___________________is going to hold a student assembly.
a) The school director
b) The school's director
c) The director of the school
Which ones are right?
NOT A TEACHER
(1) As the teachers have told you, there are many titles besides "director." Here, in
the United States, "principal" seems to be the favorite. It may refer to the "principal
(first) teacher."
(2) I did some googling (yes, one must be very careful about what one reads on the
Web, including my post), but I do feel that there is a difference.
(3) If I am correct (and I am not claiming that I am), when you wish to simply refer
to the job or position, you would use "the school director" or "the director of the
school":
(a) The school director has the job of choosing the faculty.
(b) The director of the school has the hard job of trying to satisfy the students,
the teachers, and the parents.
(4) On the other hand, the term "the school's director" would be used only if you
wished to emphasize the principal of a particular school, not the job/position itself:
(a) That school is nice, except for the school's director. (He's horrible.)
(b) The students are upset because the school's director is planning to retire.
(4) As the moderator said, either (a), (b), (c) would fit in your question. Personally,
I would use either (a) or (c): The school principal/ the principal of the school will
address a student assembly regarding proper conduct during President Coolidge's
visit tomorrow to our campus. (Of course, in real life, one would simply say "The
principal will ....)
(a) I see no reason for "The school's principal will ...."
(b) But in the newspapers after the visit, it might read:
Mr. Parser, the school's principal, made an utter fool of himself with his very poor
speech. President Coolidge almost fell asleep. And the students started walking
out.