American School Directory
"The Internet Home for all K-12 Schools" is one of the oldest companies that offers free web sites to the 106,000 schools in America and even houses space for 20,000 closed schools for communication between those students.  It has created a basic website for each school in the US.  It provides: e-mail, calendars, educational websites and local links, maps, alumni directory, wish list, create-a-note, creative corner for art work, school menus, yearbook, and a school store.  http://www.asd.com or 1-800-929-447

Family Education.com
Using the CD-ROM Class webCreate, teachers can create their own webpage regardless of their technical skills in less than one hour.   FamilyEducation.com's goal is to help educators promote student achievement by creating "a community dedicated to children's learning."  One tool that is provided is TeacherVision.com which  allows teachers to reach to colleagues by giving them a forum to communicate about lesson plans, enrichment activities, and important issues facing educators today.   MySchoolMail.com provides each member of a faculty and staff a free Web-based email account.

Teacher training kits are available when districts sign up for School webCreate and contains a workbook, online tutorial, and trainer's manual.  http://www.teachervision.com/start

Highwired.Net
This is a network of high schools where schools can publish school news and information easily and instantly into a website template.  Components include sections where:

• Guidance counselors can publish college, career, and testing information online.
• Administrators and teachers can post personal Web sites with assignments, test dates, and project.  They can also collaborate with students and colleagues.
• School clubs can have their own site to publish news, meeting schedules, activities, and to stay connected with national chapters.
• Athletic directors can create individual team pages to post practice and game schedules, stats, scores, and player profiles.
• Journalists can share ideas and publish locally and internationally across the network.

Users that sign up will received a free starter kit to help them begin using their template-driven site. http://www.highwired.net

Lightspan
Schools can create an online community - completely free.   The web site builder is password protected to increase communication with families and allows for teachers to post class assignments and news.  Sign-up: Call (800) 6695403

nschool.com
nschool.com provides a secure framework to enhance web-based communication that links parents, teachers, students, and administrators for the purpose of sharing ideas, messages, agendas, news, and resources.  Each school controls how this service will automate routine tasks, create an interactive learning environment, and encourage achievement and innovation to improve the education of students.  The components include: e-mail for parents, teachers, and students, forums, calendars,  and resources to help locate other users.  http://www.nschool.com (800) 370-2730

School City
This site connects the home, school, and community.  Teachers can create online classrooms to publish homework and quizzes for students. They can also collaborate with other teachers to create lesson plans, share successes, and exchange best practices.  Teachers, parents, administrators, and students can be part of forums and chats.  Teachers and parents have a means to discuss student progress and school activities.  http://www.schoolcity.com

SchoolLife.net, a KOZ.com Community
This site offers a comprehensive spectrum of online community tools and programs that help groups extend their interaction onto the Internet.   It contains Web sites that include template-based publishing, newsletters, calendars, message boards, feedback forms, members-only chat, and control over content.  http://www.schoollife.net

SchoolNotes.com
This site allows teachers to post text-only school information: calendars, spelling words, and homework assignments.  Parents, teachers, and students can access school information from home, work, school, or anywhere the Internet is available. http://www.schoolnotes.com

Free General Purpose Web Sites:

Homestead - www.homestead.com
GeoCities - www.geocities.com

November 19, 2005