cost-effective, equitable, and efficient way to shore up the remaining front line. When school nurses have proven themselves time and time again as integral to combating public health emergencies, why turn away from them now? School nurses are the "vaccine" needed to target the youth mental health crisis, and every student deserves access to one.

Sherrie Page Guyer, MSN, RN, a former school nurse, holds a master’s degree in mental health nursing from Yale University and is currently enrolled in the doctor of nursing practice program at the University of Virginia School of Nursing.

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here . Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors .

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Write to Sherrie Page Guyer / Made by History at [email protected]

Andrew Tate’s extreme views about women are infiltrating Australian schools. We need a zero-tolerance response

Lecturer in Education, Monash University

Professor of Education and Social Justice, Monash University

Disclosure statement

Steven Roberts currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian government that does not pertain to the content of this article. He is a board director at Respect Victoria. This article is written independently from this role.

Stephanie Wescott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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Earlier this week, two students were expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in creating a spreadsheet that ranked girls using sexist and violent categories (from “wifeys” and “cuties” to “unrapeable”).

There has been a necessary focus on the school and its response and significant community outrage about the actions of the young men involved. But this incident is not an isolated one.

Our ongoing research has found sexism, sexual harassment and misogyny are rife in Australian schools.

This is influenced by the rise in popularity and ubiquity of figures from the “ manosphere ” (an overlapping collection of extreme men’s communities that are anti-women and against women’s empowerment) on social media. This includes Andrew Tate, the “ misogynist influencer ” who is facing trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape ( which he denies ).

At the same time, Australia is confronting shockingly high rates of violence against women. Last week, the federal government announced a range of measures to respond to the crisis and quell the public’s understandable anger.

Although the package contains measures aimed at preventing young people being exposed to misogynistic content online, it largely overlooks the crucial role of education in tackling sexist attitudes that enable and drive the current high rates of violence. To make real change, schools must be included.

Our research on schools and Andrew Tate

Our research explores the influence of anti-women and anti-feminist online figures such as Tate on boys’ behaviour and attitudes towards women in Australian schools.

In mid-2023, we interviewed 30 women teachers working in schools across the country. The women described a sharp increases in sexism, misogyny and sexual harassment in their classrooms.

Teachers also identified the explicit influence of Tate on their students’ attitudes and behaviours. This included setting images of Tate as their computer desktop backgrounds, provoking teachers with Tate’s ideas (for example, asking teachers whether they agree women shouldn’t be allowed to drive), and using his body language (such as a hand gesture he often displays when photographed).

One teacher spoke of the transformation of a student she had known for several years:

I taught [a] boy in Year 7 and he was a wholesome, creative [child]. This boy does dance competitions and is in a dance troop and is always polite to me […] and yet is [now] writing these disturbingly misogynistic messages, literally saying, ‘No, Andrew Tate is being vilified. He’s in the right.’ I’m like, who is that boy? That’s not the boy that I’ve seen for the last couple of years.

The response needs to be urgent

This is happening within a broader culture of backlash to gender justice gains achieved via feminist activism – including the #metoo movement. Teachers in our study said their students believe women have achieved unequal power over men.

Despite these worrying trends and teachers requesting help from school management, the women we spoke to reported schools were not responding in a meaningful or urgent way.

Our study findings have been echoed by an April 2024 survey of Adelaide school teachers, who described how misogynist language and physical intimidation are commonplace in their schools. They are also part of a much longer history of research showing an ongoing culture of sexism in Australian schools.

We need a national campaign…

If we are serious about changing the way our culture sees and treats women, we need to view schools as sites of primary prevention. This means they are places where we intervene to help stop the problem of gendered violence happening in the first place.

First, we need the federal government to lead a national campaign calling for a zero-tolerance approach to violence against women and girls in schools. It needs to specifically use the words “sexism”, “misogyny” and “violence against women”.

In our research teachers reported their schools will often stay away from using such language. Instead, “disrespect” or other ways of classifying this behaviour are used to explain what are obviously sexist incidents. This reluctance could be due to fears of controversy.

But this risks reducing the problem to simply being about individual behaviour and takes gender out of it. Naming and confronting sexism directly can be the first step in creating safer and more inclusive learning environments for women, girls and gender-diverse people in schools.

…and national guidelines

Second, we need national, consistent guidelines and advice for schools on how to respond to incidents of sexism, sexual harassment and misogyny.

At the moment, it is largely left up to schools to handle this and teachers are telling us they are falling short. With all the other pressures schools are under , clearly they need more support and guidance to respond to incidents adequately.

Other researchers have also suggested a national code of conduct for sexism and sexual harassment in schools with reporting guidelines.

This would ensure consistent approaches to incidents, give us a clearer picture of what is happening, and allow us to tell when things start to improve.

We also need more education

Third, respectful relationships education should be mandatory across all Australian schools.

Although it is mentioned in the Australian Curriculum , it is up to states and territories to decide how it is delivered. Even though respectful relationships is mandatory in Victorian government schools, teachers in our study described its presence in their schools as diluted. They said they would like to see it expanded.

The messages and attitudes should also be implemented across the whole school , including in school policies, school leadership and teaching approaches. This means there is greater recognition of schools as safe workplaces, places for learning and parts of the community.

Australia is in the grips of a national crisis of violence against women. Schools, as microcosms of broader society, deserve much more meaningful, long-term interventions to contribute to a change that is urgently needed.

• Violence against women
• Primary school
• High school
• Andrew Tate
• Teacher wellbeing

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Transgender high school runner booed after winning girls' state title, transgender h.s. track runner showered w/ boos ... after winning girls' state title.

A transgender high school runner won a state title over the weekend, but instead of a rousing ovation, the athlete was met with a chorus of boos ... with spectators voicing their displeasure over the track star's participation in the event.

The controversial incident happened Saturday at the Oregon School Activities Association track and field championships in Eugene ... where McDaniel H.S. sophomore Aayden Gallagher raced girls in the 200-meter finals.

Gallagher trailed, but a late push saw her cross the finish line in 23.82 seconds, just ahead of the second-place runner.

Cue the boos.

The crowd also booed when Gallagher received her prize on the podium following the race.

Ex-NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines , who raced swimmer Lia Thomas and has been an outspoken critic of transgender women competing in athletics, weighed in on the race, and tied it together with another controversial story ... Harrison Butker .

"Just listen to the audible BOOS. People are over this ... & its about time," Gaines wrote on X.

"This past week progressives were more outraged by a catholic man emphasizing the importance of traditional values than a mediocre-at-best boy stealing a state championship from a deserving girl in Oregon."

Despite the pushback, Gallagher isn't breaking any rules. The Oregon School Activities Association grants transgender athletes the ability to compete in high school sports.

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