Area parochial schools rebrand as Xavier Catholic Schools

Nine local schools are getting a brand makeover.

The Cedar Rapids Metro Catholic Education System – which includes All Saints Catholic School, Regis Middle School, St. Ludmila Elementary School, St. Jude Elementary Center, St. Joseph School, St. Matthew School, St. Pius X, LaSalle Middle School and Xavier High School – will now be known as the Xavier Catholic Schools.

Administrators revealed the re-branding strategy to students, staff and parents beginning on March 12, through letters sent home and posted on the Xavier High School website.

The schools, which are part of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, will all retain their names. However, each building will adopt Xavier High School's "cross-X" logo.

"It's one of the best known icons in the state among schools. It's everywhere," said Jeff Henderson, superintendent of the Archdiocese of Dubuque schools. "People know what it is and most importantly they know what it stands for. It made perfect sense to proceed that way because of that."

According to Archdiocese of Dubuque data, kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment has declined in the system over the last five years. Xavier Catholic Schools is currently serving 2,527 students for the current school year, 348 fewer than the 2,875 enrolled in 2008-09.

"As tuition has gone up, it's become more of a challenge for families to be able to make this work," Henderson said, noting that the schools do offer financial aid. "I think people look at the tuition and go, 'I don't think we can afford it.'"

Henderson said reversing that trend and raising the schools' visibility are the rebranding effort's two main goals.

The plan emerged from conversations that date back to fall 2011 in which pastors, school board members and administrators at the various buildings all discussed ways to work more closely, Henderson said. They conducted focus groups and worked with ME&V – a Cedar Falls-based public relations, advertising and marketing company – on the strategy.

"I don't think people necessarily realized the opportunities that were at our schools," he said. "If we start working together, we can start building on each others' strengths so we're not duplicating each others' efforts."

Aside from the logo and the fact that the schools will all use the same tagline, "Learning with a higher purpose," nothing should change as far as how the schools are run or serve students.

"It wasn't a case of us reinventing something," Henderson said. "It's us expanding on what was already there."