Why do we like this site? Putnam City North's website is, from the welcome page to the farthest recesses of the hordes of information stored on it, is one of the most beautifully, efficiently designed sites we've honored as the Star School of the Month. With its tasteful use of frames and clear organization of information and links to other pages on the site, it manages to lead you directly to what interests you. There's no wading through pages to find obscure links, no getting millimeters from the screen to identify a link because of poor color choices. Utilizing PCN High School's own colors, the site is easy to read and, after extended browsing, didn't cause our eyes to bug out or cry out in pain.

Design: As with any good site, there is a consistent feel to the overall design of the site. Colors, images and organizational schemes appear consistent throughout, giving it the look of a professionally-published site. In fact, we had to double-check the site's informational notes to make sure it wasn't done by a hired web-designer instead of someone related to the school, a requirement of the school sites we choose for the SOTM. Color-wise, as mentioned above, nothing is difficult to read, no color combinations distract or make links difficult to differentiate from regular text. Uniformity of design has been used where it's advantageous, but never forced on any part of the site purely for its own sake.

There are extensive stores of information, regularly updated, available. This site is devoted to telling the world about Putnam City North, but it also contains useful information for students (with pages of specific interest to seniors, regarding graduation, cap & gown purchasing, portraits, etc.), faculty (links to educational sites of use to teachers and stories about award-winning faculty at PCNHS) and parents (PTSA information as well as how to order special 20th anniversary yearbooks and be listed on the site's alumni page). One of the best features of the site is the "Principal's Pen" pages, short essays by the school's principal and published on the school page with helpful hints and information for students, parents and faculty.

The PCNHS site is one dedicated to providing information for everyone involved with the school--daily announcements are available by 5pm and saved in weekly archives--and the world around it. Clubs, sports, school news and campus publications are all featured on the site, including information about how to join them, when they're in the public eye, what awards they've won and how to help support them. It appeals to everyone, and becomes more than just an internal bulletin board or the school's mantle of trophies.

Who are the people behind this site?

Impressively, PNC's site is maintained by Brad Flickinger, a 16-year-old sophomore at Putnam City North. He does it for free, wanting to design the site, as he says on his references page, "so students, teachers and parents of Putnam City North High School could easily locate valuable internet and PCN information." He offers multiple ways of contacting him, as well, inviting suggestions & corrections or new ideas on what sort of information would be useful to those making use of the site. He does this without compensation, as well, just wanting to provide his school with a way to get out the word on it's own happenings. Brian is, in addition to attending the school and maintaining their site, a member of the HTML Writers' Guild and the Internet Webmasters Association.