Dear colleagues and neighbors,

At least three times a week I get email from members of our community offering advice on ways the website of the Somerville Public Schools can be reorganized to better meet their information needs.

There is no question the Internet is a valuable and powerful information source for many people.  And the management of Somerville Public Schools wants its website to be a resource for the entire community.  During Summer 2008 a Blue Ribbon Commission on Web Use started meeting to begin processing feedback from the community on the district website, and to make recommendations for improving the site to better.  Using grant funds, the District hired a consulting firm to begin work on the redesign and reorganization of the site, and a work study student from MIT is providing technical and administrative assistance to the project.

And it is now YOUR turn to tell us how to improve the site by filling out an online survey about the proposed new site “design” and navigational map.

There is a section of the survey just for current or potential students in the school district.  Please share this survey with students!  If you are a parent/guardian of a student in the Somerville Public Schools I invite you to take the survey with your student, as there is a section with questions just for current (or potential) students in the district.  I also ask that you share this with your neighbors, colleagues and friends so we can get the most feedback possible from the largest range of web users imaginable.  If you know someone who wants to use the web to get information about the schools, but may not have regular web access, please consider printing the survey for them to complete.  It can then be mailed to the Central Administrative Offices at 181 Washington Street, Somerville, MA 02143.  Members of the media are asked to share the link with their readers/listeners/viewers.

We’re moving fast on the redesign and reorganization of the site because it is scheduled to be done by April.  So, the survey will be closed at 10:00 AM on Monday, February 2nd.

Thank you for your feedback on the website of the Somerville Public Schools.  Your comments up until now have been heard by our team, and are valuable to us.  And your participation in this quick survey will make a difference in the layout and organization of our site.

Warmly,
-gk-
Gretchen Kinder
Coordinator of R&D, Public Information and Grants
Somerville Public Schools