Wikipedia:Schools/Old proposal

You may be looking for Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools (WP:SCH), Wikipedia:School and university projects or Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not for things made up in school one day (WP:NFT). The previous policy proposal is now at Wikipedia:Schools/Defunct.

This is a work in progress. Editors are encouraged to improve it and discuss ideas on the talk page.

This page gives some rough guidelines which Wikipedia editors use to decide if a school should have an article on Wikipedia.

Schools are often important to their communities, and are often the subject of the sort of non-trivial published works that are needed to complete an article. However, Wikipedia is neither a directory nor a phonebook. Additionally, many schools are private schools, and their articles may constitute advertisement, even when neutrally worded. Oftentimes these stubs are unexpandable save for demographic data, so this standard requires some evidence of expandability.

School districts, school boards, and similar groupings are generally assumed to be able to meet criterion #1 below, even if evidence cannot be immediately presented, because of the role school districts often play in local politics. They are also useful merge targets and coordination platforms for other work.

Criteria for schools

A school is notable if it verifiably meets any one of the following criteria:

1. The school has been the subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent of the school itself.
   • Examples of such coverage include but are not limited to:
     1. Coverage of events surrounding the school.
     2. Coverage of a substantial and unique program, structure, or technique that differentiates it from similar schools
     3. Non-trivial awards or commendations bestowed upon the school or its staff
     4. Substantial mention in biographical works about alumni or staff
   • This criterion excludes:
     • Trivial coverage, such as newspaper articles that simply mention the school in passing.
     • Directories of schools that offer nothing more than demographic data, or lists of alumni that offer no content other than lists of names and years
     • Works (such as school newspapers) published by the school itself.
     • Other works which would not meet Wikipedia's reliable source standards
   • This criterion includes published works in all forms, such as newspaper articles, books, and television documentaries. This may include regular coverage in local media (such as complete stories about a school's athletic program).
2. The school is a post-secondary school.
   • This criterion excludes technical schools, community colleges, and other post-secondary schools that focus on vocational schooling or other job training, unless the school in question meets WP:CORP.
3. The school has stood for at least 100 years.
4. The school is also a private business, and meets the requirements of WP:CORP.

Schools that don't meet the criteria

Schools that do not meet this standard should be tagged with {{notability}} and referred to the Schools Wikiproject or one of its child projects. (In the past, AFD has served this role, but it's a bit unfair to be issuing them an ultimatum for every single school stub.)

Schools which do not meet this standard after doing so might be merged to the relevant district or township article, or another article where the content would be useful, and redirected.