Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 2, 2017

The Epstein School is welcoming students back this month with a new logo, which communications director Coleen Lou said represents the institutions fluidity in moving forward while remaining rooted in its heritage, symbolized by the blue Star of David in the logos center.

The vision for the logo emphasizes the need to look forward as we move into the 21st century and reflects who we are as an organization, Lou said.

The wheel forming the logo represents movement and Epsteins continual change.

The logo was developed by Epsteins marketing strategist, Tali Benjamin, and Head of School David Abusch-Magder with input from a survey provided to community members and from school parents who are marketing professionals.

One of things we started to think about is who we are as a 21st century school, how we can be the best day school respective of our identity and how we teach as a process of continuous improvement, Abusch-Magder said.

In creating the logo, Epstein leaders focused on the range of students at the school, how it strives to meet their needs and what it means to be Jewish as they continue to grow.

Judaism will always be at the center and core of our students, but that doesnt mean they are static or stuck in the past, but rather that they will use it to help guide them, Abusch-Magder said. I think we have captured that in our logo and hope that it resonates more with people at an initial glance as opposed to our previous graphic, which looked like a cross between an E and the Hebrew letter shin.

Abusch-Magder said the old logo didnt match the schools direction.

The framework for the original logo was a box, and we didnt want to be confined to that, he said. We are not an in-the-box school and tried to capture that in a more coherent and organized way.

Although Epstein remains associated with the Conservative movements Solomon Schechter schools, although the Schechter name is not part of the new logo. Abusch-Magder said the Schechter organization has transformed into an affinity group thats part of the Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, which was formed last year from the merger of the major national Jewish day school groups.

Despite maintaining their association with the organization, Abusch-Magder noted that the schools identity was always connected to the Epstein school.

Although the Schechter association remains, Abusch-Magder said it has not been a strong part of the schools identity. No one really says I attend the Solomon Schechter school, but Epstein, and from a brand prospective, if you need to go complex, go complex on something that matters, such as how we educate our students. Thats the story we would like to tell the community and do so in a meaningful way.

Abusch-Magder said that although Prizmah continues to support Epstein through professional development and conferences, Prizmahs creation marked a national shift in Jewish education and often sparked denominational conversations on the experience of operating a Jewish day school in a small market.

Since its unveiling in July, the Epstein logo has fostered enthusiasm among faculty, parents and students. I am excited where we are going as a school and as an institution, Abusch-Magder said. We are constantly considering what it means to be a Jew and citizen in the 21st century, but also what it means to educate in todays era.

He said he hopes the Epstein community will be proud of the logo for the next five, 10 or 15 years and that we continue to grow and evolve alongside the community.

Excerpt from:

Epstein Not Just Spinning Its Wheel With Logo - Atlanta Jewish Times

Category: Jewish Heritage Month
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