Osseo Area Schools Engage Communities With New Web Presence
For Independent School District 279 – Osseo Area Schools, launching new websites districtwide presented the perfect opportunity for engaging families, staff and community members more effectively and efficiently. The district enrolls 21,000 students and spans 29 schools or learning centers, and each school had its own site and webmaster leading to inconsistencies in terms of functionality, content management and accessibility. CEL developed a centralized, mobile-friendly design with clear, easy-to-use navigation using the Finalsite platform, and all sites went live on the same day in mid-October 2020 during the four-day Minnesota Educators Association break.
"We hired CEL Marketing PR Design as a website consultant. However, having worked with them to launch our new website, I would say 'partner' is a more accurate term. They walked alongside us all the way, from Discovery through Deployment, and helped ensure success at every stage of the process. We relied heavily on their expertise and experience, gaining access to process management tools that they had already created, relying on their marketing expertise, tapping into their deep and wide technical skills and seeking frank feedback from them about current best practices compared to the way we’ve always done things. Now that we’re on the other side of deployment, I can objectively look back and say without a doubt that we would never have been able to accomplish our website conversion on time or at a high level of quality without the partnership CEL."
~BARBARA OLSON, APR, SCHOOL / COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Virtual Kindergarten Information Fair Welcomes New Students
To start registering new kindergarten students for 2021, Osseo Area Schools held a virtual fair that engaged families with creativity and accessibility. What had been a two-hour event on a single day transformed into a 24/7 online experience that families could connect with at their convenience. Prior to launch, the district mailed registration packets to 1,700 families. Packets included welcome materials, information sheets, forms and more. Children even got a kazoo and uninflated beach ball! The web experience greeted families with a series of short videos that introduced them to teachers, explained the registration process and even led activities using the kazoo and beach ball. The videos and site content are available in five languages, each individually translated by a district specialist for accuracy and cultural relevance. Jump right in the experience the virtual Kindergarten Information Fair in 5 languages!
