Wikipedia:WikiProject Georgia (U.S. state)/Education article structure

This guideline is provided to help editors as they organize Georgia education related articles. It has been developed by the members for the Georgia Education Task Force, but is not an official Wikipedia policy and editors are not obliged to follow them. Updates should be made to this page when necessary, but controversial changes should be discussed on the discussion page before implementation.

General tips

 * Select the appropriate article name. New articles should always be named using the common (not necessarily official) name of the institution. This can often be determined by looking at current branding of a school or organization via their website, published documents, and advertisements. You may also wish to name the article according to Naming conventions (schools) to avoid confusion. A few general rules are:
 * Title capitalization. Capitalize every word in the title except for articles such as the, of, and and.
 * The University of. In general, do not use The before the institution name unless it is the commonly recognized name of the university, such as The College of William & Mary or The Art Institute of Boston. Institutions may be officially named using The (such as Ohio State University and George Washington University), however it is preferred that The be left out of the article name.
 * No abbreviations. - Never use abbreviations or acronyms in titles unless the institution you are naming is almost exclusively known only by including such terms and is widely used in that form. See Naming conventions (abbreviations) for more information.


 * Use references. Before starting an article or making additions, an adequate amount of verifiable information written in reliable published sources, preferably independent of the article’s subject. This will make meeting the recommended content requirements easier than trying to find the information after the article has already been started (or hoping others will). A school's own website is not an independent source. An article should not rely solely on what its subject has to say about itself (as with any article in Wikipedia). References from third-party sources are particularly important for school awards and contentious statements. For private schools in North America, an accreditation body or government source should be provided to show the organization is a legitimate school. If a resource is online (which is ideal) consider that potentially it will go offline (newspapers often allow free reading only for recent stories) and provide sufficient information so that the story could still be found (author, publication, full article title, date, etc.). See Footnotes for the technical details of how to do this in a standard format.


 * Use article sections. The following section names are for guidance only, and may be adjusted to suit local spelling, custom, and organization.


 * Infobox — Infoboxes provide quick access to vital information on a school, and are convenient for readers to find very common information. All school articles should have an infobox providing the basic details about the school. Suitable infoboxes include:


 * Infobox School
 * Infobox University
 * Infobox School District
 * Infobox Secondary school


 * Introduction/lead —Write a lead that concisely summarizes the school into one or two paragraphs that would make sense to someone who knows nothing about the school or education topic. Give the full official name of the school or organization and detail about its location (town/municipality, county/state/province, country). You may also add a few facts that make the subject unique. Include any affiliation with any larger school system or any accreditation agency, if applicable.


 * History — Describe the history, including noteworthy milestones in its development. You can also add the name of the founders and founding name if available


 * Campus/school site — Describe the school site/campus. Mention the overall shape and size or any famous buildings or stadia and their architects. A separate section on architecture is sometimes appropriate.


 * Student activities — Mention the sports team(s) of the school and what is notable about them. Mention significant championships for the sports teams. Specific students should not be mentioned unless they are notable in their own right. Specific school traditions, like students' union/student council activities, a student newspaper, clubs, regular activities, etc. may also be mentioned. Alternative headings could be Students' Union, Sports and Traditions or Students' Union Activities.


 * Notable alumni — Provide a list of notable alumni with a short description to explain why they are famous. Alumni without their own Wiki articles should always have third-party references. See undefined for additional instructions.


 * Notable teachers/faculty — The names of current and former teachers should only be included if they are notable in their own right (for example, they are published authors or they have won a teaching award) or they have been the subject of multiple non-trivial press coverage. See undefined for additional instructions.


 * References — Provide verifiable reliable sources of information that are independent.


 * External links — Give a link to the website of the school. Include other official informational links that might interest readers, but whose contents might be beyond the scope of inclusion in the article (for example, links to a school's Parent Teacher Association). See External links for additional instructions.


 * Use internal links. Follow the Wikipedia Manual of Style and only make links that are relevant to the context. Days, months and years should not be linked in school articles unless the inclusion of such a link is of specific relevance to the article.


 * Be careful with statistics. Brief statistics, such as the number of pupils or the size of the student body, may be included. You should always state the date when the information is current. Also, be cautious about using statistics that require frequent updates.


 * Don’t include trivia. School articles should only contain material of encyclopedic interest. Trivia which is only of interest to pupils in the school (such as daily lunch menus, location of the toilets, a room-by-room description of the school facilities) should never be included.


 * Keep lists to a minimum. Prose with context is preferred when writing an article.


 * Remember that Wikipedia is not a directory. School articles should specifically not include:
 * Lists of current teachers, pupils, administrative staff, school secretaries, etc.
 * Details of the school uniform (unless of course the uniform is particularly notable or distinctive).
 * School timetables and Bell Schedules.
 * Current school events which are only of short-term interest.
 * Telephone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.


 * Be clear. Remember that Wikipedia has a worldwide audience. Abbreviations should be written out in full on their first occurrence and local terminology must be explained or Wiki-linked. Remember that words can often have very different meanings in different countries. For example, kindergarten is a pre-school in most European countries but part of the school system in North America. A grammar school is a selective secondary school in Europe but an elementary school in North America.


 * Use images if possible. Images can enhance articles, but only use them when they help to illustrate the topic (e.g. are relevant). Be sure all images are freely licensed or public domain (See Image use policy). In most cases, the only way to accomplish this, is for a Wikipedian (such as yourself) to personally take the photo themselves and then donate the picture to the public domain or license it freely. An image of the school logo should have its own specific fair use rationale. See Non-free use rationale guideline for more information.


 * Be careful when including school songs, school hymns and fight songs. All school songs should be referenced. It is recommended that school songs without appropriate references where the copyright status is unclear should be deleted. As a rule of thumb if the name of the author is known copyright usually expires 70 years after the death of the author, although some countries have slightly shorter terms. If the name of the author is not known, copyright expires 70 years after the first known performance, except for schools in the US where copyright expires 95 years after the first known performance. For further guidance and for advice on a case-by-case basis visit Copyright problems.


 * Be bold. The key to writing a good school article is to explain why the school is unique. What makes it different from every other school? Does it have special programs? Is there a history of championship sports teams? Are there a large number of famous alumni? Has there been a noteworthy event there?

College or university
(School name) is a (type) college/university located in (city), Georgia, United States. (Facts that make the school unique). The current president/chancellor is (Name)

High schools
(School name) is a (type) high school located in (city), Georgia, United States. (Facts that make the school unique). The current principal is (Name)

Elementary and middle schools
(School name) is a (type) elementary/middle school located in (city), Georgia, United States. (Facts that make the school unique). The current principal is (Name)

School districts
(School district name) is a school district based in (county name), Georgia, United States. The district is run by an elected Board of Public Education and operates most public schools in the county including those in the city of (major cities in county). The current superintendent is (Name)

Currently, the system has an active enrollment of over (number) students and operates (number) facilities including (number) elementary schools, (number) middle schools, (number) high schools, and satellite facilities The school system also supports (number) alternative schools for middle and/or high school students and an adult learning center.

Board of Public Education
The Board of Public Education is the elected policy-making branch of the school district's administration. (Number of board members) board members, each representing a geographic district, are elected to a (number of years)-year term.

The current School Board members are:


 * President - (Name)
 * District 1 - (Name)
 * District 2 - (Name)
 * District 3 - (Name)

Superintenant
The superintendent of schools is appointed by the Board of Public Education and is charged with implementing the board's policies and the overall administration of the school system. (Superintendent Name) became superintendent in (date).

High Schools

 * Sample High School

Middle Schools

 * Sample Middle School

Elementary Schools

 * Sample Elementary School

Charter Schools

 * Sample Charter School

Non-Traditional Schools

 * Sample Non-Traditional School

Evening School Programs

 * Sample Evening School

High Schools

 * Former High School

Middle Schools

 * Former Middle School

Elementary Schools

 * Former Elementary School