Recently have been talking a lot about the work Cynthia and I do in selecting candidates for the Masters program. But that is only because it is more interesting than our regular job. The majority of our time is consumed by teaching. We spend about 34 hours a week teaching classes. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the week. In addition to this, we spend about 2 hours a day preparing for classes, grading, photocopying, finding exercises on the internet, downloading lyrics for songs, sending people advice or listenings via email, etc. So the larger portion of our life is consumed with "Skola Jezykowa" (Language school) related activities.
The building itself was built over a hundred years ago as the personal home for a locally famous architect, and really does credit to what the Polish architectural aesthetic was, and might have become, had historical forces moved differently. Inside they still retain a few pieces of furniture designed by the original owner, large, heavy cabinets, but graceful, in their own way.
Our employer bought the building only a year ago, after her business outgrew the building they were in at the time. After having the new building open for 3 months, they are once again running at maximum capacity. This is despite having remodelled the building to extract extra classrooms from all available spaces.
All the classrooms are rather large, well-lit, and gracefully apportioned. In some rooms they have preserved the original hand-hewn beams that run up to the peak of the room to support it. You can definitely see that a lot of thought went into the remodelling of the buildings and the furnishings of the rooms. And work still goes on, adding small wooden benches here and there, a bit of trim over the radiator, just nice touches that make it a more comfy place.
This carefully considered atmosphere that is seen in the rooms is also reflected outside the school. The school's trademark is designed to look like the London Underground symbol (seen hanging in the photo above,) and the billboards located at many strategic high-traffic points about town feature a Palace guard-type, with the big bearskin hats, screaming his head off in excitement about something or other. It is a bit of a disturbing image, and due to the incongruity of it, and possibly the silliness of it, difficult to forget. This image is also placed on folders which every student is issued at the beginning of the year. Thus, every time they take out their folder to do homework, they are advertising for the school. The back of the folder has the present, past and past participle forms of all the irregular verbs listed, thus providing a reason for the student to use it, rather than another folder - a built-in reference tool. Naturally, the list of verbs is superimposed over the school logo, so both sides are advertising for the school.
Obviously, these items, (the palace guard, the underground-type logo,) are all designed to evoke thoughts of England. And if this were not sufficient, she (the owner of the school) recently imported a red telephone booth of the sort normally found in London, and had it assembled in front of the school. Yesterday I even caught some kids taking pictures in front of the phone booth, in an obviously pseudo-touristic I-am-in-London manner. (I have a photo of myself in front of such a phone booth, in fact.)
All this to say that a lot of thought and attention has gone into the branding of the school, the marketing, and how to catch the public's eye.
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