Central Catholic High School
A shared experience of belonging
The Challenge
For more than 80 years, Central Catholic High School has had a lifelong and lasting effect on students and families from greater Portland and Southwest Washington. Theirs is a deeply connected community of people who will be the first to tell you stories about how their lives were defined by their experience at Central Catholic.
After completing important visioning work in 2020, Central Catholic leadership knew it was time to document these stories to help others understand their unique community and purpose.
Our assignment? Develop a shared storytelling framework and messaging to align Central Catholic faculty, staff, alumni, students and families for the benefit of future generations.
The Goal & Strategy
WPR started by facilitating listening sessions with more than 200 old and new alumni, current students, parents, faculty and staff. Participants reflected on the qualities that make Central Catholic unique and impactful to so many.
Key learnings informed the development of the school’s purpose, vision and core values. The work also shined a light on the opportunity for the school to speak more boldly about its academic excellence and the diversity of its student body. We landed on a powerful positioning statement to inspire new and existing audiences: You belong at Central Catholic.
From there, we created a brand manifesto and an eventual video that was utilized to kick off the fall admissions period, at back-to-school night, and at the annual president’s dinner & auction. We then created a strategic communications launch plan, performed an audit of the school’s website with recommendations for incorporating the new shared language, and more.
200
Alumni Interviews
2
Online Surveys
12
Listening Sessions
85
Year-Old School
The Results
This branding process helped foster a more engaged and aligned leadership team, alumni, and student community that feel better equipped to articulate and share the story of Central Catholic’s unique community. Among the highlights:
- Central Catholic hired a full-time communications director.
- The work informed the creation of a new website for the school, including design and messaging.
- The school introduced work in the Winter issue of the alumni magazine, showcasing faculty and staff voices around values.
- The work is used to guide content for future magazines.
The annual president’s dinner & auction wove the new language throughout the program, including in the mission moment video.
Central Catholic Brand Manifesto Video
Central Catholic Magazine, Winter 2024
We worked with the WPR team to develop a brand plan, strategic messaging, elevator pitch and positioning statement. In less than a year, we had all of those elements in place and are using them with great success in our admissions, marketing and fundraising initiatives. The Weinstein PR team is smart, professional, creative and highly results-oriented. My advice: Hire this team!”
Ellie Dir
Vice President of Advancement, Central Catholic
