Knowing ourselves helps us to live our mission and to tell our story to prospective students.
the OES community has struggled to find common language that uniquely describes its richness to its internal family and that concisely describes its most compelling attributes and differences to people considering OES for their children’s education. Te search to define our identity began with hard listening in many community sessions in 2008. Te previous strategic plan stated the goal of creating a stand-alone Marketing and Communications Department, which was launched during early 2010. Te conversation became more energized by the 2009-10 head search process and the growing recognition that defining our identity was essential to the 2010 Strategic Plan. Te self-study process for the NAIS accreditation visit further sharpened the need for the elusive language we could use to describe ourselves to internal and external audiences. Central to the conversations, discussions, and listening sessions that took place over this 40-month period were some of the hardest and most foundational questions for an Episcopal school today: “What is our identity as an Episcopal school?”
B
“How do we describe it to ourselves and others?” “What does the ‘E’ in OES really mean?” Te 2008 work of the Vision Committee had
already put a strong, community-articulated vision statement in place: Connecting people, ideas, and cultures to advance knowledge, create solutions, and enhance meaning. Building on this work, the Board of Trustees and
the newly arrived head, Mo Copeland, charged two groups with the next leg of the journey. Te Mission/Vision Task Force was asked to
review all of OES’s governing statements—the Mission, Vision, Principles, Values, and Pillars—and determine if the language and content authentically reflected OES’s identity for those who relied on these statements to guide decision making, curriculum content, and strategic direction. Working in tandem, a Strategic Marketing Task Force sought to uncover the language that the
eginning in 2008, OES set out on a journey as challenging and full of opportunity as the wildest Winterim. Where? To a place where students, faculty, staff and parents could use common language to describe the school’s identity to a wider community. Why? For a number of years
community could use to describe itself to incoming families, alumnae/i, and those who did not know the community as well as those who believed— erroneously—that they did. After much discussion, the Mission/Vision group formulated the revised Mission Statement and the re-affirmed Vision Statement, which appear alongside Mo’s letter on Page 4 of this magazine. Tey also created the new Identity language, shown in the righthand column of this page. Meanwhile, the Strategic Marketing Task Force commissioned a series of community polls that provided insights into what the greater Portland community thought of the school. Te Task Force was proud to learn that OES was respected for academics, small class size, college prep, sciences, and reputation; uncomfortable to see the word “elitist” mentioned often; and downright amazed that at least one respondent associated OES with “obnoxious sports fans.” Te group was fueled by the belief that hidden in a wealth of surveys, polls, parent, community, and consultant feedback was a simple but authentic statement about OES that would fully communicate its identity to a wider population. And it turned out that they were right. Te key word had, literally, been staring the OES community in the face. It appeared no fewer than 3,720 times on the school’s website, and after many conversations around the “E” in OES, it was a surprise to many that the key word was an “O” word, a word that made our name synonymous with the mission, vision, and identity work just being completed:
OPEN
Open to discussion. Open to debate. Open to experience. Open to the unknown.
Although the journey may be drawing to a close,
the work is far from finished. Tis redesigned issue of the OES magazine is the first step in boldly sharing our new identity with our core community and beyond. Tose visiting the campus in the new school year can expect to see our brand essence come to life visually throughout the campus signage, published materials, and admissions advertising. Te website will reflect our new identity at the start of the school year. Less visible, but equally important, will be the work that weaves the identity and brand into the daily workings of OES. OES has been opening minds since 1869, and as
we race toward our sesquicentennial, we will embrace the clarity of our essence as we continue to mold and shape young lives. OES … Always Open.
IDENTITY
Our Oregon home matters: Perched on the Pacific Rim, nestled between the ocean and the mountains, bordered by both natural wetlands and urban development, we nurture intrinsic curiosity about complex environments and people of diverse backgrounds, creating intentional connections and collaborative, sustainable solutions.
Our Episcopal tradition matters: Rooted in a rhythm of gathering and reflection, we educate toward a larger purpose—toward inclusion and respect, understanding and compassion, service and social justice, toward meaning and commitment beyond ourselves.
Our school philosophy matters: Grounded in the belief that the advancement of knowledge flows from open and rigorous inquiry, we cultivate the life of the mind and the whole person by connecting questions with exploration and discovery, theories with scrutiny, expression with art, and self with subject.
Mission/Vision Task Force: Bonnie Brennan, The Rev. Jenny Cleveland, Mo Copeland, Steve Grant, Scott Hardister, chair Mark Kemball, Carey Killian, Adam Kobos, Dana Mosher Lewis, Evan Roberts, Rick Rees, Clent Richardson.
Strategic Messaging Task Force: Ann Carter, Mo Copeland, Steve Grant, Susie Gundle, co-chair Marty Jones, co-chair Mark Kemball, Carey Killian, Kathy Layendecker, David Levine, David Lowell.
Summer 2013 11
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