Darlington’s Web site, www.darlingtonschool.org , is a one-stop information source for parents, offering the School calendar, daily bulletin, sports information, news, and photos that are updated frequently, as well as information about students.
Use of the Darlington Web site is increasing rapidly. For example, the faculty posted 40,000 grades and 20,000 comments last year. Students logged into the site 100,000 times, while parents racked up a respectable 34,000 log-ins.
“We encourage parents to visit the Web site at least once a day because events and activities, news stories, announcements to students, and other time-sensitive information are updated on a daily basis,” Stefan Eady, director of Web development, emphasized.
For most parents, especially parents of boarders, the most important area of the Web site is the Darlington Intranet, which is accessed by using a confidential Web code given to each family. There, parents can review current information on their child such as photos, sports results, grade averages, comments, attendance, assignments, and conduct. The faculty is able to update this information as much as every day. The Web site provides two-way communication as well, allowing parents to communicate with teachers via e-mail.
“Darlington technology continues to leap ahead of other independent schools by offering teachers the option of online gradebooks,” David Rhodes, headmaster, said. “We continue to research and explore to find the most effective ways for our teachers to teach our students and to keep our parents in the communication loop.”
For students with teachers using the online gradebook, all grades, not just averages, will be available through the Darlington Intranet. As a safety measure, online gradebook computer files are backed up on three different servers three times a day and then the information on the server is saved to tape daily.
“Grades are obviously a sensitive matter for all people involved. Teachers have personalized their grading systems over years of trial and error,” Eady, who wrote the computer program for the online gradebook, said. “A gradebook, especially an online version that can be tracked daily, tends to objectify what can be a subjective exercise. A gradebook should be used to track progress and not to criticize every individual grade. Also, grades are subject to change and final averages may be curved. This is all part of the process of evaluating the inexact exercise of learning.”
Parents should take up grade issues with their children first. Students with issues concerning grades should contact the teacher privately as they normally would.
Parents have the option of setting up any page on the School’s Web site as their Internet browser home page so that it is the Web page that they see when they open their browser each time. The most appropriate home page for parents is the “Parents” page, which is accessed by going to the School’s home page and clicking on “Parents,” the second selection under “Home Pages” at the bottom of the list on the left-hand side of the page. The “Parents” page can be customized so that parents are viewing information and news specific to their child or children’s grade level.
“The Web site contains up-to-date information and is extremely easy to navigate. The staff does a superb job in presenting information to current families and representing Darlington to prospective students,” said Shelly Peller, mother of Adam, sophomore, and Rachel, eight grader.
