A few words on our recent name change by Head of School, Laura Blackburn

More than 500 years ago Shakespeare posed one of the most famous questions in all of literature: "What's in a name?" That line perhaps more than any other in the play "Romeo and Juliet" demonstrates the very crux of the conflict of the story as the two would-be soul mates struggle to overcome the constraints of a family name.

As I think back through events of the past year, even reaching back to the Summer and Fall of 2009, the question I've borrowed from classic literature parallels the question that first set us on a path to an eventual name change. What started as initiative to "spruce up our public image" turned into a conversation about our school's true identity in the local community. None of the school's leadership could have predicted the course of events that would follow, but we are thrilled with the results of the journey.

In the Fall of 2009 we engaged North Star Marketing-Communications, a consulting and creative services firm based in Burlington, NC, to review our communications program and help us work on some new marketing materials. The initial research quickly yielded some interesting feedback. In brief, we discovered the following three issues:

 

  • Initial feedback indicated that people associated with the school frequently had to "explain what Guilford Day School is not before they could properly explain what Guilford Day School is."
  • Furthermore, over the years the general public has often confused Guilford Day School with Greensboro Day School. We've even had charter buses and deliveries go to the wrong school out of confusion around the name.
  • Finally, our school community is made up of people from 10 counties and two states. That's significantly bigger than just Guilford County. We realized that our footprint is reaching a much broader area than when we first started.

 

Taking these factors into consideration, the Board of Trustees reviewed the feedback and discussed the options. It became clear that if we didn't take decisive action, we would perpetuate these issues indefinitely.

With this clarity, we issued a school-wide survey and got feedback on the name change options. We received some solid input and further evaluated the key messages that should be summarized in a new name.

One central theme surfaced that ultimately had a profound impact on the final result: "You can change our name, but don't change the knight." Our marketing team focused on this statement and began to work through the symbolism embodied in the knight: loyalty, honor, integrity, respect, determination, service.

In summary, a knight is noble. It just made sense. We had our name: Noble Academy.

We subsequently developed the logo and the accompany tagline: Explore, Understand, Achieve. Our new website went live at the start of this school year, and we have new promotional materials in the pipeline.

As you can see, it's an exciting time to be a part of Noble Academy! As we continue to work through the facilities and program expansion, we are proud to do so with a new name that represents who we are, what we do, and where we're going.

But before I close, this post would be incomplete without acknowledging the remarkable work done by the founders of Guilford Day School, Ginger Parnell and Rita Rice Ledford. In 1987 these pioneers realized the growing discrepancy between how a traditional learning environment is designed and what the learning environment should look like for students with learning difference. They took the initiative to do something about it. The result was Guilford Day School, now Noble Academy. We are proud of their work and their heritage. This name change is by no means a detraction from their efforts, but rather a tribute to their legacy. We stand on their shoulders and look to the future, spurred on by the mission of the school. We will press forward for the good of the families who will benefit from the people and programs at Noble Academy.

Of course, as Head of School, I don't want to miss the opportunity to ask for your help in taking the message of Noble Academy to the community. Although we are all familiar with the name change, the best way for people to really understand what happens here is for you to be our ambassadors. On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the leadership of your school, we are all grateful for your continued support.

Looking forward to great things-

Laura Blackburn, Head of School