Look for some changes in Southold Town’s website next month.
Denis Noncarrow, the town’s government liaison officer, and Lloyd Reisenberg, its network and systems administrator, outlined the changes for the Town Board using a test site on Tuesday morning. READ
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CARRIE MILLER PHOTO | Website designer Patrick Serrano (right) showing superintendent Michael Comanda (sitting) treasurer Diana Foster and school board president Tony Dill how to use the school’s new website after Tuesday night’s board of education meeting.
The New Suffolk school has unveiled its newly designed website, which will better inform parents and the community about what is going on at the school.
The redesign features new resources for parents, including individual pages for each teacher, complete with a blog about what’s going on in the classroom.
“The old website didn’t tell you an awful lot that you didn’t already know,” school board president Tony Dill said during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. “When people can actually take a peek into the school and hear about what’s going on here they become very much interested.”
Head teacher Holly Plymale said that on their individual pages, teachers will provide links to helpful websites and resource pages for parents to use at home with their kids. Each teacher’s page will also include schedules for things like projects and tests.
“It’s going to help with communication because parents will be able to get the calendars off the site,” Ms. Plymale said. “They can look at the blogs to see what’s going on in the classroom.”
Mr. Dill said that on the new website, the community will be able to access the school calendar to learn about events and fundraisers. And the site is interactive, giving visitors the option to communicate with teachers and administration. Anyone with questions can contact them through the site without having to pick up the phone, he said.
The website was designed by the school’s computer consultant, Patrick Serrano, 24, of New Suffolk who said he is working on adding some other interesting features in the coming months.
The address has stayed the same: newsuffolkschool.com. The school last redesigned the site during the 2006-2007 school year, Mr. Dill said.
A look at the Sept. 17 homepage of Southold’s new website.
Southold Town’s new website quietly went live Sept. 7, after nearly 10 months of design and development.
The site was designed by CivicPlus, a Kansas firm hired by the town last November that specializes in websites for municipalities.
Town network and systems administrator Lloyd Reisenberg said Sept. 10 the town chose a “soft launch” to make sure there were no bugs in the program before officially announcing it was live at work session Sept. 11.
“It’s running smoothly,” he said. “It’s very dynamic. It has a completely new look and feel.”
The town had received complaints for years about the outdated and clunky design of its previous website. The old web address, southoldtown.northfork.net is currently being redirected to the new site at southoldtownny.gov.
Mr. Reisenberg said the town is just beginning to upload various forms and explore the new functionality the site will offer residents.
The website will allow residents to receive emergency alerts by email or text message and receive notifications of meetings. Online forms for permits and other business residents conduct with the town are also an available feature.
The town began by creating online forms for Freedom of Information requests and streetlight outage reports and plans to add other frequently used documents, from dog license applications to beach parking permit requests. Mr. Reisenberg said the goal is to allow residents to do most of their town business electronically.
Residents can even pay their property taxes online.
The site also includes a calendar with meeting dates, which are linked to the agendas for those meetings. An iPad and smartphone app is also available to enable viewers to view the site on a smaller screen.
Mr. Reisenberg said the town is always looking for new pictures to add to the site. The current shot on the main page, sunrise over the Robins Island boat dock in New Suffolk, was taken by Mr. Reisenberg at his favorite spot to drink his morning coffee.
The town budgeted $21,287 last year for the initial site setup and will pay $3,150 per year in maintenance and another $1,000 annually for video storage.
“I encourage everybody to see what the site has to offer,” said Mr. Reisenberg.