July 1, 2021 - The Special School District of St. Louis County is ushering in the 2021-22 school year in style, with a brand new logo, tagline, and branding. The new logo and tagline, “Specialized for Success”, were developed in conjunction with work on the District’s next strategic plan and as recommended by a recent communications audit.

For the past year, a committee of District stakeholders has been working to refresh SSD’s branding and identity. “We wanted a more modern visual representation of SSD that clearly reflects our purpose and resonates with our families and community,” said Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Keenan. “The new logo and tagline line emphasizes the word ‘special’ — owning who we are and those we so passionately serve.”

SSD worked with the marketing firm Magnetize to develop concepts, which were based on input from stakeholder focus groups. A variety of concepts were then presented to an SSD branding work-group for feedback, with a final concept being presented to the Board of Education.

The logo features a two-tone blue palette, the SSD acronym that our community refers to the District as and includes the full name of the District. Our tagline, Specialized for Success, summarizes the District’s brand position, highlighting SSD’s approach and purpose.

“The new brand identity offers a bold, new expression of the SSD legacy, embraces the District’s future, and brings to the forefront those that we serve,” said Executive Director of Communications Jennifer Henry. “We hope that our new brand identity will create a greater awareness of all that SSD has to offer within our community.”

The new logo will be phased in over time to minimize any cost to the District. Digital media rebranding will be updated immediately at no cost, and will be reflected on SSD’s website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and electronic newsletters. Print media and other items will be replaced as needed. The previous District logo was adopted in 2003.