From No Digital Presence to a Purpose-Built School Website.
LAB University Prep × Gilly Dev
A fully custom website for a K–12 Christian preparatory school in Charlotte, NC — built to communicate their academic and athletic model and give families a clear, frictionless way to enquire and connect.
The landing page, live.
Not a screenshot — this is the production site rendering right now.
LAB University Prep is a K–12 Christian preparatory school in Charlotte, NC, serving student-athletes who need a modern academic model that fits their training and competition schedules. They had no real online presence and no reliable way for families to discover the school, understand the program, or get in touch.
The school partnered with Gilly Dev to design and develop a fully custom website that clearly communicates their academic and athletic model while giving parents and students a simple way to enquire and connect.
From zero online presence to a complete, professional digital home — designed from scratch, zero templates, purpose-built for parents and student-athletes.
The Challenge
Before the project, LAB University Prep was doing meaningful work offline — a quality academic and athletic program serving student-athletes in Charlotte. But the digital side simply didn't exist.
The result: families who might have been a perfect fit had no way to find the school, understand the program, or take the first step.
No official website or online hub for information
Parents and students couldn't understand the school's unique academic/athletic structure
Enquiries came through scattered, manual channels — contacts, social, word of mouth
No clear pathway for families interested in enrollment or tryouts
The Goals
Together, we defined three clear goals for the project. Everything in the build — from information architecture to visual design — was aligned with these.
Professional Online Presence
Establish a trustworthy digital home that reflects LAB's identity, values, and the quality of the program.
Communicate the Academic Model
Clearly explain the school's academic structure and athletic pathways so parents and student-athletes immediately understand the proposition.
Frictionless Enquiry Flows
Make it effortless for families to enquire, ask questions, and take the next steps toward enrollment.
Our Approach
Three pillars shaped every decision in the build — from content structure to visual design to contact architecture.
Information Architecture
We mapped a site structure around the two primary visitor types — parents and student-athletes — making it intuitive to find who LAB is, how the academic model works, what athletic pathways exist, and how to start the admissions process.
Custom Design & Build
Rather than a generic school template, we designed the site from scratch to match LAB's brand and audience. Strong hero messaging, responsive mobile layout, clean typography, and visuals that highlight both the academic and athletic sides of the program.
Contact Pathways & CTAs
Multiple enquiry entry points from key pages — Home, Academics, and Programs — so parents never have to hunt for how to get in touch. Simple, prominent contact options that convert interest into conversations.
Execution
Every decision in the build served the site's core purpose: give families everything they need to understand and trust the program, then make it simple to take the next step.
We designed from the visitor's perspective — what does a parent need to see first? What does a student-athlete want to know? How do we make the admissions journey feel less like a search and more like a welcome?
Full information architecture mapped to parent and student-athlete journeys
Custom design from scratch — no page builders, no pre-built templates
Strong hero messaging immediately communicating who the school is for
Responsive layout optimised for parents browsing on mobile devices
Multiple enquiry entry points from Home, Academics, and Programs pages
Simple, prominent contact flows so families can always find how to connect
Logical information grouping so common questions are answered before contact
LAB University Prep went from having no formal online presence to a complete digital home that reflects the quality of the program.
Clearly communicates their mission, academic model, and athletic focus
Gives parents and students a central, reliable source of information
Provides clear, frictionless ways to enquire and contact the school
Before
No website
no online presence · no enquiry path
After
Live & custom
labuniversityprep.com · 100% custom build
The Shift
No website
Professional digital home
Word-of-mouth only
Structured, multi-page enquiry flows
Families unable to find info
Clear, intuitive site for parents & athletes
“A school doing meaningful work offline, finally with a digital platform that matches the quality of the program.”
Visitors can now learn about LAB University Prep and reach out through a modern, purpose-built website. As the school gathers more data on enquiries and enrollments from the site, we'll layer in specific performance metrics. For now, the foundation is in place.
View labuniversityprep.comStart a project with Gilly Dev