While the previous logos for USD 490 had few common elements, the new logo family shares distinctive characteristics—bold black lines, the same serif font and a "V" for "victory" somewhere in each design.

With Wilbur’s makeover setting the visual direction, the district repeated the process, giving each school two or three versions of their logo to vote on. While each was slightly different, every option for the elementary and middle schools used the same distinctive elements as the new Wilbur. “All of the mascots have the ‘V’ shape somewhere in their design—‘V’ for ‘victory.’ They all use thick black lines, the same shade of black, the same distinctive serif font,” says Koop. “We wanted to bring in those unifying elements.” No matter which option voters chose, USD 490’s house of brands would be cohesive. 

This community-focused approach to the rebrand came with an obvious benefit: Staff and students were more likely to be excited about logos they chose themselves. But as a bonus, this strategy also helped shut down the inevitable naysayers. “It was pretty contentious in the beginning, but once the students chose their mascot, the quiet majority started stepping up and saying, ‘The kids picked this. This is representing their school,’” says Koop. “And those negative voices kind of died down.” 

Koop remains convinced that the rebrand’s success is directly tied to its level of stakeholder input. Her advice to other communicators embarking on a rebrand? “Don’t underestimate the value of listening to your staff and student voices,” she says. “It is really easy on a project like this to just have your designers design something and then put it out. But if the people in your district don’t have pride in what you’re putting out there, then it’s all pointless.”

Today, when you look at USD 490’s logos, it’s abundantly clear they all belong to the same district—and all of them, including Wilbur the Wildcat, have one consistent look. According to Koop, that brand unity has driven greater district unity. “Whether you’re in our elementary or middle or high school, or you’re a community member—we’re all part of this community together, and it takes all of us to make a school system work,” says Koop. “The refresh gave everyone something to rally behind.”

Roselle Public Schools, NJ

When Dr. Nathan Fisher took the helm as superintendent at New Jersey’s Roselle Public Schools, he had already been with the district for nearly three decades. In all that time, its brand had never changed. “The original logo was very dated,” Fisher tells SchoolCEO—and because it was so dated, it was rarely used. 

“If they gave out apparel across the district, the logo wouldn’t be on it,” he explains. “The only time you saw the district logo was if you got something official, like a letter from HR.” As he took over, Fisher came to a realization: “We didn’t have a true identity.” 

At best, stakeholders saw Roselle’s brand—and by extension, the district itself—as stagnant or stuck in the past. At worst, they didn’t have a strong association with the brand at all. But Fisher saw this challenge as an opportunity not only to change the district’s strategic direction, but to mark that shift with a rebrand. 

“I was taking a new approach to leadership,” he says. “So just like any company, I felt there was a need for a rebrand. We are transcending the old Roselle, but in order for us to do that, we have to have a unified message—and a visual that speaks to the fact that this district is transforming.”

How did they build buy-in?

Having spent almost 30 years at Roselle, Fisher knew how much the district’s history mattered to its stakeholders. Preserving that history was important—not only for building community support, but also for creating a new brand that felt authentic to the district. “I didn’t want to be the guy who destroyed history,” he says. “So I kept all the elements of the old brand, but modernized them.” 

The new Roselle Public Schools logo retains some elements of the old, though in a sleeker, more modern style. The bulb embedded in the new logo’s book calls to mind Thomas Edison’s original incandescent light bulb, complete with its distinctive teardrop shape at the top. The diamond shape around the bulb approximates a graduation cap—also present in the former logo.

Take, for example, the district’s motto: “First in Light, First in Education.” The slogan comes from a particular point of pride in Roselle’s history; it was the first community in the world to be lit by Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb. So the motto would remain the same. 

The image of a light bulb—part of the original logo—would also be retained in the new version, though in a more abstract way. The graduation cap would remain as well, both as a nod to the past and as a visual representation of the district’s mission: “to prepare students for college, careers and life.” 

When the new logo was unveiled, Fisher had a slide deck ready to go, pointing out the common DNA in the two logos and explaining the rationale behind each new element—like the book, which represents knowledge. With this intentional approach and his own long history with the district, Fisher garnered his community’s trust. “Once I was able to present it in that format, people could see that I didn’t get rid of anything. I kept everything,” he says. “They could see that I understood the essence of what the school community was built on.” 

Photo courtesy of Roselle Public Schools

Preserving history gave Roselle’s rebrand the buy-in it needed to build momentum, but Fisher hasn’t stopped there. Now, when new employees join the district, they learn about the brand and what it stands for. After all, corporations like Disney and Google train employees on their brands—so why shouldn’t a school district? 

“What better time than staff orientation to give them the historical context, to show them what this all means and why it’s so important?” he says. “We can show them all the processes—how to call out sick or access certain resources—but first and foremost, they need to understand the organization.” Of course, staff members who are familiar with the district brand are more likely to adhere to branding guidelines. But even more importantly, providing this training early on shows new hires how much the brand matters to Roselle Public Schools. 

Photo courtesy of Roselle Public Schools

It’s clear the brand matters to Fisher himself as well. He references the brand basically every chance he gets—whether verbally or visually. “Wherever I go, I’m always wearing something branded,” he says; he even has a custom tie emblazoned with the logo. And if you log onto a Zoom call with Fisher, you might see his rebrand slide deck looping in the background. At least, we did. 

But he’s not just passionate about the rebrand because it was his project or because it’s a slick visual that looks good on a PowerPoint. For Fisher, the new Roselle branding is a touchstone, a connection to the district’s core purpose. “I reference the brand because it reminds people why we’re here,” Fisher says. “Even when things get difficult, we’ve got to remember why we’re here.” 

Olathe Public Schools, KS

Since its formation in 1965, Olathe Public Schools (OPS) has seen a staggering amount of change. While it originally had just over 3,600 students, it’s now the second-largest school district in Kansas—and over the last 25 years, the local population has grown by nearly 60%. “We were the little school district that grew really fast,” says Becky Grubaugh, OPS’ executive director of communications and community relations. “A lot of what we do these days is just catching up with ourselves—trying to keep pace with the growth in our community.” 

Before 2024, the OPS logo had only been refreshed twice, and its primary image—a globe shaped like an apple—had remained virtually unchanged across all three iterations.

In all that time, the district’s brand had changed relatively little. The logo had only been refreshed twice in 60 years, and its primary image—a globe shaped like an apple—had remained virtually unchanged across all three iterations. By early 2024, the image had begun to feel like it no longer fit the district. “We had never really taken a moment to stop and think about what kind of a mark would identify who we were,” Grubaugh says. “Our visual logo or icon really wasn’t reflective of our identity, the services we provide or the future-ready opportunities that we have for kids.”

Plus, in the midst of rapid growth, maintaining brand consistency across the district had become a nearly insurmountable challenge. “Because we grew so fast, a ton of our departments and programs had gone off and branded themselves in their own ways,” says Grubaugh. “But when you put all these logos together, you would never think that they all belonged to the same organization.” Clearly, it was time for a change.

Kansas’ new open enrollment law, which would go into effect for the 2024-25 school year, effectively sealed the deal. “There is just this innate competition that didn’t used to be there,” says Grubaugh. “That also put our district in a position to market ourselves in a way that we hadn’t before. So it made sense to take this opportunity to think about who we are and what marketing looks like for us.” In other words, it made sense to rebrand.

How did they build buy-in? 

Grubaugh and her team knew that in order to create a mark that represented OPS, they had to consider what the district meant to its community. “We wanted our families, students and staff to be connected to this process from start to finish,” she says. “It’s a really challenging task to distill all the pieces that make up an organization into one mark—so we wanted to know what mattered to people.” 

The communications team hosted focus groups and sent out an online survey to gauge how their community felt not just about the district’s brand, but about OPS itself. “People could share everything—what they liked about the old logo and what they thought the new one should include, but also what they valued about Olathe Public Schools and what words came to mind when they thought about our district,” Grubaugh explains. 

They solicited the same feedback from students, but in a more kid-friendly way. “We developed grade-level activity sheets that students could fill out with different prompts, like, ‘What does Olathe mean to you? What colors, what symbols do you think of when you think about our district?’” she says. “We even had them design their own logos for us to use as inspiration.” 

Meanwhile, Grubaugh and her team had begun exploring potential design options with agency Mammoth Creative Group, their partners in the rebranding process. “At the beginning, we were really open to moving away from the apple entirely and seeing what was out there,” says Grubaugh. “They came up with a few iterations that were a total departure from our logo—which was what we had asked for—but every time we reviewed a new concept, it just didn’t feel right for Olathe.”

When they began reviewing feedback from the community, they realized why none of the new designs were working. “So many of the activity sheets and design submissions that we had received from our students and staff included an apple in some way,” Grubaugh tells us. “We realized: This is how people view us. This is a big piece of our visual identity. That feedback helped us return to our roots and end up with the final product that we have today.”

Olathe Public Schools’ new logo is a classic red apple made of two interlocking shapes—meant to symbolize connection—forming an “O” for “Olathe” in the center.

That final product was a classic red apple made of two interlocking shapes—meant to symbolize connection—forming an “O” for “Olathe” in the center. “We feel really proud that we were able to pay tribute to our past, but also bring the mark into the modern day,” says Grubaugh. But the logo wasn’t the only part of the district’s brand that would change. Based on the community feedback they’d received during the rebranding process, OPS decided to update their vision statement as well. Instead of “Students prepared for their future,” it would now be “Their future is our future.”

“The new statement still hearkens back to that same core concept, but it really invites the community in as participants more than the previous one did,” says Grubaugh. “We have this collective ownership: Olathe Public Schools are our public schools. It’s not just about the students—it’s about all of us.” 

Photo courtesy of Olathe Public Schools

While OPS originally set out to change the visual language of their brand just as Roselle and USD 490 did, the entire process was a great reminder for Grubaugh that “a brand is more than a mark—it’s an identity,” she says. “While that’s what we presented at the end as a final product—a logo—what we got through the process was so much more. It solidified who we are and the messaging that we use to tell our story to our community and beyond.”