EDUCATION: CAPE SCHOOL RECOGNIZED FOR OFFERING TOP-NOTCH WEB SITE

Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School will be recognized as the national "School of the Day" Friday on an Internet Web site maintained by the American School Directory.

ASD spokesperson Lydia Mischke said the school was selected from more than 108,000 in the nation because of a "premiere Web site that is well-maintained and technologically ahead of the game."

"You can't receive this for just having a Web site," said Mischke. "They have to have something of substance to offer."

ASD provides free Web sites, interactive resources, and information, communication and payment tools for teachers, students, local communities and families. The organization is sponsored by Computers for Education, IBM, Innisbrook Wraps and Vanderbilt University.

Central Junior High School Principal Gerald Richards said his school began using ASD in 1997. School events and personal notes from parents, students and alumni are posted on the site, along with a wish list of equipment the school would like to have but cannot afford to purchase.

The ASD Web site is not the only Internet page featuring Central Junior High. The school district established a second Web site this year for the school at www.cape.k12.mo.us/cjhs/.

"We looked at it, examined it, and decided it would be a way we could communicate information to folks in the community," Richards said of the ASD Web site. "At the time, our district did not have an Internet presence, and we wanted to get our name on it and be able to refer our parents to it."

There are some features the school has not used in the past but is considering for the future. Among those is a payment center that enables parents or students to pay school fees or purchase yearbooks or other items on-line.

For now, it's enough to know parents are accessing the site to obtain information. "Periodically I receive e-mails because of their accessing the site, so I know that they are using it," Richards said. "I'm glad to know we have a tool for parents to obtain information about what's going on in our school."