Style Guide

When referring to The Panther Press: 

Use The Panther Press. Do not italicize or use quotation marks. Capitalize each initial letter, including “the.” 

If you are referring to previous reporting, hyperlink the article.

In a June 2025 interview with The Panther Press, superintendent Dr. Russell Johnston said he was the editor of his high school newspaper.

When referring to Strath Haven High School: 

Always use Haven, except when quoting official documents referring to the full name. 

Do not use Strath Haven High School in story headlines, decks, and ledes to refer to the school. 

The first half of the Hi-Q match left Haven down a few points from Radnor. 

When Haven was conceived as a merger school between Swarthmore High School and Nether Providence High School, the regular student schedule was built around eight class periods and an extra ninth-period class.

When referring to sports teams: 

Never capitalize sports teams, unless referring to their nickname. 

Use “girls” or “boys" with no apostrophes, not “women’s” or “men’s.” 

The order is gender, level, team.

Girls varsity soccer defeated Lower Dauphin 1-0 in a thrilling PIAA 3A state final at Eagle View Middle School on November 15.

Use Panthers when you refer to the other team's mascot. 

On Friday, November 1, the fourth-seed Panthers defeated the 14th-seed Penncrest Lions 42-0 at George L. King Field.

Sports scores in articles should be the number, not spelled out.

The Panthers defeated the Marple Newtown Tigers 4-1 on Wednesday, April 2 after a strong comeback in the sixth inning.

When referring to students: 

Never capitalize grade levels (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) unless it is at the beginning of the sentence. Never refer to a current student’s grade with their graduation year (’25).

For senior Mina Ke, nail art is a way to express her style through wearing and sharing her own designs.

Senior Quinten Saylor explores his interests in music by playing instruments, participating in various music ensembles, and completing an independent study on music software. 

When using graduation year in bylines or for an alumnus, use a reverse apostrophe. ’25, not ‘25. 

Sasha Binder ’24 recalls balancing her commitment to dance with her responsibilities as editor in chief of The Panther Press.

Never capitalize student titles in clubs, athletics, and activities—not even roles on our own staff.

Student Council president Ella Liberi described the work behind the scenes to plan homecoming and the pep rally, which are some of the elected leaders’ biggest events of the year.

Senior captain and guard Jacob Wenke feels optimistic about the next few games as they work out the kinks.

Never capitalize class of references. 

Mr. Terry Lynch was a member of the class of 1984.

When referring to teachers: 

Always use the teachers’ department titles. Use additional titles as applicable to your story. 

Never capitalize their title unless it is at the beginning of the sentence or the title includes a proper noun. This goes for school administrators, too.

Use department titles, not specific class titles. Teachers may change the classes they teach year-to-year, but departmental changes are rare. The only exception here is with the world languages department. We use the language as the teacher’s title. 

Music teachers are music teachers—not instrumental music teachers, band directors, or choral teachers. Visual art teachers are visual art teachers—not ceramics teachers, graphic design teachers, or photography teachers. Use the context to add specificity. 

Always write Mr., Mrs., or Ms. or a world language teachers’ preferred prefix when they are first mentioned. For additional mentions, use only their last name. 

For science teacher and senior class adviser Mr. Timothy Styer, student voice in decisions about class events is important.

Music teacher Mr. Nicholas Pignataro has used student-created photos in all of his marching band newsletters and social media posts for the last several years.

When German teacher Herr Alex Paul wanted to boost enrollment in the German program, he decided to promote the annual exchange program. Paul organizes a trip to Germany for Haven students every other summer and hosts German exchange students in alternating fall semesters. 

Assistant principal Mr. Tom McLaughlin spoke with principal Mr. Andy Benzing after the assembly.

Our high school administrators for 2025-2026 are Mr. Andy Benzing, Mr. Tom McLaughlin, Mrs. Andrea LaPira, and Mrs. Tabatha Duffy. 

When referring to clubs:

Always capitalize the official title of clubs. 

Spanish Club and Green Haven hosted tables at the activity, which was sponsored by Student Council.

Only capitalize marching band when it is used formally as Panther Marching Band. Choral groups are capitalized: Camerata, Cantata, Silvertones.

The Panther Marching Band organized a fundraiser to support their trip to Orlando.

Many marching band members also participate in instrumental ensembles like jazz band and orchestra.

The choral ensembles at Haven include Camerata, Cantata, and Silvertones.

When referring to classes:

Capitalize the names of classes. 

Do not capitalize departments unless the department name is a proper noun.

When referring to an Advanced Placement (AP) class, write out Advanced Placement once before abbreviating to AP. 

Introductory elective courses in the visual arts department include Art 1, Digital Photography 1, Graphic Design 1, Ceramics 1, and Media for Publications.

The English department offers four Advanced Placement (AP) courses: AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, AP Capstone Seminar, and AP Capstone Research.

Attribution takes practice. Use the tips below as a guide.

Try not to use a quote as a lede. They could be better used later in the story. This rule can be broken sometimes—consult your editors. 

Interviewed Sources

When quoting sources that you have interviewed, use said for attribution. Do not use other words, like exclaimed, cried, or shouted, to replace said. Exceptions are very rare.

The source's name comes first after the quote. Think subject verb. 

Sources are identified and named in articles by their preferred name— usually the name they say and spell in their interviews. Nicknames or slang are not used in order to maintain professionalism. (In all cases, we would quote senior Isaac Lothrop not Cheetah.) If you use a pronoun in a follow-up mention or attribution, ensure this is your source's preferred pronoun. Never guess.

Punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks. This includes question marks and exclamation marks. 

Attribution usually comes after the quote. 

The first time you identify the person, use their title and full name.

"Comma quote," person said. NOT "Comma quote," said person.

“I don’t know if the next person could replicate it, because Tony [Hardy] went to school here, and he’s just been with us for so many years,” senior Emily Crawley said.

When a quote is wordy or more than two sentences, split it after the first sentence. To split a long quote, end the first section with comma quote person said period. Then end the second section with period quote. You do not need to attribute a second time on a split quote.

“I don’t know if the next person could replicate it, because Tony [Hardy] went to school here, and he’s just been with us for so many years,” senior Emily Crawley said. “We’re like a big family. I would advise the next person to get personal and know the students.”

If you quote Emily again in the same story, just use her last name. 

"We wish Tony's replacement all the best," Crawley said.

Consider paraphrasing quotes that are straight facts or to help move the story along through transitions. Another way to attribute the example above could be:

Senior Emily Crawley believes that Hardy will be hard to replace and advises the next person to get to know the students. [paraphrase]

“I don’t know if the next person could replicate it, because Tony [Hardy] went to school here, and he’s just been with us for so many years,” she said.

Use a direct quote when the information in a quote is best expressed in the source's own words. Good direct quotes would lose content, tone, emotion, personality, or nuance if they were used as an indirect quote or paraphrase.

Use an indirect quote or paraphrase when a subject simply states facts, or when using a direct quote would be wordy or difficult to follow.

Instead of writing: "I was 29 when I first started teaching, and I first taught at a small high school in South Jersey, Pitman High School, which was a really great community school, but I was all over the place with teaching so many different forms of art, so I wanted to specialize in just one," Plows said.

Use the indirect quote: Plows said her first teaching job at 29 was in a great community, but involved teaching many different forms of art. She wanted to specialize in just one medium.

When changing sources, create a new graf.

“John [Hardy] has taught me most, and it took me a long time to get it, the best type of appreciation is not being recognized at all, because in our situation, if you were recognized, it’s probably because you did something wrong,” Gianopulos said.

Senior assistant to the stage manager Emily Crawley has been open with Hardy since she joined the tech crew. She admires his care and advice for what everyone in tech crew tells him. [changing speakers, new graf]

“I don’t know if the next person could replicate it, because Tony [Hardy] went to school here, and he’s just been with us for so many years,” Crawley said. “We’re like a big family. I would [advise the next person] to get personal and know the students.”

Document Sources

For documents and outside resources, use according to, stated, or in an article. Hyperlink your source whenever possible.

According to U.S. News and World Report, Haven ranked 34th in Pennsylvania public high schools in 2024, falling behind schools like Conestoga (4th), Radnor (6th), Great Valley (7th), and Garnet Valley (33rd).

“The PIAA’s recent policy chances are both unnecessary and unlawful,” Elizabeth Lester-Abdalla, who is a Staff Attorney at the Women’s Law Project and authored an open letter to PIAA’s Executive Director, stated in a press release. “These actions evoke confusion and fear. I want to assure transgender and gender-expansive students, their families, and the people who love them that they are still legally protected under state and federal law.”

When attributing organizations with acronyms, write it out when it is first referenced and put the acronym in parentheses. You may use the abbreviation if it is referenced again later. 

The United States Department of Education (DOE) was founded under President Jimmy Carter on October 17, 1979.

Other Attribution Tips

An ellipsis (...) is used to indicate the deletion of one or more words in condensing quotes, texts, and documents. Use this very sparingly, as it can stretch the reader’s trust. It's often better to split the quote or paraphrase.

If you use brackets to add clarification to a quote, bracket only a single word or short phrase. Never add additional meaning to the quote beyond what your source said.

“Students can’t have them [phones] during class... but lunchtime use is fine,” McLaughlin said. In this case, the source may have said more about phones during class at the ellipsis.

“After that, my reaction was, ‘Clark [Kerkstra] is here, we’re going to be alright,’” Reed said.

For titles:

Compositions: 

Apply these guidelines to the titles of books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, and works of art:

Capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, an, the); prepositions of three or fewer letters (for, of, on, up, etc.); and conjunctions of three or fewer letters (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet, etc.) unless any of those start or end the title.

Capitalize to in infinitives: “What I Want To Be When I Grow Up”

Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible, the Quran and other holy books, and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material.

Do not use quotation marks around such software titles as WordPerfect or Windows; apps; or around names of video, online or analog versions of games: FarmVille, Pokemon Go, The Legend of Zelda, Monopoly.

"The Star-Spangled Banner,” “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Of Mice and Men,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “A Star Is Born,” “Star Wars,” “Game of Thrones,” “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” “Cruel Summer,” The Last of Us,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”

The Associated Press Stylebook, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, TikTok, WordPress, Humans of Strath Haven, Adobe Photoshop, Spotify

Magazines and Newspapers:

Capitalize the initial letters of the name but do not place it in quotes. Lowercase magazine unless it is part of the publication's formal title: Harper's Magazine, Newsweek magazine, Time magazine.Check the masthead if in doubt.

The Swarthmorean, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Spoke, Philadelphia Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Time magazine

For numbers:

Spell out one through nine, except:

For ages. Jane Smith, 9, said she enjoyed field day.

When preceding a unit of measure (except for time). Baseball players walked 4 miles back to school when their bus did not show up. He is 5 feet, 6 inches tall. The 5-foot-6 point guard led the team in scoring with 20 points.

For time measurements, spell out one through nine unless you are referring to an age. five-year plan; 5-year-old document. four-month checkup; 4-day-old baby.

Use figures in almost all cases for 10 and above, except at the start of a sentence.

Haven turned 40 in the 2023-2024 school year.

Forty-one years ago, Nether Providence High School and Swarthmore High School merged to form Strath Haven High School.

Generally spell out zero. 

Ages always use the number, even if the person is younger than 10. 

If age is used as an adjective or part of a noun, it should be hyphenated.

John Clark, 35, studied all night.

Drew Gallagher, 8, did not study at all. 

Numbers in headlines use numerals. This applies even for numbers under 10 and when a number appears at the start of a headline.

District announces 2-hour delay

7 seniors named National Merit Finalists

For dates:

When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. 

Spell out the month when using it alone, or with a year alone.

Write the day of the month numerically, without the ‘th’ after the number. 

When a phrase lists only a month and year, do not separate the year with a comma. When a phrase refers to a month, day, and year, set off the year with a comma.

January 2023 was a cold month, and Jan. 12 was the coldest day of that month.

Haven opened its doors for the first day of classes on Aug. 26, 2024. Student athletes used the weight room throughout June and July.

Always use dates and days of the week, not  ‘yesterday’ or ‘tomorrow.’

Do not abbreviate the days of the week in news writing.

For time:

Always write ‘a.m.’ and ‘p.m.’

The concert will begin at 7 p.m.

The Panthers will play their next game at 3:45 p.m.

For addresses: 

Use numbers in a numbered address. 

Abbreviate compass points in a numbered address. Do not abbreviate compass points if there is no number in the address.

205 S. Providence Road

South Providence Road

Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. with a numbered address. Alley, Drive, Road, Terrace, Circle, etc. are all spelled out. 

Use periods in P.O. for P.O. Box numbers.

For percentages:

Use the % sign when paired with a number, with no space.

Average hourly pay rose 3.1% from a year ago; her mortgage rate is 4.75%; about 60% of the class passed; he won 56.2% of the vote. 

For amounts less than 1%, precede the decimal with a zero: The cost of living rose 0.6%.

Spell out zero percent: She said he has a zero percent chance of winning.

Try to avoid beginning a sentence with percentages. If you need to do it, spell out both.

Eighty-nine percent of sentences do not need to begin with a number.

Avoid too complex or hard-to-understand words. A fourth grader should be able to read and understand what you are writing. (By the way, it’s first through ninth grade, then 10th, 11th, 12th.)

Try to avoid writing the following words: spearhead(ed), outcry, chaos, backlash, triumph(ed), abundant/ce, and electric. These words have been used too many times.  Additional words may be added to the "banned words list" at the discretion of the EICs and adviser.

Try to avoid using profanity and obscenity. Consider paraphrasing if a source has used profanity in a quote. Speak with a core editor ahead of story submission if you believe this is truly necessary for your story. In very rare cases, we have asterisked out profanity.

Always write in the active voice.

Never editorialize. Try your best to keep your opinion out of the article, unless it is an opinion article, editorial, review, or column. 

Avoid generalizing adjectives. Do not call someone tall. This is your opinion. He is 6-foot-5.

Always keep grafs short. Usually, no longer than 35 words or two sentences. You are trying to maintain your readers’ attention from start to finish in your articles. Large text blocks will not do this.

Get this — AP style calls for a space on both sides of an em dash. (Option + Shift + -)

Never use would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Write out the contraction. Never use gonna, woulda, coulda, even if you think you heard this in a quote. Write out the words.

Only use single quotation marks (‘’)  for a quote within a quote or for a quote in a headline.

Use “affect” as a verb, and “effect” as a noun.

It’s always a couple of something. 

The adviser of a club is written ‘adviser,’ not ‘advisor.’

School board is never capitalized, unless at the beginning of a sentence.

At the school board meeting on June 18, the board approved payments to 16 teachers who wrote more than ten letters of recommendation.

School board members also approved seven weeks of post-season pay for the Hi-Q adviser Mr. Bill Rothenbach, totalling $2,240.00.