District 214 reveals new brand, logo

Northwest Suburban High School District 214 has a new brand and tagline, part of an effort by administrators to bring national attention to the local schools.

The logo and tagline were introduced to the school board Thursday night by Jessica Thunberg, director of community engagement and outreach.

"A brand is more than a logo, tagline and color palette," Thunberg said. "It's how we talk about the important and impactful work we do here every day.

"It's our personality as a district. It's our promise to the students we educate, the staff we empower and employ and the communities we represent."

The new tagline is: "Discover your future."

"Everybody in our organization is a learner and we wanted to make sure we captured that," said Superintendent David Schuler.

"'Discover your future' fits everyone. We talk all the time about an evolving future that we can't even imagine today, so this works for that too."

The new logo is a red box with a large, swooping "D" next to the numbers "214." Officials said red was chosen to represent youth and energy, and it is the only color not used by one of the district's six high schools.

Since hiring Thunberg and Erin Brooks, assistant director of community engagement and outreach, last year, District 214 has been trying to increase its presence in the national education conversation.

On Thursday the school board approved hiring Jennifer Delgado, former Chicago Tribune reporter, as the district's new Media Manager. She will replace retiring district spokeswoman Venetia Miles as of July 1.

The new campaign, said school board member Jim Perkins, summarizes what District 214 does.

"When the kids come in, they are here to discover their futures," he said. "It's a great way to kick off our next 100 years."

The rollout of the new branding comes as the district is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Schuler said the district will be announcing a number of events to celebrate that milestone in August.

District 214 has six high schools and three alternative programs with 12,000 students from Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, Elk Grove Village, Rolling Meadows, Des Plaines and Wheeling.