The purpose of a House Style Guide document is to promote a professional image through branding and by increasing consistency and coherence of our various communications. In order to attain this desired image, all written communications must comply with the following styles:
All external emails from CIS staff should contain an approved email signature in the email footer.
You are not obliged to use an email signature when sending an email internally (i.e. to CIS employees).
To change/update your email signatures on Gmail please see instructions below. When inside your Gmail:
Click on the gear icon on the top right of your Gmail page
Choose See All Settings
Scroll down and under Signature, click on + Create new or replace your current signature using the templates provided
Save Changes
Please note that all faculty and staff are required to use the provided templates below for their email signature. These are not to be modified (unless specific approval had been arranged for good reason). For any further assistance or approved certifications and designations, kindly reach out to Marketing marketing@cis.edu.ph for help to modify accordingly and maintain the quality and format.
A new addition to our signature is the Data Protection Statement clause at the bottom which is mandated as a privacy measure. For any questions about this statement, you may reach out to our Data Protection Officer, at dpo@cis.edu.ph.
Below are a set of templates to choose from depending on your preference and implement as your email signatures. You may copy and paste these templates upon creating/editing your signature. Please make sure to replace the names, designations, and/or phone numbers with your own where applicable.
STANDARD SIGNATURE
(only name change necessary)
Ctrl + A to Select All and copy/paste
STANDARD SIGNATURE W/ MOBILE NUMBER
(please edit the mobile number with your own)
Ctrl + A to Select All and copy/paste
STANDARD SIGNATURE incl. certifications
(please reach out to Marketing for approval)
Ctrl + A to Select All and copy/paste
STANDARD SIGNATURE incl. certifications w/ mobile number (please reach out to Marketing for approval and edit the mobile number with your own)
Ctrl + A to Select All and copy/paste
British or American spelling is acceptable in class and for student work, but should be applied consistently.
Teachers may choose their preferred style (applied consistently) for internal and/or parental communications.
All official documentation (accreditation reports, advertising & marketing*, website, brochures etc.) should use American conventions (for no other reason than to be consistent).
MLA is the CIS default style guide for students when submitting reports. Students in high school should also be made aware of the many other subject-specific alternative styles as well, and may be permitted to use these when approved by the subject teacher.
*Exceptions include:
i. Submissions to media which use British spelling, in which case British spelling should be used.
ii. Proper nouns, such as the official use of the British spelling of program when used in Diploma Programme, and so on.
An acronym should be spelt out in full the first time it is used in a document.
Consider the audience carefully, and where possible, minimize the use of jargon. When it is used, it should be defined on first use to ensure clarity.
All official letters must be composed on the latest approved school letterhead (the approved template is provided in Team Drives). Documents re-used from previous years should be updated to the approved letterhead.
Official presentations should be made on an approved school presentation template. Modifications may be considered depending on the audience with permission from the Superintendent or Marketing manager.
Generally, documents should be formatted to A4 size and not US Letter (this is for consistency since the paper size we use is A4, and also because using US Letter may cause problems with some printers).
All official documents must be approved prior to distribution by the appropriate supervisor depending on intent and purpose of the document.
As an educational institution, all work should be attributed to its rightful owner.
Intellectual property rights to all work created by CIS personnel in their capacity as CIS employees (whether individually or in groups) remains the intellectual property of CIS. Contributors are welcome to take copies of work, and as an educational institution, CIS freely shares literature with other educational institutions and related individuals providing it is used for non-commercial purposes.
The default referencing style to be used by students is APA. High school students should also be made aware of the existence of the many other subject-specific styles (such as MLA, etc.), and used when approved by the subject teacher.
Photos and graphs should be resized in a manner that keeps the original ratio, not stretched or flattened (as that distorts the picture and looks unprofessional).
All products using the school name or logo must be submitted to the Superintendent or Marketing Manager, or a delegate (such as the Principal for class/school group posters to be displayed around school) for approval before they are printed for display either in-house, or submitted to a printer.
Any use of the school logo for online blogs, advertisements, public messages etc. must be approved by the Superintendent or Marketing Manager, or a delegate (such as the Principal for class blogs) prior to use.
Design of internal documents (in-class letters, posters, videos, brochures etc.) produced by faculty/staff or students under their supervision are largely left to the discretion of the faculty/staff member, but consideration for branding opportunities (which also instill pride in the school) and insisting on appropriate minimum acceptable standards depending on the age of the student and intended audience should be maintained to raise expectations for high standards of media production.
Keep lists as short as possible.
Use numbers for items in lists only when items may be referred to again or the order of items is important.
Use bullets for lists when numbers are not required.
If you use full sentences, begin each with a capital letter and end with a full stop
EXAMPLE
A successful translation is likely to demonstrate the following.
It makes sense in English, French, or Spanish.
Suitable punctuation, phrasing, syntax, and grammar are used.
It incorporates standard word order and grammar usage.
An attempt is made to capture the style and tone of the author.
If you use phrases that follow a stem, begin each with a lower-case letter and use a full stop for the last item only
EXAMPLE
The aims of the Diploma Programme courses in classical languages are to:
enable students to understand the language they have studied in a range of contexts and to use their understanding for a variety of purposes
encourage, through the study of texts and through interaction with classical culture, an awareness and appreciation of the different perspectives of people from ancient cultures
develop students' appreciation of the literary merit of classical texts and an awareness of issues raised in them
provide the opportunity for enjoyment, creativity and intellectual stimulation through knowledge of a language
provide students with a basis for further study, work and leisure through lanquage.
If you use phrases without a stem, begin each with a capital letter but do not use any full stops
EXAMPLE
Material for detailed study
The Ridda Wars or "Wars of Apostasy"
Civil wars (fitna) in early Islamic history
The Crusades
Norman conquest of England