LEAP Academy University Charter School
Founded in 1997, LEAP (Leadership, Education, And Partnership) Academy University Charter School is one of the thirteen original public charter schools in the State of New Jersey and the first one in Camden City. Under the strategic and visionary leadership of Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, along with a group of local parents and stakeholders, LEAP has continued to expand its academic offerings and programs, and produce unmatched results - 100 percent graduation and college placement rates since its first graduating class in 2005.
To mark its 20th anniversary, LEAP engaged Lyquix to refresh its brand and design and develop a new website.
LEAP Academy University Charter School is a leader in the charter school movement, and needed its brand identity to reflect its standing within the charter school movement. LEAP wanted to appeal to a broader, more sophisticated national audience.
Lyquix developed a brand platform that included the following elements:
- Unique Value Proposition
- Key Messages
- Logo
- Color Scheme
- Typography
LEAP Logo
The four integrated shapes represent LEAP’s continuous commitment to inner city families and students, from cradle to college. The four part mark illustrates the four components of the LEAP model and LEAP’s commitment to empowering academic excellence, as well as economic and community development through comprehensive education, health, personal, and professional development programs.
LEAP Color Scheme
We chose shades of red, orange, blue, and green to represent the energy, diversity, and spirit of LEAP Academy.
LEAP Typography
We paired traditional and academic typefaces to create a system that appeals to a broader, more sophisticated national audience.
As we worked on the brand platform, it became clear that the new website had to serve a dual purpose - it needed to promote LEAP’s model and results to a national audience, while also providing important information to the school community in Camden.
Using the WordPress content management system, we designed and developed a fully responsive website that effectively communicates and promotes LEAP’s mission - providing educational excellence from cradle to college - and highlights its impact on the Camden community, while providing vital school information for members of the LEAP community.
Project Highlights
- Formal brand development and corporate identity design
- Redesign a website that serves a national audience, as well as parents, community, and staff
- Implementation of a modern content management system
Addressing all this information on a single site proved to be challenging. With careful planning during the architecture phase and great attention to the user experience during the design phase, we were able to leverage multiple menus throughout the site to ensure that information for a specific audience was easily accessible from any location on the site.
The site also includes a custom alert system that allows administrators to broadcast important messages to users on the site, and an online giving platform that allows LEAP to accept one-time and recurring donations through its website.
Through the use of carefully selected, impactful imagery, key messaging, and succinct content sections, we were able to showcase LEAP’s impact on the Camden community and its influence in the national charter school movement.