Will County Gazette

Valley View School District 365U has stepped up to the vanguard of the digital age with the advent of its new, smartphone-friendly website to meet ever-growing demand and slated to start immediately.

VVSD Superintendent Dr. James Mitchem Jr. expressed enthusiasm for the upgrade, stating that the website will facilitate “new and engaging community conversations” and play a role in Valley View’s aspirations to become a top-performing district in Illinois.

“Excellent two-way communication with our stakeholders is vital to the support of our students and staff,” Mitchem said.

The enhanced portal will gradually replace the existing Edline websites for all 22 schools in the district, swapping out the old equipment for Blackboard-hosted Schoolwires websites. Not only will it increase connectivity in the classroom, but it will also streamline the process of maintaining individual teachers’ web pages.

 “Families, staff and community members want a simple way to connect to our district and find the information they are looking for,” VVSD’s Nicole Eimer, a digital learning specialist who led the revitalized website project, said. “We hope this redesign not only gives our schools a fresh and new look, but also showcases our efforts to improve communication district-wide.”

Planned to phase in incrementally, the new system will first roll out in Valley View Early Childhood Center and VVSD’s Secondary Transition Experience Program (S.T.E.P.) before being expanded to the jurisdiction’s five middle schools by the end of 2016, as well as the district’s 12 elementary schools and both high schools in 2017.