The following guidelines have been developed to assist you with writing an article to be considered for publication in The Elementary Principal magazine.

• The Elementary Principal is a magazine and not a scholarly journal.  Magazine articles are generally shorter, less structured, and more subjective than scholarly papers.  Write in plain English, avoid jargon and clarify technical terms.  Feel free to use quotes, data, and pertinent anecdotes from any source, including personal experience, but be sure to cite appropriately.
  
  
• It is important to spend time writing your article so it reflects positively on you. While MAESP reserves the right to edit articles for typos, grammar, length and content, it is generally expected the article should be submitted in a format that can be copies and pasted into the magazine without changes. It is highly recommended you have someone else proof your article before submission. Select someone who will view your article with a critical eye and not just give it a quick once over!
  
  
• Half page articles without photos usually run between 400-450 words in length; full page articles will be around 800-900 words. Microsoft Word is the preferred word processing program; however, MAESP is able to translate most others. The preferred format for articles is single spaced text with a break (space) after each paragraph using a 12 point Times New Roman font.
  
  
• Articles should include your name, title, school and school district to be used in the byline. MAESP may also include your photo in the byline if we have one on file and space permits. you may suggest a title for your article, but MAESP reserves the right to change titles due to space constraints or for reader appeal.
  
  
• Articles should be sent as an attachment in an email to faye.peters@maesp.com or maesp@maesp.com. If, for some reason, you are unable to send your article electronically, please call MAESP at 573-638-2460 to make other arrangements.
  
  
• Digital photos may be submitted with your article to be considered for publication. There are several guidelines to follow when including photos for consideration:
  
  
  1. FERPA and your district policy guidelines must be adhered to when submitting photos of students.
  2. Only high quality digital photos will be considered for publication in the magazine.
  3. Digital photos must be sent as separate attachments from the article; do not embed them in your article. Sending two or three photos will give the editor a selection to choose from as space permits in the magazine.
  4. Digital photos should be high resolution, crisp/clear original digital photos (unedited or reduced in size) in a jpeg or tiff format. If the photo does not show clearly on your computer, it won't print clearly in the magazine. MAESP reserves the right to crop/edit photos as space permits in the magazine.
  5. In your email, be sure to identify the subjects in each photo (example: photo 001 front row L-R: Mary jane, Bobby Lee, etc.). Include titles where appropriate (ie. Tammy Smith, first grade teacher). Be sure to check the spelling of each name carefully. You may also suggest a very short description to be included with the photo. Publishing names, descriptions or both with photos are contingent upon space.

Deadlines for The Elementary Principal are as follows:

October, 2010 issue Deadline is September 1, 2010
December, 2010 issue Deadline is November 1, 2010
February, 2011 issue Deadline is January 3, 2011
May, 2011 issue Deadline is March 11, 2011

Submit your articles to:  faye.peters@maesp.com  OR  maesp@maesp.com

You may email your article to Faye Peters at any time and designate which month it is to be used.  We also appreciate being provided pictures of children and their principal.

If sending a computer disk, please mail to:
        The Elementary Principal
        3550 Amazonas Drive
        Jefferson City, MO  65109

For more information, please call:  573-638-2460