The Saint Ann’s School seal was originally selected in a 1981 school wide contest. At that time, Jack McShane (History), who designed the emblem, described the owl: “I have used the representation of an Athenian drachma with the owl of Athena, the olive branch and the first three letters of her name to suggest that human excellence is what we strive for — and the highest of the Greek (Platonic) virtues (and, of course, of the city Athens).