After one year of using the third-party platform Club Hub for club organization, Menlo has transitioned to an in-house platform designed and built by the school’s own tech department. The new system aims to improve accessibility, security and usability for both students and staff.
“It seemed like there was a lot of feedback from students against Club Hub in terms of a system that helps track clubs, members and leaders,” Dean of Student Life and Culture Alexis Bustamante said.
In response to the student reaction, the Menlo Tech department built clubs.menloschool.org over the summer. The website allows anyone to browse the school’s 50-plus student clubs without needing to log in. Students can also toggle between viewing all clubs and the ones they belong to and generate logos for clubs they lead using AI.
“I think the internal website is so much better because it’s much easier for people to join and manage clubs. It’s way more user-friendly and not as daunting as Club Hub,” senior Krista Arreola, leader of Surfrider club, said.
Web Systems Engineer Dan Weber led the development of the new site and is excited to see it in action this year. “One of the great things about Menlo is that we have the ability to build software products that serve our school community better than any off-the-shelf product ever could,” he said.
Weber explained that the new platform was built on the lessons the school took away from using Club Hub last year. “One thing we learned from our trial period with Club Hub is that Menlo students care deeply about clubs,” he said.
According to Weber, the website was designed not only to simplify management for club leaders but also to showcase Menlo’s thriving extracurricular scene. “We wanted to show off our clubs,” Weber said. “Like athletics, we wanted anyone to be able to see what clubs we offer and find out a little bit about them.”
The site includes new features such as a calendar view, direct links to advisor bio pages and a way to easily email all club members. It also protects sensitive information, like club leader emails, which were public with Club Hub.
Weber said the tech department plans to iterate on this first version of the website. “Because we built this site ourselves, we have full control over what comes next,” Weber said. “Version one is just the start. We’re already planning new features and welcome student ideas. If there’s something you’d like to see on the club’s site, just open a tech ticket and let us know.”
Bustamante agreed that the new website is a huge improvement over Club Hub. “It’s much more accessible,” she said. “We’re just really grateful to Dan and the tech team for creating something that truly works for Menlo.”
