Writing Standards

Category	Title	Description
District Terminology	Acronym	All acronyms, even commonly used education acronyms, should be fully spelled out on first reference. The acronym should appear in parentheses on first reference and appear without parentheses thereafter. Ex. Students will participate in multiple Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Our school offers 45 AP courses. Limit your use of acronyms as much as possible, especially for materials targeting the general public and community who are not familiar with the jargon.
Writing Principles	Active Voice	Use active voice whenever possible. Active voice emphasizes who or what is doing the action. Passive voice emphasizes the receiver of the action or the action itself.Active: A dozen students invaded the principal's office this afternoon. Passive: The principal's office was invaded by a dozen students this afternoon.
Legal & Compliance	Affirmative Action Statement (English)	The following statement must appear on all other publications and forms produced for off-campus distribution, as well as internal District web sites.English:In accordance with Title VI-Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX-Education Amendment of 1972, Section 504-Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992, the North East Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap.
General	Affirmative Action Statement(Spanish)	The following statement must appear on all publications.Spanish:Conforme al Título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, al Título IX de las Enmiendas de Educación de 1972, a la Sección 504 de la Ley de Rehabilitación de 1973 y al Título II de la Ley sobre Estadounidenses con Discapacidades de 1992, el North East Independent School District no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, edad, sexo o discapacidad.
Grammar & Punctuation	Ampersand (&)	The ampersand should not be used in the place of the word and. Use only as part of an organization's formal name: Procter & Gamble Co.
Grammar & Punctuation	Apostrophes	Not Needed:Veterans Day Grandparents Day School Nurses Day National Teachers Day National Principals Month When describing a decade: 1980s, 1990s, etc Needed:Father's Day Mother's Day Valentine's Day Presidents' Day St. Patrick's Day
Capitalization & Naming	Capitalization	The seasons—fall, spring, summer and winter—should be written in lowercase. The word "kindergarten" should be written in lowercase. Capitalize the word "school" when part of a proper name. Example: Roan Forest Elementary School, Madison High School
District Terminology	Central Office	The Richard A. Middleton Education Center, located at 8961 Tesoro Drive, is often referred to as central office. Central office is also often used to describe all non-school-based employees. Central office should not be capitalized unless it begins a sentence.
Grammar & Punctuation	Commas	In a series of three or more items, use a comma after every item except before the word "and," and that is followed by the last item.Example: Jerry, Randy, Paul and John are advancing to state competition.
Dates, Numbers & Time	Dates and Months	When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only these months: Jan. Feb. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Example: Nov. 28, 2015, March 5, 2015, August 2015—Spell out when using alone, or with a year along.
District Terminology	Departments	Capitalize the department or program name on all references.
District Terminology	Districtwide	Districtwide should be written as one word, without a hyphen. Only capitalize if it is at the beginning of a sentence and if referring specifically to NEISD.
Digital Communications	Email	Email is always spelled out without a hyphen. It should be lowercase unless it begins a sentence. Example: Check your email.; Email submission is required.
Grammar & Punctuation	Hyphenation	Hyphenate words to avoid ambiguity, and when two words are being used together to describe something else. Example: first-grade class, 12th-grade student, fourth-grader, Jackson-Keller Elementary School (only NEISD school with a hyphenated name). For blocks of text, do not use hyphenation to wrap words from one line to the next. This is harder to read and distracting to the reader.
Capitalization & Naming	Kindergarten	Lowercase unless it is the first word of a sentence.
Capitalization & Naming	Mr., Mrs., Miss., Ms.	Do not use courtesy titles, such as Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms., unless they are part of a direct quotation or are needed to differentiate between people of different genders who have the same last name.
Capitalization & Naming	Names	Always use a person's first and last name on first reference. Only use last names on second reference. Ex. John Smith spoke to the group.; Smith was very informative.
District Terminology	North East ISD	When referencing North East Independent School District, use the full title on the first mention. The first reference can be written as North East ISD or North East Independent School District. After the first reference, you may use District, capitalized as a proper noun. Periods are not needed with the acronym, NEISD.Acceptable: North East ISD or NEISD Not Acceptable: Northeast ISD, North East I.S.D. or N.E.I.S.D.
Dates, Numbers & Time	Numbers	For numbers 0-9 - spell out. For numbers 10 and higher - use numeral, unless at the beginning of the sentence. Grade levels follow the same format - first grade, second grade, etc. 10th grade, 12th grade.Use a numeral to indicate age: 5-year-old boy or the boy is 5 years old.Always spell out a number if it begins a sentence, unless it is a year.
Dates, Numbers & Time	Percent	Spell out percent instead of using symbol (%) in formal writing. Acceptable:He passed 50 percent of the test. Not acceptable:He passed 50% of the test.
Photography & Publications	Photography	High quality images are an important design element that can help make communications stand out. Photographs should be high quality for both digital and print communications. Because photos can always be made smaller, it is suggested that you take photographs at the highest resolution possible. 300 dpi is standard. *Be certain that media release forms are on file before publishing or sharing any photo of an NEISD student.Photo captions should be written in present tense.
Capitalization & Naming	Punctuation of Job Titles	According to the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, titles are to be capitalized when written before an individual's name and kept in lowercase if written after an individual's name. We understand this can cause confusion for some. As a rule, NEISD has adopted to always capitalize titles whether they appear before or after an individual's name. Example: "We ensure the highest level of quality," said John Smith, Executive Director of Safety.
District Terminology	School Names	When referencing schools, use the complete name of the school on first reference. Subsequent references may use the short version of the names such as Johnson or Nimitz.
Capitalization & Naming	School Subjects	Names of school subjects (math, algebra, geology, psychology) are not capitalized, with the exception of the names of languages (French, English). Names of courses are capitalized (Algebra 201, Math 001).
Dates, Numbers & Time	School Year	School years contain complete numbers and are connected with hyphen 2017-2018. (Instead of 2017-18)
Grammar & Punctuation	Space After a Period	Use only one space after a period that concludes a sentence.
District Terminology	Superintendent of Schools	The Superintendent of Schools for North East ISD is Dr. Sean Maika, Ed.D. His name can be written in two ways. Dr. Sean Maika or Sean Maika, Ed.D. His appropriate title is: Superintendent of Schools.
Dates, Numbers & Time	Times	Times should always be accompanied by a.m. and p.m.—lowercase and separated by periods. Always spell out noon and midnight. Do not use :00. Example:1 p.m.; 3:30 a.m.; 9 a.m.- noon; 10:30 p.m.- midnight. Do not indicate it this way: 1:00-4:00 PM
Digital Communications	Website	Website should be written as one word and only capitalized if at the beginning of the sentence. References such as Web page and Web browser are written as two words with the word Web capitalized.
Digital Communications	Web Event Titles (NEISD website)	Titles will be event name only. These do not need to be an action phrase.(EX. Johnson Spring Craft Fair and Market)Start the title with school name or NEISDNo need to use words elementary, middle or high school in title; or the initials ES, MS, HS Don't abbreviate school names unless space is an issue.
Digital Communications	Web News Titles (NEISD website)	Titles should be action phrases.(EX. Roosevelt hosts successful blood drive) —Start the title with the school name or NEISD (EX. NEISD schools ranked among best in country; Wood wins state championship) —Do not use the words elementary, middle or high school in news title; Additionally, do not use the abbreviations ES, MS, HS(EX. West Avenue raises child abuse prevention vs. West Avenue Elementary raises child abuse prevention) —Don't abbreviate school names. (EX. MacArthur vs Mac)