Using Personal Titles: Using Personal Titles #5: Titles Used in Schools

Using Personal Titles #5:
Titles Used in Schools

 

There are many different titles used in English and some
of them are used only in particular situations or places.
There are titles, for example, that are used mainly
in schools.

In the U.S., there are both public and private schools
at many levels--nursery school (for very young children)
kindergarten (for children younger than six), and 12
years of "regular" school--elementary school, junior high
school, and high school. There are also technical (trade)
schools for students who have finished high school
and professional schools (usually for students who have
finished four or more years of university training).

Workers in "regular" school may have many different
job titles--for example, Superintendent, Principal,
Headmaster, Department Head (or Department Chair),
Head (or Lead) Teacher, Teacher's Aide, Athletic
Director, Coach, Band (or Orchestra or Choir) Director,
Head of Security, Attendance Secretary, School Nurse,
and so on. For most of these job titles, the personal titles
Mr., Ms., Miss, and Mrs. ( + a family name) are
commonly used. If someone has an academic doctor's
degree (PhD, EdD, etc.), however, the title Dr.
( + a family name) is normally used. Also, Coach
( + a family name) is a common title.

In many languages, Teacher is also a personal title.
In English, it is not.

When you are speaking directly to someone in a school,
you can use Mr., Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., or Coach
(plus a family name). When you do not use a family
name, use sir, or ma'am (without any name).

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Special Notes:

1.		Public schools in the U.S. are supported by taxes paid by citizens. Private schools are not supported by taxes. They may be supported by religious groups, private organizations, companies, or other groups.
2.		In the U.S., elementary school often has five grades (levels), but in some schools, there are six levels. Elementary school is sometimes called by other names: grammar school, grade school, and lower school.
3.		In the U.S., junior high school is often for grades 6, 7, and 8 or for grades 6, 7, 8, and 9. In some schools, it is for grades 7, 8, and 9. Junior high school is often abbreviated to "junior high," and sometimes it is also called middle school.
4.		In the U.S., high school is also called senior high (school), secondary school, and, sometimes, upper school. It is often for four years (grades 9, 10, 11, and 12), but is sometimes for three years (grades 10, 11, and 12).
5.		In technical (or trade) schools, students learn the skills for a particular trade or occupation--barber, mechanic, secretary, bookkeeper, and so on.
6.		In professional schools, students receive very specialized training--for example, in medicine, dentistry, psychiatry, law, etc.
7.		Remember that teacher is not a personal title in English. *Teacher Jones or *Teacher Linda are fine in many languages, but "teacher" is not used this way in English.