Greenwich Country Day School

Helping a beloved independent school successfully launch a new high school

For over 90 years, Greenwich Country Day School educated students from Nursery through grade 9. The School was well known for its “character first” philosophy and was an integral part of the community it served. Each student was known, valued, and supported within a rigorous, positive, and joyful learning environment. When the opportunity arose for GCDS to acquire another school and campus just a mile away, the School embarked on a challenging journey: launch a new Upper School to provide GCDS quality education through grade 12—in just 18 months.

We worked with School leadership to articulate the value and values of GCDS to a new audience of high school-aged students and their families—and to define and communicate why and how its educational approach was relevant and meaningful to an age group that had not been part of GCDS’s history.

Our collaborative challenge was the need to build excitement and buzz for this new offering in the Greenwich landscape, while also communicating to current families that what was core to the GCDS experience would not be diluted or lost.

In the words of Head of School, Adam Rohdie, “We have to build the plane while flying it.” Failure was not an option; if the incoming high school class did not hit critical mass, prospects would shy away in the subsequent year, creating a downward—and perhaps irreversible—spiral.

But that didn’t happen.

Based on our extensive research across the GCDS community, we distilled and refined what makes GCDS special; developed guiding attributes and storylines to inform high-level messaging and their brand promise; created a visual system that could be “tuned” to different audiences and opportunities; and then, in design-build mode, jumped into the creation of a suite of buzz-generating admissions materials. Their new messaging and design proudly differentiate GCDS’ approach to education, which now spans nursery to grade 12… yet stays true to the heart of a beloved institution.

Enrollment in the first high school classes far exceeded expectations.

Objectives

Reposition a well-regarded independent school that was historically Nursery through Grade 9 as a Nursery through grade 12 college preparatory experience—within a highly competitive marketplace
Recruit a critical mass of students for GCDS’s new high school offering while it was still under construction; lackluster enrollment could launch a vicious downward spiral
Engage new prospective students and families, as well as current school families who were used to sending their 9th graders to other schools
Ensure messaging about the new high school resonates with the needs, interests, and concerns of 9th-12th grade students and their parents— while staying true to the values that have been hallmarks of GCDS for more than 90 years
Raise money through a new phase of a capital campaign to support the building and programming of the new Upper School

Collaboration

Distilled what made GCDS special to inform an evolved brand and materials, through qualitative conversations both across and beyond the campus
Collaborated to develop a unified brand strategy for GCDS’s historic Lower School and Middle School offerings—and the new Upper School
Crafted guiding brand attributes and storylines that captured the essence of GCDS and then informed a new brand promise
Building on a beloved mark, developed a new school identifier and a new “tiger” spirit mark for athletics
Evolved a new system of visual expression that could “tilt” for different audiences
Wrote, designed, and produced admissions materials both for the nascent high school and GCDS more broadly—to create buzz, build excitement, and attract applicants
Strategized, wrote, designed, and produced materials to launch a new phase of the School’s capital campaign

Scope

Qualitative and quantitative research
Internal / competitive communication audits
Brand strategy
Communication architecture
Attributes, storylines, messaging
Visual system and updated symbol and wordmark
Print collateral for recruitment and fundraising
Templates for in-house use
System documentation

An updated identity to appeal to older students

GCDS’s original mark, rendered as a rough woodcut, featured two students running toward what might be a one-room schoolhouse, together with a chalk- or paint-like rendering of “GCDS.” The goal: maintain the equity in a logo beloved by generations of alumni and parents while updating its youthful presentation to appeal to older students. The result: a less tentative drawing style, a building that evoked GCDS’ real campus, and the addition of the School’s founding date. We also deleted the “The” in the School’s name and introduced new, more confident typography.

Brand storylines

We developed key concepts in two dimensions: those that expressed important aspects of GCDS’ deep, joyful learning experiences—and those that projected the School’s focus on character and community.

Deep, joyful learning & experiences

Rigorous academics in a joyful, positive learning environment
Students are known, encouraged, supported
Inspiring, engaging faculty
Robust, competitive athletics
Commitment to the arts
Transformative resources

Character & community

Character first
A welcoming, tight-knit family and school community
Service to the wider community
A commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion
Sustainability a priority

Building excitement around a school that didn’t yet exist

“The high school for tomorrow—today,” the first recruitment communication for prospective students, grades 9-12, projected what would be special and desirable about the new high school— but, of course, we had to work this magic without the benefit of any photos (usually a must-have for this age group), as there were no students of the appropriate age to photograph! Engaging copy, framed by elements of the School’s new brand system, did the heavy lifting.

Go, Tigers!

Athletics—and Tiger team spirit—are critical components of what GCDS means. But at the start of our engagement, we identified a wide range of tiger marks: cuddly tigers for younger students, significantly more aggressive ones to spur on the teams of older students, and an even wider range of tigers on doors, doormats, and bumper stickers—all with different typography. The challenge: come up with one spirit mark and original typographic treatment that would work for all audiences and opportunities—and which could serve as a rallying symbol for the School. We successfully collaborated with Skye Design to achieve the perfect tiger.

Marketing the whole of GCDS

The School’s N-12 viewbook engages both the parents of a prospective kindergartener and a prospective 10th-grade student—bringing forward the academic and cultural throughlines that define every aspect of the GCDS experience.

Funding the new Upper School

To support this new venture, GCDS launched a second phase of its already successful capital campaign. In addition to serving as brand advisors, we strategized, wrote, designed, and produced new materials for this important initiative. Using the same visual and verbal building blocks as GCDS’ enrollment materials—but “tilted” for this application—the campaign casebook projects the right combination of gravitas and energy to support the significant asks needed to launch the Upper School. A small book within the book features photographs of donors and, on the reverse against orange, a quote from them.

Delivering an asset of lasting value

Integral to our collaboration was the evolution of GCDS’ brand—visual identity, guiding brand attributes, storylines, messaging, and approaches to type, color, and imagery. All is documented in a user-friendly brand book.