Board Meetings
Always capitalize formal meetings of the Board of Education, including Business Meeting, Work Session, Special Called Business Meeting and all committee meetings.
Board Members
Each elected member of the SCBE is referred to as a Board member. Board is always capitalized, and Member should only be capitalized when it is used as a formal title.
Ex. John Smith was elected to the Shelby County Board of Education.
Board Member Smith introduced the resolution.
Smith is one of seven new Board members this year.
Cabinet
Always capitalize Cabinet when referencing the Superintendent’s executive leadership team. Cabinet-level positions should also be capitalized when referring to a specific person, but not position titles alone.
C19TV & 88.5FM
The District’s broadcast outlets, C19TV and 88.5FM, should always appear in all caps and without spaces.
Central Office
The Board of Education building, located at 160 S. Hollywood St., is often referred to as central office. Central office is also often used to describe all non-school-based employees. Central office should never be capitalized unless it begins a sentence.
District
Always capitalize District when it is used as a formal replacement for Shelby County Schools.
Ex. The District is committed to teacher and leader effectiveness.
Shelby County Schools is one of 200 districts in Tennessee.
Elementary School, Middle School, High School
These should only be capitalized when used with the full name of a school and abbreviated as ES, MS, and HS.
Ex. Ridgeway Elementary School, Ridgeway ES
Ridgeway Middle School, Ridgeway MS
Ridgeway High School, Ridgeway HS
Empowerment Zone
Empowerment Zone is always capitalized, and the abbreviated form, “E-Zone,” is hyphenated with a capital E and Z.
Grades
Spell out first through ninth grades, and use numbers for 10th through 12th. Numbers and hyphens may be used to show grade ranges.
Ex. He is in first grade.
She is a 10th grade student.
The tests are administered for grades K-3, 4-8 and 9-12.
Innovation Zone
The District’s school turnaround model is known as the Innovation Zone. The abbreviated form, “iZone,” is spelled as one word with a lowercase i and capital Z.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is always capitalized and abbreviated as K.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Always capitalize Memphis-Shelby County Schools when written out, and abbreviate as MSCS. MSCS may also be referred to as the District with a capital D.
Office, Department, Division
Always capitalize when used as a full central office location title. Do not capitalize in general references.
Ex. Send requests to the Communications Department.
All departments should submit their information by Friday.
Optional Schools
Always capitalize when used to reference to the entire program. When referring to a single school, only the O should be capitalized.
Ex. Optional Schools applications are being accepted through August. Grahamwood Elementary is an Optional school.
Pre-K
Pre-K is always capitalized and should include a hyphen.
Principal
Do not capitalize in general references. Only capitalize when used as a formal title for a specific individual.
Ex. Principal Jones
The principal of Ridgeway Middle is retiring.
Mr. Jones is the principal of Ridgeway Middle.
School Administrators
When referring to a school’s non-teaching staff as a group, refer to them as “administrative staff.” Avoid abbreviating them as “admins.”
School Leaders
School leadership includes principals, assistant and vice principals, coaches, ILT members and other supervisory roles.
School Years
School years should appear as follows: 2020-21; Not 2020-2021 or 20-21
Shelby County Board of Education
Always capitalize Shelby County Board of Education when written out, and abbreviate as SCBE.
Subjects
School subjects should be capitalized.
Ex. High school students must take English, Math and World History.; She teaches U.S. Government.
Superintendent
Always capitalize when making a direct reference to the Superintendent or using it in place of the name. It should not be capitalized in general references.
Ex. Superintendent John Smith
John Smith was the 13th superintendent of the school district.
The Superintendent will issue a statement on the new policy.
Teacher
Never capitalize teacher unless it is part of a formal title.
Ex. The new policy affects all teachers.
Attendance is required at New Teacher Orientation in July.
TNReady
This is always written as one word, with a capital T, N and R.
