School Profile 2026–2027 — grammar & consistency marks

01heading

STATE SEAL OF BILTERACY (SSB)

STATE SEAL OF BILITERACY (SSB)

Missing letter — the acronym SSB and the definition that follows both spell it biliteracy. This is the most conspicuous error on the page, and it sits in a section heading.

02agreement

Our students earn credits and final grades at the end of the first and second semester.

…at the end of the first and second semesters.

Two semesters are named, so the noun is plural.

03preposition

MacDonald received initial accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) through the 2025–2026 school year.

MacDonald received initial accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)…

One is accredited by a body but receives accreditation from it.

04agreement

Grading: A, B, C, D is passing;

Grading: A, B, C, and D are passing grades;

Four grades are the subject, so the verb is plural. Also add the serial comma to match the list style used elsewhere on the page.

05proper noun

including NVIDIA, CISCO Systems, AMD, and Applied Materials

including NVIDIA, Cisco Systems, AMD, and Applied Materials

The company styles itself “Cisco” — all caps is the old logo form, not the name.

06hyphen

Most of our teachers use a standards based grading system.

…use a standards-based grading system.

A two-word modifier in front of a noun takes a hyphen.

07hyphen

Asian (non Hispanic) 19.7%

Asian (non-Hispanic) 19.7%

The prefix non- is always hyphenated.

08hyphen + quote mark

COLLEGE GOING RATES: Class of ‘26  ·  GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS ‘27

COLLEGE-GOING RATES: Class of ’26  ·  GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS ’27

The compound modifier is hyphenated, and both marks are left single quotes (‘); an omitted-digit apostrophe is a right single quote (’). The same swapped mark appears in both headings.

09wording

The Engineering & Design program just launched last year.

The Engineering & Design pathway launched last year.

“Just” (very recently) and “last year” contradict each other; pathway is also the term used one sentence earlier for the same thing.

10serial comma

…a Computer Science pathway, an Engineering & Design pathway and an Art pathway.

…a Computer Science pathway, an Engineering & Design pathway, and an Art pathway.

Elsewhere the page uses the serial comma (“NVIDIA, Cisco Systems, AMD, and Applied Materials”). Pick one style and keep it — the recommended one is to keep the comma.

11comma + word

…are noted with a “p” next to the course indicating the class is college preparatory.

…are noted with a “p” next to the course, indicating that the class is college preparatory.

The trailing participle needs the comma; “indicating that” reads cleaner than “indicating the class is”.

12usage

all AP and some Honors courses are given extra weight towards the GPA

…given extra weight toward the GPA

US formal prose prefers toward.

13dates

First Semester 08/10/26 - 12/18/26  ·  Second Semester 01/5/27 - 06/4/27

First Semester 08/10/26 – 12/18/26  ·  Second Semester 01/05/27 – 06/04/27

Date ranges take an en dash, and the second pair drops the leading zero that the first pair keeps.

14dashes

SCHOOL PROFILE 2026-2027  ·  2022-23 school year  ·  WASC Initial Accreditation 2022-2023

2026–2027  ·  2022–23  ·  2022–2023 (en dashes)

The body already uses an en dash in “2025–2026”, so the same page renders year ranges two different ways.

15spacing

(M) = modified grade  (special education )

(M) = modified grade (special education).

Stray space before the closing parenthesis, and the line has no terminal period while every other definition on the page does.

16dashes

VICE PRINCIPALS   Teresa Posas (A - L)

Teresa Posas (A–L)

The counselors use an unspaced hyphen (“(A-Gn)”); the vice principals use a spaced one. Use an unspaced en dash in both.

17spelling

+Algebra 2 with PreCalculus Honors  ·  +PreCalc/Trig Honors

+Algebra 2 with Precalculus Honors  ·  +Precalculus/Trigonometry Honors

“Precalculus” is one word, not camel case; the abbreviation in the 2023–24 list doesn't match the spelled-out course name used above it.

18consistency

+AP Comp Science Principles

+AP Computer Science Principles

Abbreviated here, spelled out two lines away (“+AP Computer Science A”).

19numerals

take the equivalent of three class periods at SVCTE and take 3-4 classes at MacDonald

…and take three or four classes at MacDonald

Same sentence writes one number as a word and the next as a digit; prose numbers under ten are spelled out. The hyphen should be an en dash or “or”.

20wording

opened in the fall of the 2022-23 school year with only a freshman class

opened at the start of the 2022–23 school year with only a ninth-grade class

A school year doesn't have a fall — the fall is when it starts. “Ninth-grade class” is also the term current style guides prefer.

21capitalization

FACULTY:␣␣52 Teachers

FACULTY: 52 teachers

Double space, and the word is not a proper noun. Compare “180 days” and “859 total students”, both lowercase.

22separators

12th - 205  ·  11th - 218  ·  GPA Scale: 0 - 4.0

12th: 205  ·  11th: 218  ·  GPA Scale: 0–4.0

A hyphen wedged between label and value reads as a minus sign; a colon (or en dash) is the convention, and it is what the rest of the page uses for value pairs.

23ambiguous

During the year, they receive one quarter and two progress reports leading up to final exams.

During the year, they receive a quarter report and two progress reports before final exams.

As written it can mean one quarter (a term) plus two reports, or three reports in total. Say which.

24jargon

a full inclusion school where all students with disabilities push into general education or co-taught classes

a fully inclusive school where students with disabilities are served in general education or co-taught classes

“Push into” is district shorthand. Admissions readers outside special education will not parse it.

25framing

SVCTE is the main trade school in Santa Clara County.

SVCTE is the regional career technical education program for Santa Clara County.

“Trade school” undersells a program the same paragraph describes as state-of-the-art and college-aligned, and it contradicts “many of these classes meet the A-G requirements”.

26arithmetic

Students must earn 230 credits … (the subject-area table totals 225)

Either raise a line by 5 credits or state 225.

40 + 20 + 30 + 20 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 65 = 225, not 230. The gap is 5 credits — the same size as the health or fine-arts line.

27table cell

Health  |  5  |  5

Health  |  sem.  |  5

“5” in the Years column reads as five years of health. It should match the three arts rows, which correctly say “sem” — and those three should all read “sem.” with the period.

28arithmetic

UC 11.2% · CSU 18.3% · Private/Out-of-State 7.1% · International 1% · Community College 49.2%

Add the missing category (gap year, military, workforce, unknown) or note the remainder; write 1.0% for consistency.

These add to 86.8%, so about 13% of the class of 2026 is unaccounted for. Every other figure carries one decimal place.

29policy check

Foreign Lang  |  1  |  10

Confirm: 1 year for graduation, but the page advertises A-G completion and AP Spanish Literature (UC requires 2 years).

Not an error on its face — a graduation minimum can sit below the A-G minimum — but on a profile that leads with A-G, the two-year expectation is worth stating explicitly so the column isn't read as the college-prep requirement.