By ROBERT LINNEHAN
About 20 years ago this article never would have existed, but today it’s a necessity. School is just around the corner and students and parents alike will be flocking to the different school district website to see their class lists, download permission forms, physical forms, and even track their grades.
Parents and students can visit the Mt. Laurel Schools website at www.mtlaurelschools.org for breaking news and information for all eight schools in the district. Parents and students can visit each individual school website by clicking on the “schools” tab on top of the welcome page.
The opening page of the K-8 district’s site offers a “latest district news” feed that is updated with breaking information, changes in curriculum, and calendar reminds for parents and students.
An events calendar takes up most of the right hand side of the site, with important dates and events for the 2011–2012 school year.
The district website offers an “online backpack” which parents can access to download important forms that can easily get lost in the black hole of a student’s backpack on the way home from school. Parents can download sport physical forms, physical evaluation forms, and many types of permission forms for school trips.
Parents can also access the district’s “family portal” and “PowerSchool” programs on the site to track their student’s educational careers. By creating an account and logging onto these programs, parents can view upcoming class assignments, grades, teacher notes, and permission forms.
Parents and taxpayers can also access the board of education page to find contact information for the BOE members, upcoming meeting agendas, and archives BOE meeting minutes dating back to Sept. 20, 2005.
Budget information can also be found under the “district” tab by clicking on the “business operations” link. The complete, easy to read 2011–2012 K-8 district budget can be downloaded here.
For parents of high school students, visitors can check out the Lenape Regional High School District website at www.lrhsd.org for breaking information and news with the high school district. On the left hand side of the page parents can click on the Lenape High School link to check out the individual high school’s website.
The high school district’s BOE page also offers contact information on members, upcoming meetings, past meeting minutes, and budget information for the 2011–2012 school year.
The Lenape High School site allows parents to automatically pay for school lunches, view the school’s yearly calendar, and purchase items from the school store. Contact information for high school staff is also available.
Welcome back to school everyone.
