St. Joseph's Prep Style Guide

List of 29 items.

• Advancement and Alumni Publication Names

  For Advancement and alumni publications (Alumni Prep Update, Advancing the Prep, The Prep News, President's Report), use first and last name upon first reference, and last name upon subsequent references (unless a Catholic priest or it refers to the context of the text.)
  
  For honorable titles, use title in first reference, then last name in subsequent references.
  John Doe, former mayor of Philadelphia
  

• Apostrophes

  Do not use apostrophes when pluralizing letters
  As and Bs

• Athletics

  When referring to athletic teams refer to use Prep Sport versus sport team.
  Capitalize as such:
  Prep Football
  Prep Crew
  Prep Baseball won the game today.
  
  The football team won its game.
  The varsity baseball team won the game.
  
  Prep Junior Varsity Football
  Freshman Soccer played a game today.
  The crew program

  JV Basketball has a game today.

• Black/BIPOC

  Use Black
  

  
  BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color) students

• Board of Trustees

  Board of Trustees
  the board
  trustee (singular)
  e.g., John Doe, a trustee of the school, commented,
  John Doe, Trustee
  Mr. or Ms. Doe joined the meeting

• Catholic Church nomenclature

  Lowercase the words archdiocese and diocese except when they are used as part of a proper name.
  
  Lowercase church, unless it is used in the formal name of a building.
  e.g., Church of the Gesu
  
  Bible, bible, biblical

• Cities and States

  Spell out the full name of the state when no city is involved
  John Doe lives in Pennsylvania.
  
  When a city is mentioned, abbreviate using AP abbreviations
  John Doe lives in Havertown, Pa.
  
  Per AP Style, the following states are never abbreviated:
  Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah
  

• Class Years and Parent Years

  There is no comma between a name and a class year. 
  Joseph Hawk '78
  
  If an alumnus and a parent, Joseph Hawk '78 P '22
  
  Parent years are written in ascending order, with a comma between the son's years. 
  
  Joseph Hawk '78 P '20, '22

  Mary Hawk P '20, '22
  
  For parents of twins, list the class year twice, with a comma between the class years.
  Mary and Joseph Hawk P '20, '20
  
  If using an apostrophe to show possession, use this after the class year.
  Joseph Hawk '90's website is www.sjprep.org.

• Classes

  Refer to individual classes with a capital C
  The Class of 2022
  
  When appropriate, use "the great Prep Class of '22"
  
  When shortening class years, always use a single close quote
  Class of '22

• co-

  Use a hyphen when forming a word with co-.
  e.g., co-author

• Co-curriculars

  Use co-curriculars, rather than extra-curriculars.

• Degrees, Suffixes, and Titles

  For degrees, use periods between letters.
  e.g., B.A., M.A., Ph.D., M.D., D.O., Ed.D., Psy.D.
  John Doe, M.D.
  
  When used after a name, an academic or religious abbreviation is set off by commas.
  Rev. John Doe, S.J., gave a homily.
  
  In an article, prefer to use Dr. John Doe vs. John Doe, M.D. upon first reference. 
  Upon second reference, use last name only unless a specified reason.
  
  However, in donor lists, use John Doe, M.D.
  
  Use an apostrophe in bachelor's degree and master's degree. But use capitalization and no apostrophe in Bachelor of Arts; Master of Science. The word degree should not follow an abbreviation.
  She has a B.A. in English.
  
  The academic discipline should be lowercase, except when this is a proper noun.
  e.g., bachelor's degree in math, master's degree in English
  
  For family suffixes, use a comma before Jr. and Sr. However, do not use for Roman numerals.
  John Doe, Jr.
  John Doe III
  
  John Doe, Esq.
  John Doe, Esq., graduated from a law school.
  

• Ignatian Engagement Committee

  Ignatian Engagement Committee

• Kairos

  Kairos is spelled with a capital K, and lowercase. For number of Kairos, use numerals rather than Roman numerals.
  Kairos 125

• Money

  $1,580,000
  $1.5 million
  
  When possible over $1 million, use words.
  $1 million
  $1.5 million
  
  For less than $1 million, use the number figure.
  $100,000
  

  When multiple donations are noted, the noun noted should be plural.
  $1 million in donations
  
  When possible, use gift versus donation.

• Names of School Staff

  When referring to school staff and faculty, refer to with title, first name, and last name.
  Mrs. Jane Doe
  Dr. John Doe
  Mr. John Doe
  
  
  

• Non-English Phrases

  Italicize non-English phrases
  alma mater, cum laude, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam
  
  Ad maiorem Dei gloriam — Note capitalization

• Office of Admission terms

  Officer of Admission (not Admissions)
  the great Prep Class of '26

• Phone Numbers

  For phone numbers, use dashes between numbers.
  e.g., 215-555-5555

• Plurals

  Do not use apostrophe when pluralizing letters
  e.g., As and Bs

• Religious Congregations

  Always use periods in S.J.
  
  On first reference, Rev. John Doe, S.J.
  On second reference, Fr. Doe
  
  If an alum, Rev. John Doe, S.J., '72
  
  Sister Jane Doe, G.N.S.H.
  On second reference, use personal preference
  Sr. Jane, Sr. Woody
  
  In speeches, use "Society of Jesus," rather than "S.J."
  
  Mass is celebrated

• Seasons

  In general, use lowercase
  e.g., fall, spring, summer, winter

• Series Comma

  Use the series comma in all instances

• St. Joseph's Prep Departments/Nomenclature

  Mission and Ministry
  Crimson and Gray
  Cape & Sword
  Theatre
  Office of Institutional Advancement 

• St. Joseph's Prep Nomenclature

  Always use St. (not Saint) as in St. Joseph’s Prep, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School

  When using the Prep please use a lowercase t
  
  St. Joe's Prep: only used informally, such as on social media or for athletics. St. Joseph's Prep or the Prep is preferred.
  
  When referring to a group of Prep students or alumni, please use Prep Hawks.
  
  Note: When referring to Saint Joseph’s University, use the word “Saint”.
  
  

• St. Joseph's Prep Spaces

  Read More

• Strategic Plan

  Many Parts, One Prep

• Street Addresses

  When referring to the intersection of the Prep, use 17th and Girard
  
  When referring to other street names, use "and"
  
  If an intersection, don't use "street, avenue, boulevard", etc.
  
  In headlines, use 17TH AND GIRARD

• Web Addresses

  Including https:// is not necessary.
  
  Periods should be used at the end of a sentence, even if the sentence ends in a URL.