ROBBINSDALE AREA SCHOOLS
Explore RDale’s Reimagined Learning Pathways
To help students and families better understand their academic and career options as they moved throughout the K-12 system, Robbinsdale Area Schools partnered with CEL to unify and elevate existing district resources under a single, cohesive system: Explore Learning Pathways. CEL brought together previously siloed materials into an integrated framework that clearly guides users through course offerings, specialized programs, and post-secondary pathways. At the core of the career-focused communications sits RBlueprint—a branded identity for hands-on, college and career academic learning opportunities.
In addition to branding and pathway development, CEL created a comprehensive set of educational tools—including print collateral and presentation decks—to engage community partners, support families, and prepare staff for future-focused conversations. After the transition to this singular system, Robbinsdale’s communications now empower families to make informed choices and help every student see a clear path forward.
Bringing Structure and Simplicity to Complex Systems
Over the years, Robbinsdale’s course offerings, career programs, and academic pathways had evolved into a collection of disconnected systems and information dumps, distributed across various departments, formats, and even schools. A key piece of CEL’s work including bringing this information together under a unified brand: Explore Learning Pathways. This system provided a consistent, accessible structure that helped users move fluidly from general information to school-specific details.
Within this framework, RBlueprint was introduced as the district’s identity for the career and technical education component, giving students a centralized starting point to explore hands-on learning opportunities and academic coursework. Together, these brands created a cohesive experience across web, print, and presentation materials—replacing jargon, acronyms, and siloed language with clarity, consistency, and confidence.
Creating Transparency for Students and Families
For many families, navigating course options and future planning across the K–12 system can be overwhelming. CEL turned its attention to redesigning Robbinsdale’s Explore Learning Pathways website. The result prioritizes mapping out academic, career, and community pathways in an intuitive format, allowing increased transparency for families, whether they are new to the district or moving to the next step of their pathway. New, custom iconography signals key program features—such as which schools offer International Baccalaureate® programming, Advanced Placement coursework, dual language enrollment, or career pathway strands—helping families quickly understand what’s available and where. Paired with simplified language, the icons allow families to compare offerings across schools and programs without getting lost in jargon or directed to separate websites. Whether a student is exploring their next grade level or a family is planning their long-term K-12 journey, the site turns complex decisions into easy-to-follow next steps.
From Static to Searchable
Robbinsdale’s original course catalogs were complex, segmented, and difficult to navigate, making it hard for students to clearly understand what opportunities were available and on what school campus. CEL transformed this system into a single filterable database that lived on the district website. Instead of navigating information or documents across multiple website pages, users can now filter offerings by school, subject, or pathway strand in just a few simple clicks. The system was truly designed with accessibility in mind to support a wide range of learners and families.
To maintain familiarity and school identity, hidden, pre-filtered boards were embedded on each high school’s website, allowing students and families to stay within their home school site while viewing tailored options. This experience simplifies course exploration, breaks down barriers between schools, and ensures students and families can clearly see how academic choices connect future opportunties—all in one place!
Supporting Communication Across Audiences
To ensure consistent messaging, CEL developed a suite of communication tools tailored to each audience including families, students, community partners, and internal staff. Collateral included grade-specific presentation decks helped counselors introduce learning pathways at critical transition points and print materials like brochures, postcards, and posters reinforced key messages while reaching external audiences in family-friendly formats. This unified approach ensured that no matter who was sharing the information—or where—it reflected the same clear, student-centered message.
From Icons to Access: Eyes on Equity
To ensure that Robbinsdale’s offerings and opportunities remain understandable in the new format, CEL focused on reducing educational jargon and introducing a new visual layout. Specialized programs like IB, AP, PSEO, or Career & College used plain language descriptions with existing standard program symbols. Expanding into a full custom icon library, the new visual identities, paired with color-coding strands and clear symbols, made it easier for families to quickly identify strands and key features across different pathways and programs. Whether identifying AP curriculum, dual language opportunities, or hands-on experiences for college prep, these icons served as quick reference tools to increase familiarity in a new system.
CEL partnership with Robbinsdale Area Schools turned a fragmented system of PDFs into a cohesive and easy-to-navigate experience. This change elevated how the district communicated academic and career experiences, providing much-needed clarity and transparency. The Explore Learning Pathways system, including the RBlueprint career-based strands, represents a new dynamic experience that guides students with purpose and empowers families to take an active role in planning their educational journey. Clear strategy and inclusive design are what turn complex information and fragmented systems into tools that every student and family can confidently use.
