Evergreen Independent School: Building a School Website That Works for the People Who Use It

Evergreen Independent School is a well-established independent school in the Cowichan Valley, serving families from Vancouver Island, including Duncan, Victoria, and surrounding communities. With a strong sense of community and a hands-on approach to learning, the school needed its digital presence to reflect who they are: warm, organized, and easy to engage with.

As Evergreen grew, their website and marketing efforts needed to do more than just look good. They needed to support staff, inform families, promote events, and attract new enrollments, all without adding extra complexity to already-busy schedules.

When a Website Becomes a Bottleneck

Before we began working together, Evergreen’s website and marketing tools were doing their job — but not efficiently. Updates required too much back-and-forth, content changes weren’t always intuitive, and event promotion lived across multiple platforms without a clear system.

For a school environment, this matters. Staff need to make quick updates. Parents need to find information easily. And prospective families need to understand the value of the school within seconds of landing on the site.

The challenge wasn’t just design, it was usability, clarity, and long-term sustainability.

A Strategy Built Around People, Not Just Pages

My approach focused on creating a system Evergreen could actually use day-to-day.

That meant:

• Designing with clear user journeys for parents, staff, and prospective families

• Choosing the Wix platform so staff and committee members could confidently update content without relying on a designer

• Improving UX and navigation so information is easy to find and easy to maintain

• Structuring content with SEO in mind, without making it feel keyword-heavy or sales-driven

Because this was a long-term relationship, the strategy also accounted for future growth — events, enrollment cycles, alumni updates, and ongoing marketing needs.

The Work: Website, Content, and Ongoing Support

This project evolved into ongoing design and marketing support across multiple areas:

Website Design & Updates

• Website updates and refinements built on the Wix platform

• Improved navigation and page structure for clarity and usability

• SEO-friendly content to support discoverability for searches like Vancouver Island web design and small business web design Vancouver Island

UX, SEO & Content Strategy

• Clear page layouts designed for real users, not just aesthetics

• SEO foundations to help the school be found by families searching for independent and elementary schools on Vancouver Island

• Consistent tone and structure across pages to build trust and professionalism

Visual Content & Photoshoots

• Coordinated photoshoots to capture authentic classroom moments and school life

• Selected and organized imagery to support both web and social media use

• Ensured visuals felt natural, current, and aligned with the school’s values

Event Advertising & Social Media Design

• Designed and promoted Open Houses, Ready Set Learn events, and enrollment campaigns

• Created social media graphics and ad visuals that were clear, warm, and informative

• Supported Vancouver Island social media design needs without overcomplicating messaging

Print & Community Materials

• Collaborated with teachers on Student Portrait T-shirt designs

• Created graphics and materials to support school initiatives and events

The Outcome: Clarity, Confidence, and Control

The biggest result of this work wasn’t flashy metrics, it was confidence.

Staff can now update the website easily. Parents can find what they need without frustration. And prospective families get a clear, welcoming first impression of the school.

Evergreen’s online presence now supports:

• Clear communication

• Consistent branding

• Strong community engagement

• Ongoing enrollment marketing

Most importantly, the school isn’t dependent on a single person to keep things running. The system works for them.

"Kristy manages and inspires our social media platforms, maintains our website and regularly adds refreshing and insightful content that broadens our reach.

The engagement and reach have been significantly boosted!

Kristy is responsive, diligent and highly creative!"

~ Lucien Power, Principal

Why This Matters for Other Small Businesses

If you’re a small business or organization on Vancouver Island, this project shows what’s possible when design is built around real use, not just visuals.

Whether you’re in Victoria, Nanaimo, the Cowichan Valley, or beyond, a good website should:

• Be easy to update

• Support your day-to-day operations

• Reflect your values clearly

• Grow with your business

That’s the approach I bring to Vancouver Island web design, graphic design, and social media design projects — practical, thoughtful, and built to last.

Let’s Build Something That Actually Works

If you’re a small business owner looking for web design, branding, or ongoing design support on Vancouver Island, I’d love to help.

I design systems that make sense — for you, your team, and your customers.

KC Designs Web Design • Graphic Design • Social Media Support

Serving Vancouver Island & surrounding communities