On Dec. 30, 2026, during students’ Winter Break, Oak Park Unified School District announced a district-wide shift to its online presence. For the first time in more than half a decade, the district websites had been completely redesigned.
“Our goal was to create a modern refresh that improves usability and consistency across each school site,” OPUSD Director of Educational Technology and Information Systems Dana Thompson said. “Beyond just the look, we focused heavily on navigation and organization so that students, staff and families can more easily find relevant information.”
This type of thorough overhaul to OPUSD’s online resources hasn’t occurred since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While we have made minor updates over the years, this is the most comprehensive redesign our district has seen for all websites since 2020,” Thompson said. “Technology and how people use the web have changed so rapidly that we didn’t just want a series of small updates. We saw this as an opportunity to move past design limitations and build a platform that better supports current communication and information sharing needs.”
According to Thompson, several factors influenced OPUSD’s decision to implement the redesign.
“The transition was sparked by a move to a new hosting platform, which gave us the opportunity to build a site that meets the needs of our community,” Thompson said. “Regularly reviewing and updating websites is also a standard practice. It allows the district to streamline content, restructure information as needs change, update backend software and hosting systems and review accessibility and other compliance requirements.”
Ultimately, the changes were made to further reflect OPUSD’s goals as a district through its own platforms and to make its online resources more accessible.
“We know that the vast majority of our students and parents are accessing information on the go, so creating a mobile-friendly, responsive experience was our top priority,” Thompson said.
OPUSD’s district and school websites serve as a key resource for students, families and prospective families seeking information about academics, enrollment and campus life at Oak Park schools.
“Students, staff and families often visit the website when looking for information, and we wanted that experience to align with our motto: ‘Educating Compassionate and Creative Global Citizens,’” Thompson said.
“We want visitors to our site to easily understand what our district and schools offer, from academics to arts and athletics.”
As a direct result of this objective, the websites themselves will continue to evolve.
“While the site has launched, we did a soft launch, as it’s a work in progress as we work to clean up any residual transition issues,” Thompson said. “If there’s a feature you want to see or a page that’s hard to find, let us know. Feedback can be sent directly to [email protected].”
