Hwy, I use yahoo for my web page but it is very simple. I don't have the calendar and all that.
As for sending off newsletters to be done, it seems to me like it would be better for a volunteer at your school to do it because they are on a more personal level with the kids, staff, and all the goings on. Of course we are a small school but I just do a small monthly newsletter. Now that I have the hang of it, it takes me about 15 minutes to do it after I have all the info (and that is just because I am slow by nature) and another mom does the calendar that is printed on the back. I have high hopes that our STLP club will someday have a "newspaper" so the students can do their own interviews and reporting, as well as the PTO newletter which just gives people heads up on the goings on.
If you can't find a volunteer to do this and you don't have a computer club in your school than you may want try the local jr. high or high school. The experience would be good for an older student or it could be used as a computer lab project.
I'm not sure how well this will go over, but I am going to try using Yahoo Groups as an online presense for our PTA. It has a calendar, a message board, photo pages, a member database, etc.
The myschoolonline.com free Web site thing went paid about 7-8 months ago, even for PTAs There's a monthly fee now.
I was always kind of ugh! on their Web sites, even when they were free, but now I can't figure out why anyone would use them.
Two complaints, the first one the biggest:
1. You get an amazingly complicated url (web address). If the point of the Web site is to *improve* communication, then making the Web address impossible to remember is not a step in the right direction. Better to pay the $35 per year for a great address ("ourpto.com") and then map that address to your district's server.
2. This one's more personal, but I just find the myschoolonline Web sites to be not attractive and not that user friendly for the reader (though I think they are user friendly for the webmaster). The sites also tend to be slow and loaded with pop-up ads.
In this same vein--has anyone done the myschool website (they create )--also supposedly free to PTA's? I think the Pres of our PTA is checking out the newletter thing. I believe she said that they fund it by taking out advertisements with your local stores. I will ask her and let you all know what I find out.
We're a new school splitting from a very established school. Fortunately, the person who has done the newsletter (put it together) for the past year is coming with us. But we don't have someone who will copy it (yet). Would love to hear if it works for someone because it does seem to good to be true.
Previously, I did the newsletter for 3 years (put it together, copied & distributed 1000 copies) and was able to do it in 5 hours with help stapling. But 3 years was enough.
