The top honors for the National School-e Awards contest for the best school district website were announced Monday, based on the amount of nominations and votes received and quality of their district website.  Friendswood ISD landed third place (second runner up).
             FISD Webmaster Jane Ann Quevedo handles the site seven days a week. The school district’s students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members as well as friends of all of the above voted the district into the win.

             Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD, the winner, Clear Creek ISD, the first runner-up, and Friendswood ISD, the second runner-up, will receive recognition and exposure through social media and news outlets, online plaques to display on their website, and feedback about the quality of their site. The top two district websites will also receive cash donations.
             The School-e Awards showcase the best K-12 district website design and strategy.
             Nominations began in January, identifying districts whose stakeholders care enormously about the district and its website. Thirty semi-finalists were chosen based on the amount of nominations received and were then evaluated by experts in education and the web on a broad set of 30 criteria to identify the sites that follow best practices.
             Fifteen finalists were chosen by the panel of experts in educational technology, which were voted on to elicit the feedback of the general web audience. The winners were chosen by the amount of votes the district received to recognize school district pride and passion. Anyone with a valid e-mail address could nominate or vote for a district’s website.
             “While we cannot compete with the districts that have many schools and cover many miles, we did hold our own and came out in the top three. We are proud to follow HEB ISD and Clear Creek ISD with votes,” Superintendent Trish Hanks said. “Our community is proud of our district and use our website to stay connected.  Being recognized nationally is quite an honor.”
             A school district website is an extremely important aspect of a school district brand, and as a communications tool between the district and its constituents, said K-12 Product Manager Tracy Kemp.
             “The district website is really the most important vehicle for overall communication and branding,” Kemp said. “We really wanted to recognize school pride and passion, which is the reason vote counts decided the winners.”
             District employees, students, and community members should go to http://schoole.allofe.com to find out more information about the winners and the contest.