So far, more than +300 educators and non-profit leaders have signed up for my complimentary 15-part email mini-eCourse called "15 Critical Steps To Starting Your Own School." If you're not one of them, do it now. I provide a clear overview of the fundamentals needed to start your own PreK-12 private school or Post Secondary Institution and many secret short-cuts to ensure that you start the school of your dreams – there’s no second chance to make a first impression on opening day.
Sign up here by emailing the following address and putting in your subject, “Sign me up for the 15-part email mini-eCourse”:
info@halladayeducationgroup.com
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I hope your start to 2007 has been propitious and that the goals you’ve set for the New Year have begun to unfold. On a personal note, our fair city of
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In This Issue
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1. Developing a Feasibility Study For Your New School
2. Setting Your Tuition
3. Transforming Your Board Structure
4. Inner Circle Jokes of the Week
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1. Developing a Feasibility Study for Your New School
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I’m really impressed by the people who call me up to find out more about how they can start their own school; be it a Preschool, K-12, college, institute, or university. It truly takes courage to take that bold step and start something brand new. For those who’ve never started their own school, you have no idea how many cogs there are in the wheel of school formation, nor the emotions involved; parents staking their child’s education on an entity that doesn’t even exist yet.
After I listen to the folks and hear what kind of school they envision, I always ask them whether they’ve done a “feasibility study” yet. In other words, have they completed an in-depth analysis of the market to determine whether there is demand by the community for the niche program(s) the school is offering?
The old line from the movie “The Field of Dreams” stated...”if you build it, they will come.” Wellllll, this sentiment isn’t true in starting schools. You and your steering committee need to sit down and honestly evaluate whether there is a need in the community for your school. This is referred to as the feasibility study.
For some a feasibility study can be an informal appraisal of the need or it can be a formal written questionnaire and/or survey. The latter will provide you much more detail and disclose to a greater degree the commitment of your community to the type of school you are planning to develop (e.g., the mission, vision, core values, education philosophy, curriculum, facilities).
When you look closely at the results of your study (the hard data), your steering committee will have a more reliable picture of what your community wants, and whether there really is a demand that can sustain your investment (time and money). This approach takes the emotions out of the process.
The design and implementation of the study is critical to your success. You can design/implement it yourself, or you can retain a professional. Whatever approach you take you need to ensure that you determine the kind of information you need. This could include: your competition; level of interest in your area; demographics of parents and children; can parents afford the tuition; how grades levels should be offered; type of programs the parents are interested in; support for your type of school etc.
These are just a few of the many questions that need to be considered. However you design it, your feasibility study needs to provide you the critical data needed for future planning. Remember, it’s not “ready, shoot, aim.”
For more information about starting your own school, go to: http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=school_formation#topheader
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2. Setting Your Tuition
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At this point in the school year, the Board of Trustees has probably set the tuition for the 2007-08 school year. In most schools, the approach to determine an increase in tuition is based on the incorrect philosophy of “how much can they bear.” Many trustees do all they can to hold tuition down at “bargain prices,” but this is wrong. Research in private school enrollment illustrates that parents select the school for their child because of the quality of the programs offered, and the convenience of the services delivered. Parents may have sticker shock with high tuitions, but at the end of the day the select the school for their child because of its services – academic, co-curricular, personal development, etc. When parents remove their child, it’s not because they can’t afford the tuition, it’s because the experience is no longer worth it; it’s no longer unique; or the quality of service just not justify the cost.
So when you’re determining the tuition for the next school year, base your decision on the quality, quantity, and convenience of services required by parents and students, not what the pain threshold is. Oh and by the way, base your tuition increase on the annual goals in your strategic plan. This is something that your community was involved in, bought into, and understands in its value to their school. So when you’re announcing the tuition increase, it’s not a surprise, and they will support it.
For more information on Strategic Planning go to:
http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=strategic#topheader
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3. Transforming Your Board Structure
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The committee structure a board chooses depends on its individual needs, its strategic plan, and the board’s and the organization’s stage of development. A new board may have a lot of committees because the organization most likely has no staff. A small or active board may not need committees at all. No matter what you committee needs are, the appropriate structure can be set up by the following 4 steps:
1). Pay attention to your board’s needs;
2). Give each committee terms of reference and measurable annual goals;
3). The executive committee selects chairs and members for each committee;
4). Annually evaluate each committee against its goals and the need for the committee.
There is nothing worse than to have standing committees that exist because they’ve always been there. That is the formula for disaster; without a purpose board members will find things to do, and it won’t always be on task or for the betterment of the school or the mission.
One simple solution is determine the committees needed for each school year based on the goals of the strategic plan, design the annual goals for each committee, select the chairs and committee members, and let this drive your boards agenda – with measurable goals.
For more information about board governance, go to:
http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=online_assessments#topheader
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4. Inner Circle Jokes of the Week
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WHY?
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It’s all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you
To find out more about how we can help you, contact HEG by email or by phone at +1-604-868-0002.To your success,
Douglas Halladay
President and Founder
P: 604.868.0002/F: 868.472.8737/Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
