Photo illustration by Emily Featherston.
This year, students will have a mobile app to keep track of all things student life. Like the parent app currently available, seen here, the app will be hosted by Blackboard.
School spirit? There’s an app for that — and every other part of being a student.
This month, Vestavia Hills High School will become the first public school in the country to have its own stuadent life mobile application, a feat that only a handful of private schools have even achieved.
School officials worked with Blackboard, the company that supplies the parent app for Vestavia Hills City Schools, to create a mobile platform for students.
The app will give students the ability to view sports scores, check out breakfast and lunch menus, keep up with their grades and more.
The idea for the app came from last year’s Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills students, who wanted to encourage increased school spirit in an innovative way.
“What really drove this idea for us is that we wanted to come up with some new ideas to improve our community as youth leaders,” said senior Youth Leadership student Sloen Zieverink. “It’s really exciting for us because it’s by students, for students. I’m excited to see students using it and to hear their ideas for how we can improve it.”
“We're so glad that we could develop this app for our students and see their idea become a reality,” said district technology coordinator Jan Garfinkle. “We hope it builds community among the students at the high school and helps them have easier access to the information they use every day.”
VHHS administrators will work with school clubs, sports teams and other groups to manage the app and keep it up to date.
The app will be available for both Android and iOS devices through the respective application stores.
