Proposal

 

    Balboa Elementary Website

    Trina Nouvong

    Tmartin1@sandi.net 

    February 24, 2010

    Edtec 541, Thursday 7pm

 

Problem, Need, or Opportunity

 

    Balboa Elementary is a school that doesnŐt currently have a website to help inform the outside community as well as parents about up coming events at our school.  With over 700 students in attendance, having them give their family papers to inform them of information is the only means and these papers donŐt sometimes make it home.  Having this website will give the family and community another way to stay informed and updated.  This will help also people who are looking for information when school is either closed or on vacation.

 

Audience

 

    The intended audience is for all staff, students, parents and community members. The website is geared to have general information about the school for students, parents and community members. The visitors should be able to navigate through the Internet comfortably so they are able access the information.

 

User's Needs

 

I spoke with various parents, staff members and principle to inquire about what they feel the school website should include.

á      General Information- People expressed having a bell schedule and school hours, district and school policies for behavior and attendance.  Also having a section on special procedure for parents and family members to inform them of special circumstances such as lockdowns, natural disasters and other emergencies.

á      Monthly Calendar- Everyone voiced that having a monthly calendar of events on the website would be a good idea.  This way, people are aware of important dates and events that are going on at Balboa Elementary.

á      Teacher Webpage links - With so much learning going on at Balboa, having a link to the teacher would be helpful with letting the parents and community see what is being taught in each class.  This way, teachers can make the communication between home and school better. Another good idea someone expressed was having a homework page so that if the students forget what their homework is, the teacher is able to communicate that information and any other information that they want their students and parents to know.

á      Videos of assemblies and performances- Every month, we have a Bulldog assembly which a video created by the students are shown.  Having the video uploaded gives the parents and community a chance to see the video.  

á      CA State Standards- Posting a link to the California state standards.

á      Parent/Community Classes- This page will give information about any parent classes that are available along with any other classes or free medical services.

 

These needs will be met through the various section of the website. Navigation systems will a topical table of contents, and a monthly calendar will be accessible to Staff, Parents and Teachers.

 

Environment

 

The user will be accessing the site through their home or business computer. The site will be linked to the SDUSD website as well as the CA Education Department Website. This site will have limited video and audio.  This will be done when a video is downloaded voluntary for the audience to watch the school news or performances. With scanned images of student work, Users will need a reasonably fast modem or cable connection to shorten download time since there will be scanned images of student and teacher images. A printer will be needed if parents or student would like to download and print any information from the website.

 

 

 

 

Resources and Limitations

 

Obtaining information from the office will help in creating this website.  A lot of the information is given to parents in paper form, for example the monthly calendar, so scanning the paper and uploaded it to the website would be done monthly.  Other information such as bell schedule, emergency procedures, parent classes and general information is also in word document, so either scanning the information or cutting and pasting the information onto the website is what will need to be done.  As for the information about teachers and classrooms, each teacher will be responsible for providing information that they want on their webpage, or the teachers can also create their webpage with a brief biography and any information needed.  The site will be designed and maintained to meet the districtŐs Web site security policy.  For example, student work will be displayed without last names, to protect student privacy and safety.  Parental permission will be obtained before photographs or video of studentŐs are shown. 

 

General Solution

 

    BalboaŐs website will be a great source of information for parents, community members, staff and students.  Many times parents state they want to be more involved in their studentsŐ schooling, but never find the time and are not aware of things they can do.  This website will allow parents to see what is happening at Balboa and be able to get involved either by volunteering or having conversations about school events.  Parents can also stay informed on important dates from the monthly calendar.  Overall, this website will serve as a great reference tool for parents, teachers, students and community members and answer many of their questions.  This site will also show the astonishing learning being done and the magnificent learning community Balboa has to offer.