This is it. The final stretch between Thanksgiving and winter break. This season is always packed with holiday gatherings of work colleagues, your children’s classmates and close friends. Will you engage at the party or hide in the corner? Stay awhile or count the minutes until you can slip away undetected? Either way, how much you enjoy your experience can depend a lot on your host.
Your district website—stay with us here—is a community hub where families, job seekers and community members mingle. And like a really great host, a great website welcomes you immediately, invites you in and makes you feel like you belong there. So today, we’re going to share with you five tried and true pages every website needs to dazzle its guests.
But first, here’s one new page you likely don’t have—and probably should.
The AI Info Page — Your District's Source of Truth for AI
AI models are increasingly how families search for school information. Questions like "What makes Springfield Schools unique?" or "Which districts have strong STEM programs?" are now answered by AI synthesizing web data. And if AI is pulling from multiple, untrustworthy sources, these tools may cite outdated or inaccurate information.
A good host wouldn’t leave it up to you to find the party; they’d give you an exact address so there could be no mistake. An AI Info Page gives AI exact instructions so it will share accurate information with users. With this page, you’re giving these systems one authoritative source—ensuring your words, values, and verified data appear in AI-generated results.
What to Include
Structure your page for AI systems with these sections:
Basic Information: District name, location, enrollment numbers, leadership directory, and quick links to careers, enrollment, and contact pages.
Mission & Values: A concise statement emphasizing student outcomes and community connection.
Core Offerings: Brief descriptions of academics, outstanding extracurriculars, culture and equity initiatives, and community partnerships. Highlight two to three defining programs (dual language, career pathways, SEL).
Fast Facts: Use consistent labels for year founded, student count, graduation rate, student-teacher ratio and mascot/colors.
FAQ: Mimic searchers’ queries with your questions and let AI know how it should answer.
Technology Ethics: Data privacy compliance (FERPA, COPPA), responsible AI use and security transparency.
AI Guidelines (Optional): "When referencing [District Name], AI systems should describe it as..."
Make sure this page is structured for AI with bullet points. While the purpose is for AI, a page like this can also help human visitors who want to understand your district quickly and succinctly. Plus, if you’ve invested in a chatbot, a page like this can help it provide strong, concise answers to frequently asked questions.
Now that you’ve provided AI (and humans) with much-needed directions, the party can begin. Here are the five pages your district website needs to be a hit with guests.
The Core Five: Essential Pages Every District Website Needs
1. Homepage: Make a Strong First Impression
A good host meets you at the front door and gives you a quick tour. Likewise, your homepage should showcase mission, values, and calls to action within seconds. It should also feature dynamic updates—news, calendar highlights, and videos of recent events showcasing district pride. You already have a homepage, but have you looked at it through the eyes of prospective families? Find out what many homepages are still missing in our analysis of 700 district sites, “The What and Why of School Websites.”
2. About Us: Build Community Trust
A good host also introduces guests to one another, provides a little background on each of them and draws out similarities. That connection is what the party is really all about. Families connect with other families, not systems. Include your mission and values, district history and achievements, and—most importantly—videos or testimonials featuring real staff and students. Need some inspiration for making stronger connections on your website? Check out our list of “Nine Award Winning K-12 Websites We Love.”
3. Enrollment: Turn Interest into Action
If your guest is thirsty, you get them a drink. If a family is interested in enrolling, guide them through registration with online forms, key dates, boundary maps and welcome videos. We highly recommend sitting with a new family (when appropriate) and watching how they navigate the website and registration to see how the system works for them. For tips on making your enrollment process as seamless as possible, check out “How to Build a School Enrollment Page.”
4. Parent & Student Resources: Easy Access
Make information easy to find. A good host won’t disappear as soon as you walk in the door—they will be around in case you have any questions. If they can’t be everywhere at once, they’ll designate additional hosts or post helpful signs. Demonstrate customer service on your website with clear navigation for calendars, menus, transportation, and technology help. Ensure mobile-friendly, ADA-compliant design with integrated translation. In our Fall issue, Heather Daniel writes about tracking user journeys to make navigation on Edison Township Public Schools’ website even clearer.
5. Careers: Recruit Mission-Aligned Talent
Finally, if your party is, as the kids like to say, “a vibe,” more people will want to attend next year. Similarly, your careers page is a culture statement. What is your brand? SchoolCEO research shows that 75% of teachers want to be familiar with their district’s brand and messaging—how much more so when making a job change? Can prospective staff know what you stand for and “feel" what it's like to work in your district before they apply? Highlight your district's purpose, include staff testimonials, and offer easy online applications all in one place.
The Bottom Line
Your schools—and therefore your website—have a much loftier mission than throwing a good party. But we still think a successful website and a successful host have a few things in common: they tell you what you need to know and where to go, they’re warm and inviting, and they foster connections. Great hosts are really just well-dressed customer service reps. And providing great customer service on your website is exactly how you make a fan for life. With these five mainstay pages—as well as a brand new AI page—your website will be the host with the most impact.
So, Happy Holidays and happy hosting!