Oregon school district aims to make Web site top-notch

7/23/2008

To Jeff Ziviski, communications with parents and the community at large represent one of the Oregon City Schools' biggest problems.

To turn it around, the school board member and his colleague Diane Karoly are teaming up with Nathan Quigg, the district's technology director, to update the Oregon schools' 7-year-old Web site and create a central means of communication between all seven of the district schools' students, staff, and parents.

"The Internet is getting bigger and bigger, and more people are getting online. It's one of the main ways to communicate with people. We thought we needed a top-of-the-line Web site to go with our school district," Mr. Ziviski said.

The Web site will be designed by Steve Timofeev, a founder and partner in the Toledo-based WebArt, which designed the Toledo Public Schools' Internet home.

Mr. Timofeev is a graduate of Clay High School and an Oregon resident and has three children who have attended Oregon schools. Two of his children have graduated from Clay. The other will be a sophomore in the fall.

Mr. Ziviski said that he expects the Web site will have a page specifically for the superintendent, a treasurer's page with the district's financial information and five-year forecast, and a feature for the district to use to conduct surveys online.

Mr. Timofeev and Mr. Quigg will lead several focus groups with parents, teachers, students, and staff to determine the district's needs for its Web site.

The focus groups will likely start around the time school begins in late August.

Mr. Quigg said that he hopes the site will be complete by January.