By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
nweditor@buglenewspapers.com
@NilesILNews
Staff at East Maine School District 63 is working with parents and community members to develop a new slogan and an overarching brand for the district.
Janet Spector Bishop, the district’s director of communications and community relations, presented the board of education with an update on what staff has developed so far during its Feb. 3 meeting.
According to Bishop, the branding initiative has been in the works for much of the past year. She talked to members of the parent teacher organizations, families, teachers, officials from the communities the district serves and other stakeholders to get a sense of how they see the district.
“We’ve been sort of digging down to see what people think, what their perceptions are and whether they think it’s accurate,” said Bishop.
From there, the staff worked to develop a brand.
She said developing a brand would allow the district to have a unified message that would let everybody know what the district is and define its strengths. It would also help the district decide where it should focus its efforts. A tagline would bolster the message, according to Bishop. And since it would be shorter than a mission statement, it could be placed on logos.
“Our mission statement is a ‘why’ – why do we exist at all,” said Bishop. “We can look at the strategic plan as a ‘how’ – how are we going to do it. The brand is a ‘what’ – what kind of organization is going to achieve those plans.”
A brand, she said, would allow the district to build value, credibility and recognition; help the district stand out; improve its engagement with the community; help grow community support; and help set direction for the board and the staff.
Bishop said the brand should emphasize the district’s strengths but should also be grounded in reality. It needs to be something built with community input; something that the community can believe in. She added that it should serve the interests of all groups within the district and its communities.
The brand would have several components. First, it would have a branding statement, which would sum up the main idea behind the brand.
Based on feedback she’s received, Bishop proposed the following statement: “East Maine District 63’s diverse learning environment supports each student’s unique pathway to success within a caring, connected community.”
Based on the statement, staff developed several potential “key messages,” or ideas that the district wanted to convey through its statements and actions. They included the district’s commitment to “teaching excellence that provides all students with the specific opportunities they need to succeed,” its focus on “the whole child,” celebration of diversity found in the district’s student body and its engagement with the community.
Bishop emphasized that it wasn’t a “rigid script” that has to be repeated verbatim in everything the district releases. For example, when a principal welcomes students, he or she should mention that the school has students who originally came from 15 different countries.
Bishop also said the branding would shape what the district events and activities. For example, the district might take part in an international festival because it fits the “celebration of diversity” branding statement.
Finally, branding included creating new taglines. Bishop proposed three – one based on the district’s existing mission statement (“Empowering student success”) and two created from scratch (“A world of learners” and “Success without boundaries”).
The branding would include changing the district logo and making some tweaks to the existing logos of its schools.
Board members were largely pleased with what Bishop outlined.
Board member Sheila Urban said she liked both new tagline options.
“My particular preference is ‘success without boundaries,’” she added. “It can apply to everyone, no matter where they are on the learning continuum.”
Board member Angelo Scarsella wondered whether the district would have to only be involved with events and causes that fit its brand.
“Not at all,” replied Bishop. “Sometimes, our resources are limited, and we need to pick one [option]. And sometimes, the best way is to see which one fits our brand.”
Board member Alexandra Brook said she hopes that the branding would bring more exposure to District 63, which she feels often gets overshadowed because it isn’t tied to any municipality in particular, with its boundaries encompassing parts of Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview and unincorporated sections of Maine Township.
“I’m just very excited, because it really sounds like we’re ready to take the next step, to shout out to the world how good we are,” said Brook.
Staff will now work with parents, community members and other stakeholders to figure out what the branding would actually look like, develop a communication plan, and determine how the plan would affect district and school logos and graphics.