Case Study
Freie Evangelische Schule Kirchheim
Digital Transformation: From Static Legacy to High-Performance Platform
The Challenge
An institution slowed down by technical debt.
The Freie Evangelische Schule Kirchheim (FESK) provides excellent education, but its digital presence did not reflect this quality. The legacy system was plagued by high operational costs, slow load times, and a complex admin interface that frustrated staff.
The most critical technical bottleneck was a 5-second cold boot time, which led to high bounce rates. Parents looking to register their children faced a confusing UI, and the school's visibility in search engines was suboptimal.
My Mission:
To architect a cost-effective, scalable, and inclusive digital ecosystem that empowers the administration and welcomes new families.
The Impact by Numbers
Optimizing for both machines and humans.
0s
Cold Boot Time
Reduced from 5s
100
Lighthouse Score
SEO & Best Practices
3x
Load Speed
Faster TTI
300%
Search Impressions
Growth YoY
2.5x
Click-Through Rate
Increase
-60%
Infrastructure Cost
Reduction (2.5x lower)
Architecture & Engineering
Clean Code Principles meets Modern Web Performance.
To solve the performance issues, I migrated the architecture to Next.js 16. The move allowed us to leverage Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR), eliminating the cold boot issue entirely.
Applying Clean Code
As this project relies on voluntary maintenance, code readability was paramount. I enforced Uncle Bob's Clean Code standards:
Strict Typing
A comprehensive TypeScript schema ensures that 95% of potential runtime errors are caught at compile time.
Component Composition
Instead of monolithic page files, the UI is built from atomic, reusable components (Atomic Design).
Separation of Concerns
Business logic is strictly separated from the UI layer via custom hooks.
User Experience & Accessibility
Building for the Community.
A school website must be accessible to everyone—grandparents on older tablets, parents on mobile data, and users with visual impairments.
Accessibility First
Improved semantic HTML structure and ARIA labels, achieving significantly better screen reader compatibility.
Intuitive Registration
Redesigned student registration into a multi-step wizard with real-time validation, reducing drop-offs significantly.
Empowering Staff
Custom Admin Dashboard built for non-technical staff to update content and manage events without touching code.
The Verdict
"Digital Sovereignty restored."
This project was more than a redesign; it was a restructuring of how the school presents itself digitally. By cutting technical costs by a factor of 2.5 and tripling search impressions, we proved that high-end engineering directly translates to institutional success.
“The new platform didn't just save us money; it gave us a voice that is finally heard clearly online.
Interested in the platform?
Visit the live website to see it in action.