Every school deserves a website as good as any company’s, and for schools in Venezuela, I build one for free. It is not a promotion or a free trial. It is something I believe in: education made me who I am, and giving something back is the least I can do. The school pays nothing for the work, pays no monthly fees and signs nothing longer than a single page.
This page is in English for friends of Venezuelan schools around the world. Schools themselves can read the full program in Spanish, with the documents each type of institution needs.
What I give
What I give: The complete website
Custom design, well-organized content, optimized photos, speed, security and launch. Domain and email in the school’s name. The website belongs to the school, with all of its files.
The second part of the gift
The second part of the gift: Google Workspace for Education
Email on the school’s domain, plus Classroom, Drive and Meet, in the free edition Google offers to educational institutions that meet its requirements. I prepare the application in the institution’s name, set it up and train the person who will manage it. A staff member (a teacher or an administrator) must be in charge of it. Without that person it is not activated, because the accounts belong to the school, not to me. Approval is up to Google.
The domain
The domain: In Anaco, Reyes Project pays for the first year
Anaco is our web lab: the school receives its complete website and a .com domain at no cost. Reyes Project pays for the first year of the domain; after that, we decide together each year. The school owns its account and its domain from day one. Outside Anaco, for now, the school pays for its domain, between $11 and $23 a year depending on the registrar. The domain is the website’s name on the internet (like reyesproject.com). If the school prefers a .edu.ve, the Venezuelan education domain, it requests it through NIC.ve at Conatel, and the website is built the same way; that request is not part of the gift. The school also provides its text, photos, logo and a contact person. The website is published on a free Cloudflare account in the school’s name, so there is nothing else to pay.
What it does not include
What it does not include: Custom systems
Custom grading systems or integrations with other software. Google Workspace for Education, included in the gift, already covers online classes, email and files; anything custom is a separate project, discussed just as openly.
A fair question
What does Google Workspace for Education do for a small school?
My family asked me this, thinking of a small neighborhood school, and the answer has to make practical sense, not just sound technical.
First things first
The files belong to the school
Many schools run on the principal’s personal email account. When she retires, ten years of lesson plans, class lists and photos leave with her. With institutional email, all of that stays with the school.
When school is closed
Homework still arrives
If it rains, the power goes out or a child is sick, the assignment reaches the family’s phone through Classroom. The app lets families review announcements and assignments, and open files they already downloaded, even offline.
One place
Announcements, organized
Notices to parents go out from one place, under the school’s name, instead of through ten different WhatsApp groups.
And to be honest: if families have no phone and no data, Classroom cannot work miracles. In that case, what matters most is the first point: that the email and the files belong to the school. That is why it is optional, and it is only activated when someone at the school takes charge of it.
