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Four school websites

One K–12 school site, four editorial strategies. The section inventory is deliberately identical in all four — Home, About, Academics, Admissions, Faculty, News, Gallery, Events, Downloads, Contact, Portal — and so is the fixture content: the same principal, the same science fair medals, the same April exam week.

So nothing below differs by what is on the page. They differ by what a parent hits second, after the hero — which is the only real decision a school website makes. Each version hoists a different section into that slot and rebuilds the hierarchy around it.


Public site

/school/public-site 4 prototypes
  1. v1 Testimonial FocusBrighter Futures Academy · est. 1958 · 1,400 students

    Sells on social proof. A six-card testimonial grid and a full-bleed parent quote land before the school has said a word about itself — parents, alumni and a teacher, with the inclusive-education programme as the recurring theme.

    Leads with
    Testimonials
    Strategy
    Persuasion
    Best when
    Reputation is the asset
  2. v2 Information HubLakeside International School · est. 1973 · 1,600 students

    Sells on findability. Quick-access links and a stat bar in the hero, news as a sortable table with a status column, events as a real month calendar, and a faculty directory of eight rather than a highlight reel of four.

    Leads with
    Academic programmes
    Strategy
    Retrieval — densest of the four
    Best when
    Existing parents are the main traffic
  3. v3 Visual StoryRidgeline Academy · est. 1962

    Sells on atmosphere. Full-bleed campus photography, a scroll cue, a photo strip under the hero and the gallery promoted to a first-class section. Copy is set as two-line display headings; the school's history carries the About page.

    Leads with
    The school's story
    Strategy
    Atmosphere — photo-dependent
    Best when
    The campus is the selling point
  4. v4 Clean CanvasMeridian School · est. 1981 · 1,200 students

    Sells on conviction. The admissions call-to-action is hoisted to the slot directly under the hero, with dates, requirements and the registrar's number before anything else. Typographic and numbered throughout; needs no photography to work.

    Leads with
    The enrolment CTA
    Strategy
    Conversion — shortest path to apply
    Best when
    Photography is weak or unbudgeted