The verdict in three sentences
A private or international school in Boston needs a redesign when families can no longer find admissions information, tuition and visit dates in two clicks. Budgets run from $6,000 with a freelancer to over $90,000 with an education-specialist agency; Kolonell's fixed grid runs from $2,900 to $8,900, with the admissions portal and school management system integration on quote. The real risk is timing: going live during the winter admissions peak costs more than any quote.
Which signals show a redesign is due?
| Signal | What families see | Cost of waiting another year |
|---|---|---|
| Admissions pages buried 3 levels deep | Drop-off before the inquiry form | Fewer campus visits during the fall season |
| Slow mobile site (over 4 s) | Parents comparing schools on a phone in Brookline or Newton | Higher bounce rate on key pages |
| Programs described in dated terms | A gap between the tour and the site | Repeated questions to the admissions office |
| CMS only a former vendor understands | School news published late | Costly dependency, often $100 to $200 an hour |
| Accessibility never tested | Parents or students with disabilities blocked | Exposure to ADA Title III claims |
| Forms that ask too much | Concern about children's data | Fewer completed inquiries |
What budget should a Boston school plan in 2026?
| Option | 2026 ballpark | Typical timeline | What is often included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | $6,000 to $15,000 | 8 to 14 weeks | Design and build, rarely copywriting |
| Small Boston or Cambridge studio | $15,000 to $40,000 | 3 to 5 months | Design, CMS, simple migration |
| Education-specialist agency | $35,000 to $90,000+ | 5 to 9 months | Strategy, photography, school integrations |
| Kolonell Starter | $2,900 | 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready | Compact site, native English copywriting, 3 months of support |
| Kolonell Growth | $4,900 | 3 to 4 weeks | Full site, news or blog, analytics |
| Kolonell Premium | $8,900 | 3 to 4 weeks | The multilingual tier, languages set in the quote, advanced design |
Local ranges reflect typical agency quotes in the area, not a survey. At Kolonell, a project manager is reachable on Boston time. Details on the international offer.
What stays on quote: admissions portal, tuition payment, school management system integration, parent area, calendar feeds, plus SEO migration and search work.
What timeline, and when to go live?
Admissions applications at independent schools in the region generally concentrate in the fall and winter, with decisions in early spring. The safest window to switch over runs from June to late August.
- Inventory and scoping (1 week): URL list, pages that receive traffic, programs actually offered, accreditations held (for example NEASC, only if the school holds it).
- Content (2 to 4 weeks on the school side): admissions copy, tuition, student life, photos with parental consent for every student shown.
- Kolonell production (3 to 4 weeks): design, build, copywriting, WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility.
- Acceptance and compliance review (1 week): leadership reviews marketing copy, forms, redirects.
- Switch-over and monitoring (6 weeks): Search Console, 404 errors, inquiries.
Which risks, and how to reduce them?
- SEO traffic loss: full URL inventory, a 301 redirect map tested before switch-over, Search Console monitored for 6 weeks.
- Content migration: old newsletters and event pages sorted, not copied wholesale; every student photo rechecked for consent.
- Forms and children's data: the inquiry form collects parent name, contact details, grade of interest and entry year. No health data or report cards in an open form. FERPA applies only to schools receiving federal funds, and Massachusetts data security regulations apply in general terms: the school checks with its adviser. This is not legal advice.
- Integrations: the admissions portal and school management system are linked or embedded, never rebuilt inside the site.
- Downtime: DNS switch on a Tuesday morning with no event scheduled, old site kept for 30 days.
- Claims: no ranking, result, college admission or enrollment figure unless supplied and verified by the school.
When is a local agency the better choice?
If you want a video shoot on campus, in-person workshops with the board, or a heavy integration with your school management system and a custom parent portal, a Boston education-specialist agency is justified, at $35,000 and up. For a clear, fast, accessible site whose content the school manages itself, the fixed grid is often enough.
Questions to ask any provider: who owns the domain and hosting? Is the 301 map delivered before switch-over? Which accessibility report is handed over? What does each integration cost, line by line?
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Mini case study
Illustrative example. Rachel Kim, communications director at Linden Hill School, a fictional pre-K to grade 8 independent school in Newton, plans the redesign in spring for a July switch-over. The site has 40 pages and 120 indexed URLs.
Quotes: $38,000 from a Cambridge studio, Premium at $8,900 from Kolonell (English and Mandarin for international families, languages set in the quote). She adds a campus photo shoot by a local photographer (third-party cost, $2,500): $8,900 + $2,500 = $11,400. Over 3 years, adding maintenance of $150 a month for 33 months (market assumption; Kolonell maintenance after the 3 included months on quote), or $4,950, the total reaches $16,350. The admissions portal integration is priced separately.
FAQ
How long does a full redesign take?
Allow 3 to 4 weeks of production at Kolonell once content is ready, plus 2 to 4 weeks of preparation by the school. Local agencies often quote 3 to 9 months.
When should the new site go live?
Between June and late August, outside the admissions peak. A January switch-over exposes the busiest 6 weeks to redirect errors.
Is the admissions portal included?
No, it stays on quote in all three tiers, at $2,900, $4,900 or $8,900. It is linked or embedded, not rebuilt.
What should the inquiry form ask?
Five fields are enough: parent name, email, phone, grade of interest, entry year. No health data and no report cards.
Can we show our results and college admissions?
Only data published and verified by the school. We invent no figures, and every claim is approved by leadership before launch.
To price your redesign line by line, request a free quote.
Let's scope your project. A 3 to 4 week redesign, from Growth at $4,900 to Premium at $8,900, with the admissions portal priced separately and a summer switch-over. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
