Starting A School: Resources For Students & Parents

5/4/2019 Starting Your Own Private School
Resources › For Students & Parents
Starting a School
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by Doug Halladay
Updated April 10, 2019
Starting a school can be challenging. When a group of founders decides to open a
school, they need to make sure that their decision is based on sound data and that they
have a reasonable understanding of the costs and strategies needed to successfully
open their school. In today’s complicated market, the need to work smarter and be
ready for opening day is critical. There is never a second chance to make a first
impression. With proper planning, founders can be prepared to start the school of their
dreams and manage costs and project development effectively, establishing a school
for generations to come. Here are our timetested rules for starting a school.
https://www.thoughtco.com/starting-a-school-2774038 1/20
Founding Partners
girls doing math. Photo © Julien
Create your vision and mission statement, guiding core values, and educational
philosophy for your school. This will drive decision making and be your lighthouse.
Identify the kind of school your market needs and will support as well as what you as
parents want. Ask parents and community leaders for their opinions. Take your time
when putting this together because it will guide everything you do, from the Head of
School and staff you hire to the facilities you build. Even go out and visit other schools
to analyze their programs and building. If possible, perform a feasibility study to
support the process of identifying statistical demand, gradebygrade, etc.
Steering Committee and Governance System
Boardroom. Photo © Nick Cowie
Form a small working committee of capable peers to do the initial work, including
parents and highly regarded stakeholders with financial, legal, leadership, real estate,
accounting, and building experience. It’s critical to ensure that each member is on the
same page in reference to the vision, publicly and privately. Eventually these same
members may become your board, so follow effective board governance process.
Utilize the strategic plan you’ll develop later to set up supporting committees.
Incorporation and Tax Exemption
Brightwater School. Photo © Brightwater School
File incorporation/society papers with appropriate Province or State agency. The
lawyer on your Steering Committee will deal with this. Establishing incorporation will
limit liability in the case of lawsuits, create a stable image, extend the life of the school
beyond the founders, and provide an insurable entity. Your school will need to apply
for federal 501(c) (3) taxexempt status using IRS Form 1023. A 3rd party lawyer
should be consulted. Submit as early in the process your tax exemption application
with appropriate authorities to obtain your nonprofit status. You can then begin to
solicit taxdeductible donations.
Strategic Plan
Photo © Shawnigan Lake School. Shawnigan Lake School
Develop your strategic plan at the start, culminating in the later development of your
business and marketing plans. This will be your blueprint of how your school is going
to start and operate over the next 5 years. Don’t try to do everything in the first 5 years
unless you have been fortunate enough to find a donor to fund the entire project. This
is your chance to lay out, stepbystep, the process for development of the school.
You’ll determine the enrollment and financial projections, prioritize staffing,
programs, and facilities, in a methodical, measurable way. You’ll also keep your
Steering Committee on track and focused.
Budget and Financial Plan
Culver Academy. Photo © Culver Academy
Develop your formation and 5year budget based on the goals of the Strategic Plan and
response to your Feasibility Study. The financial expert on your Steering Committee
should take responsibility for this. As always project your assumptions conservatively.
You should also map out the school’s accounting procedures: record keeping, check
signing, disbursements, petty cash, bank accounts, record keeping, reconciling bank
accounts, and audit committee.
Your overall budget % breakdown may look like this:
65% Salaries and Benefits
10% Admissions and Marketing
5% Financial Aid (can be 811% for day)
15% Everything Else
5% for Financial Contingency
Fundraising
Raising Money. Flying Colours Ltd/Getty Images
You need to plan your fundraising campaign carefully. Develop your capital campaign
and case statement methodically and then implement systematically. You should
develop a PreCampaign Capacity Study to determine:
how much can be raised in your community
what are the priorities to give to
who will give to what
the Gift levels and chart
System and approach
Time lines
Campaign leadership team
Gift categories (e.g., naming of buildings)
Major donors and how much they can give.
Let your Development Committee lead this, and involve the marketing department.
Experts say that you should raise at least 50% of the funds before you even announce
the campaign. Your strategic plan is important at this stage as it provides potential
donors concrete evidence of your vision and where the donor can fit it, and your
financial priorities.
Location and Facilities
Girard College, Philadelphia. Photo © Girard College
Find your interim or permanent school facility and either purchase or lease or develop
your building plans if you’re building your own facility from scratch. The Building
Committee will lead this assignment. Check requirements of building zoning, class
size, fire building codes, and teacherstudent ratios, etc. You should also take into
account your missionvisionphilosophy and the learning resources. You may also want
to invest in sustainable development in order to build a green school.
Rental space for the classroom can be obtained from unused schools, churches, park
buildings, community centers, apartment complexes, and estates. When renting,
consider the availability of additional space for expansion, and obtaining a lease with
at least one year's notice for cancellation, with opportunity for alteration of the
building and some protection against major capital expenses and a longterm
arrangement with specified rent levels.
Staf ng
Teacher. Digital Vision/Getty Images
Through a search process defined by a detailed position profile based on your mission
vision, select your Head of School and other senior staff. Conduct your search as widely
as possible. Don’t just hire someone you know.
Write job descriptions, personnel files, benefits, and pay scales for your staff and
faculty and administration. Your Head will drive the enrollment campaign and
marketing, and the initial decisions for resources and staffing. When hiring staff, make
sure they understand the mission and how much work it takes to start a school. It’s
invaluable to attract great faculty; in the end, it’s the staff that will make or breaks the
school. To attract great staff you need to ensure that you have a competitive
compensation package.
Prior to operating the school, you should at least have a Head of School and
receptionist hired to begin marketing and admissions. Depending on your startup
capital, you may also want to hire a Business Manager, Director of Admissions,
Director of Development, Director of Marketing and Department Heads.
Marketing and Recruiting
First Impressions. Christopher Robbins/Getty Images
You’ll need to market for students, that’s your lifeblood. Members of the Marketing
Committee and Head need to develop a Marketing Plan to promote the school. This
includes everything from social media and SEO to how you'll interact with the local
community. You’ll need to develop your message based on your missionvision. You’ll
need to design your own brochure, communication material, web site, and set up a
mailing list to keep interested parents and donors in touch with progress.
Aside from hiring staff who embrace your vision from the start, you need to look to
your new staff to help develop the educational programs and culture of the school.
Involving faculty in the process will create a feeling of commitment to the school’s
success. This includes the design of the curriculum, code of conduct, discipline, dress
code, ceremonies, traditions, honor system, reporting, cocurricular programs,
timetable, etc. Simply put…inclusion leads to ownership, a teamoriented, collegial
faculty, and trust.
Your Head of School and senior staff will put together the critical internal elements of a
successful school: insurance, educational and extracurricular programs, uniforms,
timetable, handbooks, contracts, student management systems, reporting, policy,
traditions, etc. Do not leave the important things until the last minute. Set your
structure on day one. At this point, you should also begin the process of having your
school accredited by a national association.
Opening Day
Students. Elyse Lewin/Getty Images
Now it’s opening day. Welcome your new parents and students and begin your
traditions. Start off with a something memorable, bringing in dignitaries, or having a
family BBQ. Start to set up memberships in national, provincial, and state private
school associations. Once your school is up and running, you’ll face NEW challenges
every day. You’ll discover gaps in your strategic plan and your operations and the
systems (e.g., admissions, marketing, finance, human resources, educational, student,
parent). Every new school will not have everything right…but you need to keep an eye
on where you’re now and where you want to be, and continue to evolve your plan and
your to do list. If you’re the founder or the CEO, don’t fall into the trap of doing it all
yourself. Make sure you’ve put together a solid team that you can delegate to, so you
can keep an eye on the ‘big picture.’
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About the Author
Doug Halladay is the President of Halladay Education Group Inc., a firm experienced
in starting and leading private +20 school formation projects in the US, Canada, and
Internationally. In his free resource, 13 Steps to Starting Your Own School, he
provides tips and advice on how you can set the foundation to start your own school.
To receive your free copy of this resource or order his 15part mini eCourse on How
To Start a School, email him at info@halladayeducationgroup.com
Article edited by Stacy Jagodowski
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5/4/2019 Starting Your Own Private School

Resources › For Students & Parents

Steering Committee and Governance System

Incorporation and Tax Exemption

Budget and Financial Plan

Location and Facilities

Marketing and Recruiting

The 10 Steps to Starting Your 3 Ways to Market Your Private

7 Tips to Starting Your Own Talk

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