By TONY MARQUIS | The Voorhees Sun
Voorhees parents are bound to notice a few changes when they look for information about their children’s school this fall.
The Eastern Regional High School Web site, eastern.k12.nj.us, was redesigned and the Voorhees Township Public School District is transitioning to paperless correspondence between district officials and parents.
In years past, the K-8 district’s information guide and calendar were sent through the mail to each student’s home. Now, to save money and the environment, the district is putting its guide and calendar online. The district also set up a parent access portal through its Web site, voorhees.k12.nj.us, where parents can find information about their child’s attendance, schedule and final grades.
The district is encouraging parents to check out their child’s school Web site before the year begins to get information on school supplies and the calendar.
The rest of the K-8 district Web site is relatively the same. Announcements of important events are still on the right of the page.
Parents who register with the district’s Web site can receive e-alerts, which include any emergency notifications and school closings. Registered users can subscribe to any section of the district and school sites and will receive an automatic e-mail notification when significant changes are made to a homepage, teacher page or to any other subscribed section.
Parents can also pay for their child’s meals through an online lunch account management service called MealPay Plus. The service allows parents to track spending and monitor lunch choices.
Parents of Eastern Regional High School students may have difficulty recognizing the school’s Web site.
The district launched its new site just a few weeks ago.
“We just wanted to bring it more up to tune to some of the new things that are out there on the Internet right now,” said Vice Principal and Technology Director Fred Harris, who helped oversee the re-design.
The new site includes a link to podcasts (Eastern is on iTunes) called VikeTube. Harris plans to upload more podcasts as the school year goes on. Students and parents can subscribe to the podcasts through Eastern’s Web site.
Parents and students can also subscribe to the district calendar and a mailing list, where they’ll receive instant e-mail updates.
There’s also a link to a live stream of ETV, the high school’s student television network.
The district’s main page features the most current news, with links for staff, parents and students on the top of the page.
Though the site was launched a short time ago, the district already has its budget online and a complete list of student activities and what it takes to join each one.
The re-design didn’t cost the district any money. One of the technicians in Harris’ technology department did most of the work. The district started planning the new Web site back in January.
Visit Eastern’s Web site at eastern.k12.nj.us. Visit the VTPS Web site at voorhees.k12.nj.us.
