In our partnership with Spruce Street Nursery School, we worked to provide a fresh online presence that would attract and inform prospective clients. Our goal was to develop an experience that conveyed Spruce Street’s services, while representing its core values. This meant coming to understand Spruce Street’s role as a place of learning and community.

The Need for a Welcoming Online Space

In rethinking our client’s website, our first task was to consider their objectives. Spruce Street is a nursery school that prides itself on more than education. It is a space for learning and development, and offers families the opportunity to come together in a community dedicated to these goals.

Although Spruce Street’s mission may be well-established, it was not fully reflected in its previous website. The existing web design was dated, with lackluster visuals and a stale layout. Presentation was more akin to a static newsletter than a rich online resource.

A Digital Remodel

Education and childcare happen in real time, and so to inspire families with the assurance they deserve, we worked to build the site into a digital space that felt like an online extension of SpruceStreet, rather than a mere static web page. We updated the client's photography with brand-new imagery, and tweaked their color scheme to flow with the new, modern, site.

We included essential information about the school, its mission, and its programs. For families already involved with the school, we created a private login to access important information. This, with links to the school’s social media presence, help to make the site a live resource. With consideration of the site as an ongoing resource, we rethought the original navigation to create a user experience that was simple and practical.

Creating Community and Transparency

Additionally, we included a Community section that offered a transparent view of the people behind the school. Members of the faculty and staff are featured with bios and photos. Also detailed is the school’s express dedication to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, with an explanation of how Spruce Street practices these values.

Result

Viewing the complete site is akin to a tour of the actual school, where prospective families can get to know the professionals involved. Photos of Spruce Street’s daily life–from the classroom to the playground–appear throughout, with recognizable faces from the staff page. This provides an overall sense of the tightly-knit, highly-personalized approach to care and learning offered at Spruce Street.