Conversations and debates in hallways and classrooms begin to form about a change that is on everyone’s mind. From the traditional and long-lived green and red seal to a now modernized display through bright colors and bubbly letters, the new logo for Loudoun County Public Schools has shocked the LCPS community.
Since Loudoun County Public Schools’ original establishment in 1870, the logo across LCPS’s division has always stuck as the county seal. The seal dates back to 1968 and was devised by the College of Arms in London; it seems now, however, that it was time for LCPS to retire it and devise its own logo.
On September 26, 2023, LCPS unveiled its new trademark, now including a timeless structure, bright colors, and an important message. “We did want to convey some sort of modern forward thinking,” Dr. Aaron Spence, superintendent of LCPS, said.
“Those colors certainly are more aligned to the kind of modern people,” Spence said. “Each of them conveys certain elements that are important to us as a school division.” The seal features 4 bright colors: vibrant red, apricot, airy blue, and navy purple.
Vibrant red is meant to represent excellence and innovation, while also tying in notes of red from the county seal. Apricot is meant to represent the diversity and sense of community within our division, while airy blue exemplifies trust building. Navy purple, which can be found on the trims of the LCPS website as well, shows agility and opportunity. All of these colors tied together set up pillars for the values that LCPS strives towards.
As for the design, the logo was chosen from a selection of 115 student designs across the county. Out of those student designs, 3 designs were recognized and inspired the creation of the logo.
Melissa Cho, senior at Briar Woods, Faun Erbe, senior at Lightridge, and Asher Brennan, senior at Loudoun Valley, were all recognized for their designs at a school board meeting held on July 13, 2023. From there, 3 designs were derived from the students’ original artwork and then narrowed down to one.
“They have been talking about this for a few years,” Spence said. “The truth is LCPS didn’t have a logo. LCPS was using the county seal, so we wanted to have our own identity with that.” The process for the logo change began as early as 2021 and has continued to be in the works until 2023 when the initiative was taken to design the logo.
As for finances, the county has budgeted $52,500 for the changing of the logo and thus far the county has spent a little over half. “[Staff are] all going to have the old seal until they go through their regular replacements,” Spence said. Over time the new logo will become immersed into each school in the county.
“So much of the changes are digital, which is obviously not really a heavy cost,” Spence said. The logo change can easily be seen on the LCPS website, attached to staff emails, and being slowly implemented in schools across the county.
The logo is meant to represent the idea of looking ahead and a bright vision for the future. Whether you are a fan of the new logo or prefer the traditional seal, many efforts were made to ensure this trademark had a meaning.
LCPS’s mission statement for the county remains the same, but with the new logo change, there is an additional mantra that LCPS hopes will inspire their values for the county: “Engage. Empower. Enrich.”
