The School in Rose Valley Alumni Magazine

PUBLICATION DESIGN

The School in Rose Valley

OVERVIEW

Kilter led a complete reimagining of The School in Rose Valley's alumni magazine, transforming a dated internal newsletter into an elevated publication that serves both current families and prospective ones.

SERVICES

Naming
Content Strategy
Publication Design
Illustration

Cover of Issue #1 of Grace Notes, the School in Rose Valley's, alumni magazine, renamed by Kilter.

CONTEXT

The School in Rose Valley has been a fixture of progressive education for nearly a century, guiding students through hands-on, inquiry-driven learning on a wooded campus outside Philadelphia.

For years FREEP, the school's alumni newsletter, kept members of the SRV community abreast of the latest on-campus happenings. The publication's name was derived from the phrase "Friday Free Press". The newsletter, however, hadn't matched that publishing schedule in years, leaving most of the current community unaware of what the acronym even meant. The newsletter itself felt similarly out of step: dense, modest in design, and easy to overlook in a stack of mail.

THE ASSIGNMENT

The School in Rose Valley asked Kilter to give their alumni publication a complete refresh: a new design, a new name, and a content strategy that could do double duty—honoring the school's nearly hundred-year legacy for the community that already knows it, while giving prospective families a window into what makes an SRV education distinct.

RESULTS

Winner

2026 Education Advertising Awards

OUR SOLUTION

We started by renaming the publication Grace Notes, a tribute to Grace Rotzel, the school's founding principal and a key figure in its progressive education legacy. This simple change replaced an outdated acronym with a name that carries real meaning.

Next, our redesign moved the piece from newsletter to magazine, with a visual language built around photography that lingers on the textures of a school day: hands in soil, materials mid-build, kids deep in focus. Paired with these photos, custom illustrations help surface the hidden learning happening beneath the surface—turning a seemingly simple activity like gardening into a window onto the thinking, problem-solving, and growth it actually represents.

Working closely with the SRV team, we also developed a content strategy that widened the publication's scope. Stories that speak to alumni nostalgia now live comfortably alongside features that showcase current programs, faculty, and campus life. The result reads less like an internal update and more like a magazine the school would be proud to put in a prospective family's hands, expanding its job from alumni touchpoint to admissions tool.

The new approach didn't just land with the SRV community but with the wider world evidenced by a 2026 Education Advertising Award win for Grace Notes' debut issue.

“Working with Kilter was fun and easy. Their well-scaffolded process allowed them to capture our wishes for our project, present exciting and diverse options, and keep us moving along our timeline. The end result was a fresh and creative publication that was consistent with our brand, but very elevated in design. And, it was completed and delivered on schedule. We are looking forward to getting started on the next edition of our magazine.”

Carrie Miluski
Director of Community Engagement, The School in Rose Valley