In 2018, Menaul School commissioned a marketing and advertising company (3 Advertising) to help with branding. We wanted to sum up our identity in a way that could be translated to prospective families, current families, alumni, and all others in our community. We know who we are and we know how very difficult it is to sum such a wonderfully complex place in only a few words. We tried, though, and worked with the company to produce our tagline: World Smart.
This is meant to encompass so many parts of Menaul School, not only our large number of students from places outside of America, but also our philosophy when creating curriculum. We want our students to be prepared for college, but also for life outside. We know academics are important, and we also feel like having a well-rounded worldview helps us relate to our fellow person, and be able to look at experiences with a global context.
This is not a new look for our school, Menaul has been accepting international students since its inception, and providing real-world lessons to help students inside the classroom and out. We had a farm for many years of our existence, and students would be required to assist with harvesting crops, cleaning stalls, and so much more. Students built the HP Childs Building in the 1940’s which is still in use today. Students nowadays are learning how to grow gardens in our Greenhouse Science class, bookmaking in our Medieval Arts class, they are required to take language courses and immediately able to utilize what they’ve learned with many of their classmates. All these practical and interesting skills help our students understand the world with actual experience rather than just reading about it.
Laura Hille, our International Admission Director, is one example of a community member aiding in this vision. She recruits students from all over the world, but also provides domestic and international students the opportunity to see and experience a different continent with her symbiotic exchange with Löwenrot Gymnasium in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She states the following reason for why we work to provide these unique opportunities for students and how we differentiate ourselves from the typical middle and upper school experience. “We want to give students a preview of the world – through the curriculum, hands-on experiences, and in interactions with their classmates – and give them the tools – diplomacy, communication, leadership – to understand it. We hope that this preview will lead to lifelong learning, asking questions, and further developing themselves as global citizens.”