Waukee Schools Website to Get Technology Upgrade

Waukee school parents could receive messages on their smart phones and other devices as the school district upgrades its website, the Des Moines Register reports.

The school board on July 8 approved a contract with Flying Hippo Web Technologies of Des Moines for updates to the school district website.

“It’s really just about making it easier for us to communicate with parents,” district spokeswoman Nicole Lawrence told the newspaper.

The move will implement a service that sends parents notifications on their electronic devices when news and calendar items are posted for specific schools and category types, such as events at one elementary or band concerts.

The newspaper said the updates will let staff members save blogs they created the previous year, and make it possible for them to post information from their mobile devices.

The district will add Google Translate to the website to make it easier for people whose first language is not English to access important information.

The website project is expected to cost between $5,875 and $7,875, the Register story said, and work should be done by the time school starts in August.