Problem Statement:
As a private school, we struggle to attract new families due to a lack of awareness about our unique value proposition, limited marketing efforts, and difficulty in effectively communicating our distinct advantages over public schooling options. We need to understand and address the concerns of prospective families, streamline our outreach efforts, and improve our visibility in order to increase enrollment and foster long-term relationships with new students.

Goals

Our goal was to redesign the private school’s website to create a seamless, engaging experience that effectively guided prospective families through the enrollment journey. By refining the digital experience, we aimed to strengthen the school’s brand presence and drive meaningful engagement.

  1. Optimize the Sales Funnel – Develop a clear and intuitive path that resonates with prospective families, guiding them toward key actions such as attending a digital open house.

  2. Create a Cohesive Brand Experience – Ensure the website’s design aligns seamlessly with the physical school environment, reinforcing the school’s values and fostering a sense of community both online and offline.

  3. Craft a Compelling Visual Narrative – Distill the essence of the school into an engaging and memorable visual story that effectively communicates its unique value proposition.

  4. Design for Action – Implement an action-oriented layout with distinct calls to action on each page, encouraging users to engage with the school through digital open houses and other key touchpoints.

  5. Provide Sustainable Marketing Tools – Develop clear, easy-to-use guidelines for the Director of Advancement, empowering them to leverage the website’s assets effectively in marketing and communications.

By focusing on these objectives, the redesign aimed to not only enhance the school’s digital presence but also create a user-friendly, high-converting platform that supports long-term enrollment growth.

Lo-fi wireframes

To demonstrate the idea to the client, I created some quick sketches to align on the website's goals and its structural requirements. This helped ensure that we were all on the same page regarding the functionality and design direction before moving forward.

Wireframes

At this stage in the design process, we initially planned on using image capture. However, through collaboration and diving into the challenges within their marketing strategy, we realized that illustrations would more effectively address their needs—particularly around student turnover and security concerns. This shift not only solved those issues but also enhanced the brand’s identity in a meaningful way. We then developed a wireframe to clearly demonstrate the structure and how we would communicate key information to both prospective and existing parents.

Overview

Website Revamp: The website needed to be updated to fit the needs of potential clients. The revamp not only focused on better visuals, but also on enabling direct communication with the user as fast as possible.

SEO: For a private school, SEO isn’t just about driving traffic—it’s about connecting the right families with the right information at the right time. By optimizing our site for search engines, we ensure that prospective parents find us when they’re searching for the unique values, programs, and opportunities that our school offers. This helps us build awareness, increase enrollment, and create a meaningful first impression. Just like Rivian focuses on making electric vehicles that meet the specific needs of drivers, SEO helps us meet the needs of families by making our website easily discoverable and aligned with their search intent. It's an ongoing, adaptive process that ensures we stay relevant and visible in a highly competitive environment.

CRM Implementation: A proper CRM, like HubSpot, is the backbone of our relationship with prospective and existing families. Just as Rivian focuses on delivering a seamless, connected experience for its drivers, HubSpot allows us to streamline communication, track engagement, and personalize interactions in a way that feels thoughtful and intentional. By using HubSpot, we can nurture leads, manage admissions workflows, and provide tailored follow-ups—ensuring no family feels overlooked. It gives us the ability to act on real-time data, continuously improving our approach to meet the needs of each family. The result is stronger relationships, smoother processes, and a more personalized journey for every family that interacts with our school. It's about creating a tailored experience that reflects our commitment to both innovation and care.


Engaging Content: After thoughtful consideration, we decided that while the public website wouldn’t be the right place for smiling faces, we could create a more secure, private space for them. We introduced a behind-the-wall experience, accessible to vetted prospective parents and existing families, where they could engage with the school's community and culture in a more intimate way.

Redesign

For the website, we crafted a design system that sparked imagination while clearly conveying the unique value of Evergreen Academy. Our goal was to distill the essence of the school into its most powerful elements and communicate that through a compelling visual narrative. Each page was purposefully focused on driving a clear, distinct call to action—typically encouraging prospective families to attend a monthly digital open house. This approach ensured that every interaction was meaningful, guiding users effortlessly toward deeper engagement and connection with the school.

Results

We developed a refined sales funnel that truly resonated with the end consumer—prospective families. The website became a cohesive extension of the brand, seamlessly aligning with the physical school's environment. We created a sense of community that felt authentic, while also providing clear, easy-to-navigate guidelines for the Director of Advancement, empowering them to leverage these assets in daily communications. Every detail was crafted to deliver a consistent, thoughtful experience for both families and staff, ensuring smooth interactions and strong connections across every touchpoint.

Takeaways

Here are the key takeaways from the private school website redesign:

  1. Refined Sales Funnel: We created a clear and effective path that resonated with prospective families, guiding them toward key actions like attending a digital open house.

  2. Cohesive Brand Experience: The website’s design aligned seamlessly with the physical school, reflecting the school’s values and fostering a sense of community both online and offline.

  3. Visual Narrative: We distilled the essence of the school into a compelling visual story, ensuring the website communicated its unique value proposition in an engaging and memorable way.

  4. Action-Focused Design: Each page was designed with a distinct call to action, primarily encouraging users to join a monthly digital open house, driving engagement and simplifying decision-making.

  5. Empowerment Through Guidelines: Clear, easy-to-use guidelines were developed for the Director of Advancement, enabling them to effectively leverage the website’s assets in everyday communications and marketing efforts.

This redesign ensured that the website not only reflected the school’s identity but also provided a seamless, engaging experience for prospective families at every step of their journey.