New GNPS Logo
New GNPS Logo
The Great Neck Public School District publicly unveiled a refresh of its venerable GNPS Logo on Superintendent's Conference Day, February 5, 2019. The student-created logo reflects the District's new mission statement, first-ever motto ("Where Discovery Leads to Greatness"), and new hashtag (#DiscoverGreatness).
The Process:
During the 2017-18 school year, the District reached out to South High School art teacher Safia Fatimi and North High School art teacher Samantha Barratt to task select art students from both high schools with a challenge to participate in activity to update the venerable GNPS Logo for the future.
The art teachers prepared the students for the project by researching other school district and commercial logos and studying their design, history, and meaning. Superintendent Dr. Teresa Prendergast and District Technology Director Marc Epstein met with the art class in each school to explain the project and frame their role as clients for this service. The students asked numerous question that would help them create a vision for the new logo based on the District's rebranding efforts. The students developed drafts, refined their artwork throughout the school year, and critiqued each other's designs.
The Finalists:
In June, Dr. Prendergast and Mr. Epstein met with the art teachers to select the finalists. You can see all the selections here:
The New Logo:
A District Motto Committee that had worked the previous school year to create the new District motto, "Where Discovery Leads to Greatness," and the new District hashtag, #DiscoverGreatness, was reconvened in the Fall of 2018 to review the finalist entries and select the logo that best represented our rebranding efforts. The committee consisted of the following District representatives:
- Dr. Teresa Prendergast, Superintendent of Schools
- Marc Epstein, District Technology Director
- Jerry Cozine, North Middle School Principal
- Ron Gimondo, John F. Kennedy School Principal
- Chris Gitz, South High School Principal
- Dan Holtzman, North High School Principal
- Samantha Tarantola, Community Education Director
- Frank Bua, South Middle School Social Studies Department Head
- Daniel Isaac, South Middle School Social Studies Teacher
- Jessica Kleinhaut, E.M. Baker School Speech/Language Specialist
- Ellen Siegel, E.M. Baker School TESL Teacher
The winning logo was designed by then South High School junior, Shibo Zhou.