In recent years, Rowland Hall has been shaped by a bold vision: Developing People the World Needs. Now, our website more fully reflects that vision.

Launched on February 17, Rowland Hall’s new website offers a vibrant, welcoming first step into our community. Going beyond simply informing visitors, it’s designed to help them really get to know the school.

“We wanted the site to give people a true feel for Rowland Hall—more showing, less explaining,” said Digital Communications Manager Robert Lainhart ’11, the school’s project lead for the redesign.

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That intention shaped every step of the process, which began in fall 2024. Armed with a solid understanding of how visitors use our site, the Marketing and Communications team knew from the start they wanted to prioritize creating a clearer, more visual experience for families getting to know Rowland Hall.

“We wanted to make sure the messaging, navigation, and visuals were all geared toward someone just discovering Rowland Hall and trying to imagine their child here,” said Robert. “We kept coming back to one question: If we were parents looking at this for the first time, what would we want to know?”

A major component of this work was showing families the real student experience through visual storytelling. MarComm worked with their project team at Finalsite to create a design that increases these capabilities, including more space for engaging photography and expanded video capabilities.

“Our old platform didn’t support video well, so we relied heavily on text,” said Robert, who devoted hours to gathering B-roll for video headers, filming interviews with community members, and collaborating with fellow alums Chris Lee ’93 and Alex Lee ’03 on an interactive virtual tour that lets families explore campus at their own pace. “Now you can actually see classrooms in action and hear from students and teachers.”

I wanted the site to reflect what I loved about the school when I was a student—the community and sense of belonging—but also show how much it’s grown.—Robert Lainhart ’11, digital communications manager

The team also wanted to ensure the new site helps families understand what sets Rowland Hall apart: our ability to connect classroom learning to real-world impact. Content Manager Ashley Atwood, who managed copy for the new site, said they embraced the school’s value proposition, Learn. Think. Do., to tell the story of what happens at Rowland Hall every day. 

“It was important to us to show families real examples of our approach to learning,” said Ashley. “For instance, when we say we believe students of all ages can create knowledge, how do we show that? When we say students have opportunities to solve the world’s hardest problems, how do we prove that?”

To make Rowland Hall’s approach more visible to families, the team wove illustrations of Learn. Think. Do. throughout the site, including on the Academics and divisional pages. They also looked for opportunities to clarify what Rowland Hall means by common terms families encounter during a school search, like rigor and authentic learning, so visitors can better determine whether our community is the right fit for them.

And while the redesign centers prospective families, students, parents, caregivers, and alumni will notice meaningful improvements as well, including streamlined navigation, a clearer structure, and updated resources pages for commonly accessed links. Beyond usability, the MarComm team hopes the refreshed design reflects the school experience our community already cherishes—and inspires pride in how we tell our story. That sense of care was especially important to Robert as an alum now serving as a member of staff.

“It gave me a personal stake in getting it right. I wanted the site to reflect what I loved about the school when I was a student—the community and sense of belonging—but also show how much it’s grown,” he reflected. “The community is more diverse, there are more advanced classes, and there’s a bigger emphasis on computer science, to name just a few. It still feels like Rowland Hall, but it’s evolved, and that felt important to capture.”

And after more than a year of strategic planning and collaboration, he’s proud of what the team has built.

“It feels like a true front door for the community, especially at a moment when we’re coming together on one campus,” said Robert. “I’m just really proud of how closely it reflects who we are and where we’re headed.”