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Fifth-grade students at The Ellis School enjoy lunch in the courtyard.
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Ellis School rebranding results in international award

Post-Gazette

Ellis School rebranding results in international award

At The Ellis School in Shadyside, students are encouraged to be independent, creative and critical thinkers.

“An all-girls environment may not represent the entire world, but it does give women the equipment they need to be ready for the world with the confidence that they need to be able to manage every situation that comes towards them,” said Robin Newham, head of school.

But even though it is the only all-girls private pre-K-12 school in Pittsburgh, Ellis has struggled to differentiate itself from other independent schools in the area and also to encourage families to make the decision to invest in a private education when enrollment at private schools across the nation is down.

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Last month, Ellis announced it expects to have fewer students and fewer staff members this fall. Ellis didn’t lay off staff during the economic downturn of 2007-08. As a result, it was staffed for 470 students in 2014-15 even though it had 389. This fall, it expects to have 370 students and to reduce full- and part-time staff from 130 to 121.

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Ellis officials hoped that a branding campaign — called “More Power to Her” and introduced in fall 2012 — would help attract more students and increase community support and contributions.

Ellis officials view the campaign as a success. New admission inquiries have increased by 33 percent from when the campaign was first launched in the 2013-14 school year and dollars raised have risen from $931,279 in 2012-13 to $1.4 million at the end of the 2014-15 school year. In addition, social media followers have increased.

Recently, the campaign won a 2015 Circle of Excellence Award for institutional branding from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit professional association serving educational institutions and advancement professionals.

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“The CASE award is international recognition for our school. The fact that an independent school like Ellis is among international and major state universities is a source of tremendous pride for us,” said Kitty Julian, director of marketing and communications for Ellis.

To address enrollment and to begin celebrating its upcoming centennial next year, the school began a strategic planning process in 2012. As part of the rebranding effort, the school engaged in focus groups and interviews with more than 120 parents, students, alumnae and community members. Its findings culminated in the “More Power to Her” campaign.

Ellis says the school conveys a “fearless pursuit of excellence for each and every girl” and is based on the idea of female empowerment. Created by the woman-owned agency Red House Communications, the “More Power To Her” campaign is “a complete re-envisioning of the framework through which [The Ellis School] describes and packages” all of its work, ranging from a new logo to new mission, vision and values statements, said Ms. Julian.

Examples include YouTube videos featuring interviews with students and administrators on themes such as “Ellis girls can change the world” or “Ellis graduates: ready for college.”

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The message of the campaign seems to ring true for students like Allie Papernick, 16, of Squirrel Hill, a rising junior at Ellis.

“Compared to my friends who don’t go to a single-sex school, I’m more confident in my beliefs and I feel like I can speak about things at my school if I see something going wrong,” Allie said.

Inspired by the UN Women “HeForShe” campaign, Allie, along with her twin sister, Zoe, and several other students co-founded the feminist student union at Ellis. In its first year, the organization collected hygiene products for the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. She believes the effort is at the heart of the collaborative, empowering spirit of both Ellis and the “More Power to Her” campaign. While starting the club, she received a lot of support from the administration and was able to quickly find a faculty supervisor.

Allie’s mother, Marla Papernick of Squirrel Hill, is satisfied with the decision to send her daughters to the school.

“People have this idea about what a girls school is, which to many is an outdated concept,” she said. “The ‘More Power to Her’ campaign updates in an authentic way what The Ellis School is all about.”

Valcy Etienne: vetienne@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1760 or on Twitter @valcyetienne.

First Published: July 2, 2015, 7:15 p.m.

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Fifth-grade students at The Ellis School enjoy lunch in the courtyard.  (Post-Gazette)
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