Style Guide - Names & Titles

Because Stanstead has many constituents, how we refer to people depends a lot on courtesy, position and intended audience. For example, we may refer to an alumnus as “Jacques” but a former head of school as “Mr. Smith.” The following guidelines, therefore, should be flexible depending on the situation.

Alumni
In general, after the initial full name, refer to alumni by first name in publications such as the Red & White.

Coaches
When referring to teachers' roles as a coaches, you may refer to them as Coach Smith.

Couples
Do not refer to a couple as Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Smith unless it is the couple’s specified preference. Write Jacques and Jill Smith or Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Jacques Smith and Jill Jones.

Courtesy titles - correspondence
Avoid courtesy titles in the body of correspondence when using full name: not I would like to thank Mr. Jacques Smith for his assistance, but I would like to thank Jacques Smith for his assistance. Secondary references may use courtesy titles. Furthermore, Mr. Smith was instrumental in our success. Dr. Jones was also helpful.

Do not use courtesy titles in inside addresses of correspondence, but do use for salutations:

Jacques Smith
Address Street
Stanstead, Que.

Dear Mr. Smith:

Courtesy titles - publicity & website
Avoid courtesy titles in press releases, publicity, website, etc. After the initial full name, use the last name only in subsequent references. Smith regaled the students with his stories.

Courtesy Titles - Teachers
In correspondence with parents, on the website, etc., refer to teachers as “Mr. Smith” or “Ms. Fauteux,” depending on their preference.

French names
Use accents where appropriate in French proper names. No accent is necessary on capital letters. Jean-Jacques Prévost, Marie-Eve Simard

Titles of publications and media
The following are italicized:
  • school handbooks: Faculty Handbook, IT Handbook
  • website names: McSweeney's Internet Tendencies but not URLs: http://mcsweeneys.net
  • newspapers: The Stanstead Journal
  • periodicals: Red & White
  • films: Gone With the Wind
  • books: The Grapes of Wrath
  • plays: Noises Off
  • symphonies: Pastoral Symphony
  • long poems: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Note: The school's reporting program, Edvance, does not accomodate italics. In this case, the above titles should be written in plain text (not in quotation marks).

The following are set in quotation marks:
  • articles in newspapers and periodicals: “Man bites dog”
  • chapter titles: “In Which We Run the Rapids”
  • short stories: “The Ransom of Red Chief”
  • television and radio shows: “Green Acres”
  • shorter poems: “The Second Coming”
  • musical compositions: “In-a-Gadda-da-Vida”
  • school forms and policies: “Preliminary Course Selection” "Acceptable Use Policy"
  • newsletters: "University Guidance Newsletter"
  • website sections: the "Choosing Grade 12" section of the Stanstead College website. Note: When including a hyperlink to the refered section, do not use quotation marks but plain text: the Choosing Grade 12 section of the website