Transforming Central City Cyber School’s Digital Presence to Drive Enrollment and Engagement

Introducing Central City Cyber School

Empowering Milwaukee Students with Technology-Driven Education

Central City Cyber School (C3) is an innovative charter school serving 4th- through 12th-grade students in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With a mission to provide students—especially those from underprivileged backgrounds—access to technology-driven education, the school fosters independence, critical thinking, and leadership skills. By leveraging technology as a tool for learning, Central City Cyberschool equips students with the skills needed to succeed in the 21st-century workforce.

The Challenge

An Outdated, Disorganized Website Hurting Engagement

C3’s previous website no longer effectively communicated the school’s value or engaged its primary audiences: students, families, and faculty. The key challenges included:

1. A cluttered website with excessive text that made navigation difficult.
2. No clear distinction between elementary (4th-8th) and high school (9th-12th) academic and extracurricular content.
3. A lack of engaging visuals showcasing the school’s culture, students and staff.
4. Ineffective communication channels for students, parents and faculty.
5. Difficulty in attracting and retaining new students who were the right fit for the school’s mission.

To stay competitive and continue attracting “right-fit” students, C3 needed a digital transformation that streamlined navigation, improved branding, and provided a seamless experience for current and prospective students, as well as their families and faculty.

The Objectives

Designing a Multi-Purpose, Multi-Audience Digital Experience

Keystone Click was brought on board to design and develop a new website that would:

1. Attract and engage potential students by visually showcasing the school’s mission and community.
2. Provide helpful resources and tools for students and parents.
3. Improve communication between faculty and families through an intuitive, organized digital platform.
4. Differentiate between elementary and high school content for a better user experience.
5. Enhance brand identity with an updated, professional and welcoming design.

Success for this project meant creating a website that felt like an extension of the school itself: welcoming, functional and reflective of the students and staff who make C3 a unique educational institution.

The Strategy

A User-First Approach to Digital Transformation

Keystone Click conducted thorough research to understand how prospective families discovered Central City Cyberschool, what information they were looking for, and how the existing website was falling short. Our research involved:

• Analyzing website traffic and user behavior on the old website.
• Studying UX best practices in the online education sector.
• Reviewing case studies of other successful digital transformations in charter schools.
• Conducting interviews with school administrators, staff and parents.

Key findings showed that families wanted:

1. A visual representation of the school’s physical space and student life.
2. Easy navigation between elementary and high school sections.
3. A centralized communication hub to streamline parent-teacher interactions.
4. Clear enrollment steps for prospective students.

Strategic UX Design & Implementation

Using these insights, we developed a user-friendly, visually engaging and structured website that addressed each pain point:

• Intuitive Navigation: The website now features primary navigation categories, including Home, About, Careers, Families, Students, Support and Enroll

• Distinct User Journeys: The structure was carefully crafted to distinguish elementary and high school content, ensuring users could easily find relevant information.
• Visually Engaging Content: The new design incorporates high-quality images of students, staff and the school environment to better communicate the school’s culture.

• Integrated Communication Tools: A master school calendar was implemented, offering separate views for staff, students, families and extracurricular activities.
• Seamless Enrollment Process: The “Enroll” section was redesigned to guide prospective students and their families through a clear, step-by-step application process.

The Results

A More Engaging and Effective Online Presence

The redesigned website launched to widespread praise from C3’s administration, students, and families. The impact included:

• Improved Student Acquisition: A more compelling online presence led to increased inquiries from prospective families.
• Higher Engagement from Families & Staff: The user-friendly structure and master calendar streamlined communication.
• Stronger Brand Image: The new design better represented the school’s diversity, culture, and mission.
• Easier Website Management for Staff: Content organization allowed for quicker updates and maintenance.

This project reinforced key UX principles and best practices for educational websites:

1. Visual Storytelling Matters: Adding authentic images of students and staff created a stronger emotional connection and trust with potential families.
2. Content Structure is Key: Separating elementary and high school sections helped improve the user experience for different student levels.
3. Centralized Information Increases Engagement: The master school calendar streamlined communication and kept families more connected.
4. Simplifying Enrollment Drives Conversions: A clear, step-by-step enrollment guide removed friction for prospective students.
5. Ongoing Optimization is Essential: Websites should continuously evolve based on analytics and user feedback.

Is Your School’s Website Meeting Its Full Potential?

Let’s Create a Digital Experience That Engages and Converts

C3’s website transformation proves that a well-designed, research-driven digital platform can significantly improve engagement, communication, and student acquisition.

Is your school struggling with website usability, branding, or student recruitment? Keystone Click specializes in strategic digital marketing and UX design for educational institutions.

Let’s build a digital presence that reflects the best of your school. Contact Keystone Click today to get started.