Along with new classes and teachers, USD 405 has a new website for the coming school year. This site, which has the same web address of www.usd405.com went live on September 1, 2019. In the coming days, content from our previous website will migrate to our new website. Information can soon be accessed through a mobile app that works for Android and iPhone.
USD 405 launches this new public relations campaign to increase parental engagement through the use of technology. It is a part of a larger effort to inform the Lyons Schools community of what is happening inside our district. In the near future, the administration will announce the release of new mobile applications for iPhone and Android with school information such as events, sports scores, cafeteria menus, emergency notifications, and other pertinent information. The effort is in partnership with Apptegy, an education technology company based in Little Rock, Ark.
The district is taking this initiative to engage community members on the devices and social networks they use most. A ComScore study shows that Americans use mobile technologies at twice the rate of desktop computers, and a Pew study shows that 65 percent of adults use social media. With the newly adopted tools, the administration and teaching staff can share across all these communication channels. The Lyons School District leadership sees sharing news and updates on mobile devices and social media as critical to educating in the 21st century.
This new platform will increase the capability for USD405 School District to get timely information out to the public in ways that are convenient for them. The ability to post once then have it appear in multiple places is a powerful way to get our messages out to social media and mobile devices. We recognize this is where many people consume information today.”
The release of new mobile applications for iPhone and Android that will provide parents with information. The free mobile apps in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store will be available alongside this revamped, mobile-friendly website. Community members can expect to see more stories and regular updates from Lyons School District. With Apptegy’s “thrillshare,” the school can send out alerts simultaneously via push notifications, text messages, voice calls and social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.
There is a live feed that will update on the website, something similar to Twitter but for a school.
This is a must download to keep abreast of the latest activity in the Lyons school community. Social Media is the avenue to share our positive story with everyone and Apptegy’s platform allows the most efficient way. Instant access to the most up to date news will keep the Lyons community informed and aware of the many great things happening in our schools.
The web addresses for the main pages of the five educational buildings and district office have not changed; the new Apptegy website uses the same addresses. Bookmarks to the main page that you have made on your personal devices will still work. However, if you have linked to other parts of the websites, or any files found on them, they most likely will not work. Please visit the new website and locate the page or file that you need. There is a search function, so if you’re lost on the new website, just type what you’re looking for and it will populate the results in real time.
The USD 405 calendar is a big thing on our website. All sporting events and school events for the entire district are found on the website. Updates and cancellations not known for the printed calendar are posted on our web calendar. Migration of this section of the site is under way and completed soon.
The staff section has a new layout that will make it easier to find with options of all staff in on place or the choice of selecting a certain location. How to contact teachers will be found on the site, as their contact information will be listed, along with information about the classes they teach.
All of the district policies and forms are on the website, along with the student handbooks. Job vacancies for the district will be listed. The course catalog is on the website, along with the lunch menu and nutrition information.
There will be a “news” page where articles pertaining to the school can be found.
Another bonus is that the website is easier to read, in the sense that the text can be enlarged, and there are images and sound effects to make it easier for all viewers. The entire website also can be translated into Spanish with the click of a button.
The app can bring up most information on the website and has a lot of the same features, but not all of them.
Notifications on the app could involve anything from announcing the opening night of a school play to school closings because of inclement weather. It just depends on what the administration chooses to put out. Like any other app, push notifications can be turned off, depending on what the user wants.
While the new website is up and running, it is still in the works and more information will be added. The app is not yet available, however, should be ready soon.
Apptegy is an education technology company that builds simple communication tools for school districts across the country. “School districts have a unique opportunity to grow connections with their community by sharing all of the great things that happen on a daily basis,” said Jeston George, CEO of Apptegy. “Educators are extremely busy, so they need tools that make it easy and efficient to share across different types of devices and social networks.