Quaboag District launches new website

Features include calendars, email lists

By Jonathan Cook

Turley Publications Reporter

WARREN – For the past two weeks, new Quaboag Technology Coordinator Stephen Bachelder has been quietly working to bring the tools of the internet to the school district. And while there is a long way to go, the website is set up to be an important tool in the school’s effort to utilize technology in education.

For the first time, Quaboag has a website that is easy to navigate, formatted to keep the community informed and has virtually unlimited possibilities, according to Monday night’s presentation to the school committee.

“The website is actually programmed around software I created in college called School Web 2.0,” said Bachelder, who graduates from Weslyan University this week. “And the whole emphasis of the website is to bring Web 2.0 tools into the classroom to facilitate learning in a 21st Century environment.”

To demonstrate, Bachelder accessed the site at www.quaboag.org. For those who have struggled to find information at that address before, fear not. This is a far different experience.

The home page is simple, bold and filled with links neatly tucked away in drop-down menus that are labeled for different areas of interest.

“The three schools are prominently displayed,” Bachelder said, and clicking on their photos takes a visitor to the school of choice.

Also on the front page is a place to sign up to be added to an email list. “Administrators can simply upload announcements or notifications and send it to everybody on the list,” Bachelder said. “Lists are available for each school as well as the district.”

If there is one thing to find, and no desire to look around, a search box is located next to the district masthead.

There is a link to the monthly newsletter next to a survey seeking input from visitors.

Scrolling down, a YouTube video of Superintendent Brett Kustigian’s budget presentation can be viewed.

“One of the great things about this website is we can incorporate video and podcasts,” Bachelder said. “Basically, whatever tool people want to put into a website, we can put in.”

Next to that are links to the Masslive.com Quaboag sports page, the district improvement Plan, and bus routes. Also is a link to teacher web pages, a feature not yet up and running.

“One of the neat things that we’re going to be adding are teacher web pages,” said Bachelder. “It’s basically a virtual classroom. Teachers will be able to create online quizzes, provide extra resources for the kids if they want to. Students can submit homework assignments. Teachers can have their own classroom calendar, and it’s very easy for the teachers to update and use. So, I’m going to be providing a training session in June for those teachers that want a classroom web page.”

All this is just the tip of the virtual iceberg.

“We will be adding clubs, activities, and different web pages as we go along,” said Bachelder. “People are giving me material everyday.”

Principal Greg Myers has a Twitter feed. Interested parties can either get updates via cell phone or “They can view the announcements the old fashioned way by going to the website,” as Bachelder put it. “The whole goal of the site is to provide extra features for people that want to embrace some of these tools without alienating people that don’t. The goal is to really make it a community effort for people of all levels of interest.”

Kustigian said, “We are just scratching the surface with what we are doing with the website. The capabilities are endless.”