Services > Platform Migrations
Schoolwires to WordPress Migration
Keep your content and URLs. Own your platform.
AlphaWeb moves school districts off Schoolwires and onto WordPress Multisite networks they own. Our custom migration rebuilds every school site from its live pages, keeping menus, page hierarchy and original URLs, then we train your editors and stay on for hosting and support. It is the same approach that moved about 80 Newark Public Schools websites onto one WordPress network.
Who this migration is for
Districts and schools still running their websites on Schoolwires that want a platform they control, without starting over from a blank page. If your sites are expensive to license, hard to change or impossible to export, a planned move to WordPress fixes all three.
Districts with many school sites
A district site plus a site for every school, run from one WordPress Multisite network with central control and school-level editors.
Sites with no clean export
When the platform offers no practical way to export your own content, the published website becomes the source. We script the rescue so nobody retypes pages by hand.
Teams weighing a renewal
District IT and communications teams comparing another platform contract with open source WordPress, no vendor lock-in and a network their own staff can run.
What you get
- Migration audit: an inventory of the district site and every school site, covering pages, menus, documents, images, calendars and URLs.
- Custom content rescue scripts: each school site rebuilt from its live pages, keeping page titles, menus, hierarchy and original URLs.
- Documents and media rehosted: PDFs, office files and images moved into WordPress, with file URLs kept stable where possible and redirected where not.
- One WordPress Multisite network: one codebase, one design system and one set of security updates for the district and every school, with editors scoped to their own site.
- District and school calendars: a district calendar that pushes events to every school, while each school keeps its own, filterable by category.
- Redirect and SEO plan: every URL recorded so it is preserved or redirected. See how we protect SEO during a migration.
- Accessible, mobile friendly design: Section 508 and WCAG requirements in the plan from day one, not bolted on later.
- Training and handoff: district and school editors learn the new network before launch.
- Optional mobile app: once your content lives in WordPress, an AppPresser app on iOS and Android with push alerts for events and safety notices.
- Optional managed hosting and support: security, hosting and monitoring after go-live.
Part of our platform migrations service. See also WordPress for Schools and WordPress Multisite.
How a Schoolwires migration works
- Audit: we crawl and inventory every district and school site, mapping pages, menus, documents, calendars, users and URLs.
- Plan: Multisite network structure, district and school editor roles, design, redirect map, accessibility and launch criteria.
- Rescue content: custom scripts pull pages, menus and structure from the live sites, convert content into clean Gutenberg blocks and rehost documents and images. If an export or API is available, we use it first and fill the gaps with crawling.
- Build: theme, calendars and shared district features, such as news or emergency alerts that appear on every school site automatically.
- Review: district and school staff check migrated content and clean up outdated pages before anything goes live.
- Launch: cutover, DNS, redirects, smoke tests and editor training.
- Support: hosting, updates, security and monitoring so the new network stays mission ready.
Getting your district ready? Share our WordPress migration checklist with your IT and communications teams. It covers every phase from the first inventory to post-launch monitoring, with a free printable PDF.
Proof: Newark Public Schools
From
Schoolwires
To
One WordPress Multisite network
Scope
About 80 school websites
Today
AlphaWeb still hosts the district
Newark Public Schools is among New Jersey's oldest and largest districts, with 66 schools, more than 5,000 staff and more than 35,000 students. About 80 school websites sat on Schoolwires, a closed platform that offered no way to export the district's own content. A custom script rebuilt each school site from its live pages, keeping menus, page hierarchy and original URLs, on one WordPress Multisite network for the whole district.
The district also gained a calendar that pushes events to every school, a fresh responsive design and an AppPresser app on iOS and Android with push alerts for events and safety notices. No license fees means the district can put that money into new features, and AlphaWeb still hosts Newark Public Schools today.
Project leadership by Brian Messenlehner, AlphaWeb founder.
Read the Newark Public Schools case study
The same playbook at larger scale
Leadership experience
LexisNexis LawLinks
Nearly 3,000 law firm sites moved from a proprietary CMS into one WordPress Multisite, with an automated pipeline that turned each legacy export into a finished site on the network.
Leadership experience
DrugFree.org
Multiple properties on several platforms consolidated into one WordPress platform by a custom script, with no data loss.
Schoolwires migration FAQs
Can you migrate our district off Schoolwires?
Yes. Schoolwires migrations are a known specialty. We write custom scripts that rebuild each school site's menus, hierarchy and URLs on WordPress Multisite, the approach used for about 80 Newark Public Schools websites.
What if we cannot export our content from Schoolwires?
Then the published website becomes the source. Our scripts capture pages, menus and structure from the live sites and rehost documents and images in WordPress. If an export or API is available, we use it first and fill the gaps with crawling.
Will we keep our URLs and search rankings?
We record every URL so it can be preserved or redirected, and we carry original URLs forward wherever the source allows it. That is how the Newark migration kept menu hierarchy and URLs intact.
Will each school still manage its own site?
Yes. Multisite keeps central control at the district while giving each school editors who can only change their own site.
What happens to our calendars and documents?
Calendars move into WordPress, including a district calendar that can push events to every school while each school keeps its own. Documents move into an organized library, with file URLs kept stable where possible and redirected where not.
How much will the district save?
We do not promise specific savings, because every contract differs. Moving to WordPress removes per site platform license fees, so the budget you spend builds a platform you own.
Can you host and support the network after launch?
Yes. AlphaWeb offers managed WordPress hosting and ongoing support plans, and we still host Newark Public Schools today.
How do we get started?
Brief us on your mission through the quote form. A specialist will follow up to schedule a call and put together a free migration plan and quote.
Why teams choose AlphaWeb
Veteran owned WordPress specialists
Mission driven, not trend chasing
AlphaWeb is a U.S. veteran owned business. We plan, build, secure and support WordPress sites and mobile apps with the same discipline Brian learned as a Marine Corps programmer.
We wrote the book on WordPress apps
Brian Messenlehner co-authored O'Reilly's Building Web Apps with WordPress, has led WordPress teams since 2008, and went on to become owner of AppPresser and co-found SchoolPresser.