MCPS Webmasters Select Northwood, White Oak and Little Bennett as Best School Web Sites

Northwood High School won the Best of the Web Award as the best public high school web site in Montgomery County on May 18, 2009, during the fifth annual Best of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Web Awards ceremony. White Oak Middle School and Little Bennett Elementary School won top awards in the middle and elementary school categories.

The school system’s almost 1,000 school and office webmasters voted for the winners from finalists in six categories.

The annual Best of the Web Awards recognize MCPS web sites that model best practices in web communications. Nominations for the award were submitted by staff and the community. The awards and event are sponsored by Web Services in the Public Information Office, Office of Communications and Family Outreach. Winners receive certificates of recognition.

The MCPS Web is composed of 200 school web sites and hundreds of office and department sites. During the week of May 11–17, for example, the MCPS Web had almost 1 million page views and nearly 400,000 visits.

The awards ceremony also featured a keynote speech by Khoi Vinh, design director of The New York Times web site, nytimes.com. Vinh, a 1989 graduate of Gaithersburg High School, is a leader in the development of user-focused web site design.

The winners in each category are:

Best High School Web Site: Northwood High School, webmaster Carolyn Dixon

Best Middle School Web Site: White Oak Middle School, webmaster Brenda Young

Best Elementary School Web Site: Little Bennett Elementary School, webmaster Irene Allaire

Best Office Web Site: Department of Family and Community Partnerships, webmaster Ben Lesnick

Best Special Project or Initiative Web Site: Oakland Terrace Elementary School math site, webmaster Christopher Love

Best Student Contribution to a Web Site: Silver Chips Online, Montgomery Blair High School, Sophie Schwadron, Kiera Zitelman, editors-in-chief

Eight staffers and one retired administrator received a Web Builder award in recognition of their contributions to the growth and value of the MCPS Web.