When students open the school’s website, they are presented with a slideshow that includes a series of pictures of various recent school events along with a large picture of the front of the school’s football stadium. As they scroll down the page, they begin to see upcoming events, as well as links to over a dozen essential websites that the school uses.

But while a quick glance may make it seem like the school’s website is perfectly satisfactory, there are many glaring flaws that should be fixed — and the district is right to prioritize overhauling it. 

Among the easy-to-fix flaws is that the website lacks relevant, updated information. If students go to the Academics section and click on Tutoring, they will see that there is no content because it is currently “under construction.” Like many parts of the website, potentially helpful information is missing;  just filling in these blanks would go a long way toward improving the site.

Another outdated feature is the subsection called Job Opportunities in the Student Life section. If you click on it, it clearly states at the top that it was last updated on May 6, 2021 — again, the information is out of date.

Improving this isn’t an impossible task: For comparison, Los Gatos High provides much more updated information on its website. In the Guidance section, for instance, there is a video that teaches students how to use Canvas.  In Athletics, you are redirected to LGHS’s athletics website, which does a good job on highlighting how well every sports team is doing. Although SHS also has its own athletic website, there is very little information regarding updated news about our athletics team.

The district’s recent hiring of Public Information and Engagement Officer Tanya De La Cruz — who is spearheading an effort to revamp the district’s website, including the SHS and LGHS websites — is a good first step, but ultimately, the effort to make the website more accessible and update its information will require more than just one person; it requires a team effort from school and district staff to keep the information current and relevant.