Oak Ridge Schools was born in the shadow of the Manhattan Project in 1943. Like the project that brought together the nation’s greatest minds for a common goal, the school system set the bar high for educational excellence from the beginning.
Oak Ridge Schools was born in the shadow of the Manhattan Project in 1943. Like the project that brought together the nation’s greatest minds for a common goal, the school system set the bar high for educational excellence from the beginning.
Fast forward to the present day, Oak Ridge Schools boasts some of the most impressive rankings in Tennessee and is the only district in the state with a Cognia STEM Certification. Oak Ridge Schools came to us in need of help positioning themselves as an innovative and forward-thinking district, starting with revamping its outdated visual identity.
The process began with a discovery phase where the Rhodes Branding team took a deeper look at Oak Ridge Schools through meetings with members from all nine of the district’s campuses. This phase also included extensive audits of all of the district’s external channels and a survey of members of the community. After going through numerous concepts and iterations, and despite dealing with the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented, Oak Ridge Schools unveiled its new brand in July of 2020.
The new identity pays homage to the district’s tradition and what it hopes the future will be: bold, creative, innovative, competitive, fierce, and fiery. The new marks have all those qualities in each of them and provide a cohesive system reflecting Oak Ridge Schools’ unique characteristics.
Following the visual identity overhaul, Rhodes Branding worked closely with Oak Ridge Schools to launch Portrait of a Graduate, a collective commitment from the community that advances its strategic plan 2020. Portrait of a Graduate identifies key competencies Oak Ridge Schools instills in its students as they move from pre-k to elementary, middle, high school, and into life after graduation. Portrait of a Graduate embodies the whole child and progresses through the student’s journey, beginning with preschool skills and culminating with real-world preparedness skills. The overarching theme for the Portrait of a Graduate model is to ensure every Oak Ridge student is prepared for college, career, and life success.
