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SAGE prepares a Lunar New Year feast.

GFS welcomes the Year of the Dog with a Confucius Classroom-sponsored photo exhibition

From January 16-19, Middle School students took a break between semesters to take part in the annual Minimester workshops.
Communications FAQ
Communications FAQs
There's a lot happening at Garrison Forest School! The Communications Office strives to share the news of our campus and community in a variety of ways.
Search the Frequently Asked Questions about how to share news, etc. below or contact the Communications Office for more information. We look forward to sharing YOUR news.
A: Our goal is to post a variety of what happens at Garrison Forest. Together, every news item tells the full story of GFS’s mission and culture, be it:
- A field trip and/or guest speaker
- A class project, lesson, lab, etc., especially one that is cross-disciplinary, around a theme, inspired by a current event, etc.
- A service project on or off campus
- A video made by students or faculty
- Student and faculty accolades (humility is a virtue, yes, but we want to be sure we share your accomplishments with the GFS community.)
- A concert, play, and exhibit, both to promote and report on post-event.
- A new sport or team accomplishment, be it a winning season or lessons learned.
- A GFS event you have planned
Q: Where is news posted?
News also is shared across the website as appropriate. The Communications Office decides what news items are on Homepage News, the GFS App, Facebook and Twitter in an effort to reflect the range of divisions and programs at GFS.
Q: But I put my news on Moodle? Can’t you get it from there?
Q: How do I get my news to the Communications Office?
Q: I have news that I think would be great for local media. How do I inform reporters?
Q: What about taking photographs for my news item?
Q: How do I get my photos to the Communications Office?
- PREFERRED: Copy all photos as jpegs to P:/Website Photos & Images. Look for the folder marked for the CURRENT academic year. Each academic year has subfolders by division and departments (Athletics, Alumnae, etc.). Preschool through Lower School classes have a sub-folder for each class. For Middle and Upper School, just make a new folder for the event, such as “Architectural Expo” or “Snoball.” Using shared drives and not email to share photos saves storage space on the GFS servers. IMPORTANT: Please let us know that you’ve placed photos on the P:/Drive.
- Copy all photos to a disk or thumb drive and give it to us.
- Bring your camera card or your phone with a USB cord to our office. We have card readers and can download them directly from the card.
- You can also email photos to us, though this does take up valuable storage space on the GFS servers.
- NOTE: We are unable to download photos from online galleries, such as Kodak, Picasa, Shutterfly, etc.
A: We love video, voice threads, etc.! Copy all media using one of the options above. IMPORTANT: Any student in the video should be addressed by first name only; for Upper School students, use your discretion. Copy any video onto P:/Website Photos & Images/Video and let us know that it is there.
Q: I have a Twitter feed, blog, etc. for my class. Is that helpful to share with you?
Q: Do I need to clear any curricular social media use with Communications?
Q: Do I need to brand my class’s blog, etc. as Garrison Forest School?
A: Any GFS web presence is a reflection of Garrison Forest School overall, and any outside viewer will assume that your blog, etc. is an official GFS website. Please keep this in mind when creating content and the look of your site. For example, any description on a post should refer to “Garrison Forest School” and not “GFS” for clarity to a viewer who may not be familiar with us. Though not required, the Communications Office is happy to work with you if you have questions. It is the Office’s responsibility to ensure that the Garrison Forest image across social media is consistent. Please contact us for the most up-to-date GFS, link to our website, etc.
Q: I stay connected to my former students. What if I hear news from them of an award they’ve received, etc.?
Employment Opportunities
Logos and Templates
Please follow the link below to access official GFS logos and the GFS Powerpoint template. Before using the GFS logo, please contact the Communications Office.
Aja Jackson
ajajackson@gfs.org
410-559-3133
Tiffany Ogunwuyi
tiffanyogunwuyi@gfs.org
410-559-3179
Find logos and the Powerpoint template here.
Style Guide
Please refer to the Style Guide for all written and digital communication. Questions? Contact the Communications Office.
A note about the GFS Style Guide: Guidelines were created to provide uniformity in school communications. They have evolved (and continue to evolve) as more and more communication goes online. For example, the Communications Office no longer uses the serial comma ("I ate apples, oranges, and bananas") in printed or electronic letters, the GFS magazine and online. The guidelines were modified in 2014-15. Any revisions will be posted online.
Letter and Mailing Standards for all Divisions
- Letters should be produced on good-quality letterhead. Do not run the letter on one piece of letterhead and then run it through the copier on copy paper.
- A one-page letter is best, whenever possible. If a two-page letter is necessary, use the other side and make the margin two includes from the top.
- Each large mailing should contain a cover letter. The second sheet or the bottom of the letter should show a list of mailing contents and the dates when pieces are to be returned to the School. All other information sheets should be in bullet form.
- Divisions should agree upon common mailing dates for large mailings and broadcast emails. This ensures that parents, especially those with children in multiple divisions, will receive all of their information at the same time.
Style for Letters
- The standard type face is Times New Roman, 12 point.
- Please use block letter format with the date, salutation, body, closing and paragraphs all left justified.
- The right margin is unjustified.
Spacing
Electronic letter: There is no inside address. Salutation is two hard returns from the date; the body copy is two spaces from the salutation; the closing is two spaces from the last paragraph; and the signature block is two spaces from the closing.
Punctuation
- Punctuate the salutation with a comma, not a colon. Example: “Dear Parents,”
- There should be ONE space between a period and new sentence. This is particularly important for letters that will be emailed to constituencies.
- Automatic hyphenation should be turned off. Hyphenate as needed, but not from one line to the next.
Calendars and News Items
- Use Title Case
- Spell out names of divisions (Upper School not US, etc.)
- Follow the same format for PDFs and titles
- Use name of Division instead of building (Lower School, not Livingston; Preschool , not Moncrieffe)
Other Helpful AP Style Guidelines:
- Numbers: Spell out one through nine. Ten and over, user the numeral. Numerals should not be used at the beginning of a sentence.
- Decades: Do not use an apostrophe. Correct usage: The 90s. Incorrect usage: The 90’s.
- Time: Use AM or PM, not a.m., p.m. or o’clock 7:00AM or 7:00 AM.
- R.s.v.p. is spelled just this way, not RSVP in all caps.
- In a series: Do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series. Example: She can speak French, Spanish and German.
- Put a comma before the concluding conjunction in a series, however, if an integral element of the series requires a conjunction: I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.
State names:
Spell out the name of the 50 states when they stand alone in the copy. State name may be condensed for space when necessary. Eight states are never abbreviated in text or datelines: Alaska (AK), Hawaii (HI), Idaho (ID), Iowa (IA), Maine (ME), Ohio (OH), Texas (TX) and Utah (UT). Also, District of Columbia (DC).
Usage for ages:
Always use figures. When the context does not require years or years old, the figure is presumed to be years. Use hyphens for ages that are adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun.
- A 5-year-old girl, but the girl is 5 years old.
- The boy, 7, has a sister, 10.
- The woman, 26, has a daughter 2 months old.
- The woman is in her 30s (no apostrophe).
- Capitalize the principal works, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.
- Capitalize an article — the, a, an — or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title.
- Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible and books that are primarily catalogs of reference materials. Do not us quotation marks around software titles like WordPerfect or Windows. GFS uses italics for books in report cards, in the magazine, etc. It varies on the website because of web-program formatting limitations.
- Translate a foreign title into English unless a work in generally known by its foreign name.
- Names of most websites and apps are capitalized without quotes: Facebook
- Capitalize “The” in a newspaper’s name if that is the way the publication prefers to be known. Do not place the name in quotes or in italics.
Official GFS PMS Colors & Fonts
When stating "GFS" on a heading, etc., use Trajan font
When spelling out "Garrison Forest School" use Caslan 540 font