The verdict in three sentences
A Chicago private or international school should launch a redesigned site in June or July, after re-enrollment and before open house season starts in September, because admissions pages carry most of the site's value and cannot break mid-cycle. Typical Chicago agency quotes for a school redesign of 30 to 80 pages run around USD 20,000 to 80,000 in 2026, while Kolonell's fixed grid is USD 4,900 Growth or USD 8,900 Premium (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote), with the application portal, school management system and calendar feeds kept on quote. The hard parts are news archive URLs, calendars, student photos and forms that may collect children's data, all of which need a plan before the build starts.
How do you know the school site needs a redesign?
Ask four questions. If two answers are "no", plan a redesign rather than another patch.
- Can a parent in Lincoln Park, on the Gold Coast or relocating from Paris find tuition range, grade levels, application steps and the open house date in under 3 clicks on a phone?
- Does the admissions team update dates and events without calling the IT person?
- Do news, calendar and athletics pages load in under 3 seconds on mobile?
- Can the site be used with a keyboard and a screen reader, with captions on videos?
International families add a fifth question: are the key admissions pages available in the languages your applicants actually read, such as French, Spanish or Mandarin?
What budget should a Chicago school plan?
Ballpark 2026 ranges below come from typical agency quotes and public rate pages in Chicagoland, for a school site with admissions, academics, student life, news and calendar sections. Upkeep figures are market assumptions.
| Option | Build, 2026 ballpark | Timeline | Upkeep, market assumption | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance web designer | USD 6,000 to 15,000 | 8 to 14 weeks | USD 150 to 400 per month | USD 11,400 to 29,400 |
| Chicago general agency | USD 20,000 to 45,000 | 12 to 20 weeks | USD 400 to 900 per month | USD 34,400 to 77,400 |
| Agency specialized in independent schools | USD 40,000 to 80,000+ | 16 to 28 weeks | USD 800 to 2,000 per month | USD 68,800 to 152,000 |
| Kolonell Growth | USD 4,900 fixed | 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready | On quote after 3 months | USD 4,900 plus upkeep on quote |
| Kolonell Premium | USD 8,900 fixed | 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready | On quote after 3 months | USD 8,900 plus upkeep on quote |
Three-year totals add build and 36 months of upkeep at each end of the range. Kolonell's Starter tier at USD 2,900 suits a small program site or a single campus page, rarely a full school. Every tier includes a project manager reachable in Central Time, native English or French copywriting and 3 months of support; see the international websites page.
Which pages carry the migration risk?
School sites accumulate years of URLs. Treat each content type separately.
| Content type | Typical volume | Risk | Migration rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admissions pages | 6 to 15 | Lost rankings during the application cycle | 1 to 1 redirect, titles kept, launch outside September to January |
| News archive | 200 to 1,500 posts | Hundreds of 404 errors | Keep recent years at equivalent URLs; redirect older years to yearly archive pages |
| Calendar events | Feed-driven | Broken feeds, duplicate past events | Keep the existing calendar tool and embed it; migration of the tool on quote |
| Athletics and arts | 20 to 60 | Outdated rosters with student names | Review before migrating; remove old rosters |
| PDF handbooks and forms | 30 to 120 | Old versions still indexed | Inventory, replace, redirect or remove |
| Faculty profiles | 20 to 80 | Staff who left still listed | Update list with HR before launch |
Kolonell builds the 301 redirect map from the full inventory and checks Search Console after launch.
Which risks need a decision before the build?
- Application portal and school management system. Your admissions platform, enrollment contracts and parent portal stay where they are; the site links to them or embeds their widgets. Deeper integration is on quote.
- Children's data in forms. Inquiry forms should be filled in by parents, collecting parent contact details, grade of interest and entry year. COPPA applies to online services that collect personal information from children under 13, so avoid any form or feature aimed at younger students without counsel's review.
- Student records and photos. FERPA protects education records at schools that receive certain federal funding, and many private schools do not fall under it, yet parents expect the same care. Publish student photos and names only with documented consent, and audit galleries during migration.
- Biometrics. If the site or any linked tool uses face recognition on photos, Illinois BIPA has strict consent rules. The simplest choice is to turn off such features.
- Accessibility. ADA Title III website suits are frequent; build to WCAG 2.2 AA, including captions and accessible PDFs for handbooks.
- Marketing wording. Describe programs, accreditation actually held and curriculum factually. Never publish results, rankings or admissions outcomes that you cannot document, and have the head of school approve the copy.
- Downtime. Launch on a weekday in July, with the old site kept on a staging address for 30 days.
This is not legal advice. Your counsel decides which of these rules apply to your school.
What should you ask any provider, and when is a local agency better?
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Ask: Will you inventory every news and PDF URL? Which admissions widgets will you embed, and which need a separate quote? Who owns the domain, hosting and analytics? How do you handle photo consent during migration? Can the admissions office update open house dates alone?
A Chicago agency is the better choice if you need a full brand identity, a filmed campus tour produced by the same team, or monthly on-site meetings with the board and the advancement office. A remote studio fits when the brand exists, the content team is ready in spring and the school wants a fixed price with a defined summer launch. You can send your scope through the free quote form.
Mini case study
Illustrative example, fictional school. Claire is director of communications at "Larchmere International School", a hypothetical bilingual English and French school in Lincoln Park. Her current site has 640 URLs: 12 admissions pages, 480 news posts, 95 PDFs and the rest in academics and student life.
Her plan: Kolonell Premium at USD 8,900, the multilingual tier with English and French set in the quote; news from the last 3 years (about 150 posts) kept at equivalent URLs and the other 330 redirected to 8 yearly archive pages; the admissions platform and calendar embedded, their deeper integration on quote. A Chicago school specialist had quoted USD 52,000 plus USD 1,000 per month, or USD 52,000 + 36 x USD 1,000 = USD 88,000 over 3 years. Content work started in April, the build ran in June and the site went live on July 14, before September open houses.
FAQ
When should a school launch a redesigned site?
June or July is the usual window, after re-enrollment and before open houses in September. Avoid launching between September and January, when most applications are in progress.
Can the new site handle online applications?
It should link to or embed your existing admissions platform. Rebuilding applications inside the site is a separate project, on quote, often USD 10,000 or more with any provider.
What happens to hundreds of old news posts?
Keep recent years at equivalent URLs and redirect older posts to yearly archive pages. For a school with 480 posts, that can mean about 150 kept and 330 redirected to 8 archive pages.
Do privacy laws apply to our school website?
COPPA applies to online services collecting data from children under 13, and FERPA to schools receiving certain federal funds. Keep inquiry forms for parents only and review photo consent; ask counsel for your school's situation.
How much does a bilingual school site cost with Kolonell?
Premium is USD 8,900, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote. An independent translator for additional pages, if needed, is a third-party cost.
Let's scope your project. Send us your URL inventory, your admissions platform and the languages your families read, and we will return a fixed Growth or Premium price with integrations on quote and a summer launch plan of 3 to 4 weeks of build. 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.
