Wikipedia:Notability (high schools)
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This is an essay on notability. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: High schools/secondary schools are generally considered to be notable, but they must be able to meet the relevant guidelines for notability |
Articles on
Some editors feel that there is almost always some suitable
However, this is not a loophole in Wikipedia's guidelines or policies. Like any other topic, articles on schools must be able to meet notability standards, such as those at Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) specifically. Unreferenced material can and should be challenged up to and including removal from the article. Efforts are much better put into locating reliable sources about the school and improving the article based on those sources.
Defining a high school/secondary school
Different countries use different terms for schools which provide
The term 'college' is often used as a synonym for a post-18 tertiary education establishment such as a university (although constituent schools within universities may also be called 'colleges'). Note, however, that in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and many other places with an English-speaking background, the term college often refers to further education establishments that award the same post-16 qualifications as a secondary school with a sixth form. The word college is also included in the name of many secondary schools in these countries (for example, Brighton College and Fettes College).
In France a collège is a school which provides the first level of secondary education after primary school.
A high school/secondary school is defined as a school that provides the earliest recognized certification of educational attainment, whether referred to as a school-leaving certificate,
Finding sources
Independent sources that meet
In major developed countries, many
For schools in countries where English is not the first language there might be a lack of English-language sources, even though multiple reliable sources will exist in the local language. Although English-language sources are preferred where available they are not an essential requirement (see Wikipedia:Verifiability#Non-English_sources). The interlanguage links should be checked to see if articles have been written on the school in other languages. If necessary translation help can be requested at Wikipedia:Translators available.
If it's not notable
Merely claiming to enroll teenagers or containing the words "high school" in its name is not enough for a school to be given a separate, stand-alone article. There are thousands of high schools for which no independent reliable sources have been published. These schools are often very small, very new, or not considered true schools (for example, being homeschools or being businesses that offer sports, arts, or tutoring classes).
However, being non-notable does not mean that Wikipedia may not include any information about the school. Deletion discussions about such schools commonly end with a recommendation to
- Lists like List of high schools in Alaska,
- Articles about the school's administrative authority, like Fairbanks North Star Borough School District,
- Education sections in articles about the local community, like North Pole, Alaska#Education, or
- Articles about other related organizations, like Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks#Education.
This is also what commonly happens with schools serving young children.
See also
- School article guidelines
- Wikipedia:Schools
- Wikipedia:All high schools can be notable
- Wikipedia:Places of local interest