Between the past school year and the current, West Linn High School’s website has been altered and transferred to a different system.  Not only is the new look different, but the look is  uniform across all West Linn-Wilsonville sites.  This conversion has been two or three years in the process and has been a combined effort of all computer technicians district-wide.  The conversion of the West Linn High School site was the work of Angie Hammond, Information Technology specialist.

“Benefits of the new format include consistency with other schools in the district, easier maintenance and updating, ease and consistency of navigation style, the ability to search within the site, and the ability to adjust or adapt to the rapidly evolving worlds of web browsing and mobile device technologies,” Curtis Nelson, IT district director, said.

Schoolwires is the new host for the WLWV sites, making for a similarity across all the sites.  Schoolwires was chosen above other hosts for ease of use, ease of conversion and commitment to technology trends.  Other hosts did not provide the needed tools or were too expensive, according to Nelson.  The service costs just under $2,000 per school per year.

“We hope that all of our website clientele can benefit from the new site.” Nelson said. “We also believe the schools and the school personnel will benefit, as the new format is much easier to update and keep current.”

New teacher websites have also been remodeled and can now be featured without being on a new window or tab.  The transition to new, uniform teacher websites has no specific “due date,” as school administration has been left the power to decide upon a timeline.  Teachers have been updating their websites on their own time and may not upgrade soon.  Some teachers, however, have taken advantage of the opportunity and enjoyed new benefits.

“I love that I can work on my website at home and I’m not limited to working on it at school,” Lisa Root, WLHS English teacher, said.  “Last-minute assignments that I get right at the end of the school day I can update from my dining room table if I want to, so that’s a lot of help.  And moving over to that system was a lot easier than I thought it would be.”

Some students are confused by the simplicity of the new layout, yet appreciate some new features, such as the grade-checking system and access to school files being in the upper right-hand corner.

“It’s easier to navigate,” Saki Nakai, sophomore, said.  “All the information is organized on one side and then you can find where you want to go.  It’s easier to find what you want to find and you can find it quicker.”