Visitors to the Horry County Schools website will find it has a new design that’s cleaner and more user-friendly than before.
Work was done over the summer to provide more consistency between the district page at www.horrycountyschools.net and between the pages for the different schools, said Charles Hucks, the district’s executive director for technology.
Schools generally maintain their own web pages, which in the past meant that each school’s page listed information in different ways and in different places. The new design should make navigating the sight quicker and easier for parents to find what they need, especially those who have children at more than one school.
The site is still being refined as schools and teachers get more information online and templates are tweaked, but there will be more functionality through the site, especially for parents, who eventually will be able to create their own accounts, customize and combine their children’s calendars and view their schedules.
Teal Britton, district spokeswoman, said training is currently being held for school staff members, and they are aiming to roll out the parent features around Nov. 1.
The district also is refining the new mass notification system, which Britton said consists of several technologies that overlap and includes a large menu of features. She said data is still being updated and coded properly so the systems can read each other with little opportunity for error, but parents eventually will be able to customize how they wish to receive messages.
“We hope the end result is that we have more communication streams that will reach broader audiences,” Britton said. “As we move forward with [the website] and the parent notification system, there will be some hiccups, but the end products will be of better service to us. It’s like building a house - it never actually goes quite as smoothly as you anticipate.”
Grandparent goodies
Green Sea Floyds Elementary School will hold “Goodies for Grandparents” on three days next week, beginning at 7:45 a.m. Grandparents will be able to visit their grandchild’s classroom and then go to the cafeteria for snacks.
The event will be held Monday for child development and kindergarten students; Tuesday for first- and second-graders; and Wednesday for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.
In case you missed it
Check out the North Myrtle Beach High School Lip Dub 2012, an entertaining video that’s on YouTube. You can find it on the Horry County Schools website, or go to http://tinyurl.com/9jltvnl.
Summer on the sea
Frasier Sidney Wall IV, a graduate of Waccamaw High School, sailed the Gulf of Mexico this summer on the General Rudder, a floating classroom for Texas A&M University at Galveston’s Texas Maritime Academy (TMA).
Wall, the son of Frasier Wall III and Janet Wall, is a senior, majoring in marine transportation at Texas A&M University at Galveston, and a cadet at TMA, preparing to seek a license as a merchant marine officer.
Texas A&M University at Galveston is the maritime and marine-based branch campus of Texas A&M University and is home to TMA, the only maritime academy on the Gulf Coast. It is a special purpose institution offering academic programs, research and service in marine and maritime studies.
Limestone Dean’s List
Five area students made the Dean’s List at Limestone College in Gaffney last spring. They were full-time students who received a grade of ‘A’ in all of their courses.
They are Brittany Boyd and Jarasha Hemingway of Loris, Roberta Conyers and Michelle White of Georgetown, and Beulah Vernon of Andrews.
Contact VICKI GROOMS at 443-2401 or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_VickiGrooms.
