I’m in
I’m in a great mood though as I checked the ‘net and noted that my Vancouver Canucks Hockey team won their first playoff game…go Canucks go!
Our team at HEG have the opportunity to meet with many founders and help them with their interest in starting a K-12 private school or post secondary institution, many of which are in new land development projects and new cities. We are connecting with clients in
Today I want to share with you the fundamental steps you need to consider when starting a school. Starting a school is like building a house, you need to establish a sound foundation to build your school's vision on. Without these fundamental building blocks, and school not have the stable vision to move forward with confidence...creating financially and educational sustainable model...for today's and the next generation of learners. Many founders get lost in creating beautiful building, and leave the other critical elements to establishing a school until the last moment. This is wrong; you need to develop the vision, mission, values, and educational philosophy of your school first, and then everything else follows from there.
Please don't hesitate to contact me or other senior associates at HEG to bounce your project's needs off experienced educational leaders.
To your success,
Doug Halladay
President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
>> TWITTER: Get my updates by signing in @ www.twitter.com/halladay
P.S. Don’t forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. In The News
2. Useful Services
3. How To Start A School
4. Products At Our Online Store
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1. IN THE NEWS
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>> NOT ALL PRIVATE SCHOOLS FULLY ACCREDITED
>> PRIVATE SCHOOLS NOT IMMUNE TO BAD ECONOMY
>> SOME PRIVATE SCHOOLS PREVAIL OVER ECONOMY
St. Charles Sun -
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2. USEFUL SERVICES
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Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a second chance to make a first impression. This is why you need a firm that has experience starting schools in
(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING
We can lead the development of your school’s comprehensive Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for continued school improvement.
(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS
Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our interactive online survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.
A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member are you confident that you’re making the right decisions? Are you sure that your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan for immediate improvement.
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Starting a school is like nothing else you’ll every do. Everything you have in your established school you take for granted, but it had to be developed by someone. However, very few of us have had to develop a school’s systems, plans, programs, and facilities at the same time. However, the fruits of your labour are incredibly rewarding. From the perspective of actually putting together a school and by providing a program to students that was needed in your community. It’s really about serving students and helping them reach their potential.
Step 1: Develop Vision for your School
Determine the type of school your community needs and will support, as well as what you want as parents (e.g., K-7, 8-12, day, boarding, single gender, IB, Montessori, University Preparatory). Ask parents and community leaders for their opinions.
Step 2: Form Steering Committee
Form a small working committee of capable, dedicated cohorts to set in motion the foundational work. Include parents and highly respected community stakeholders with financial, legal, management and building experience to sustain the process. Ask for and get a commitment from each member as this is important work that will demand much of each member's time and energy.
Step 3: Incorporation & Tax Exemption
File incorporation papers with the appropriate Province or State agency. The lawyer on your Steering Committee should be deal with this. By establishing incorporation, it will limit liability in the case of lawsuits, present a stable image, extend the life of the school beyond the founders, and provide an insurable entity for the school. A 3rd party lawyer should always be consulted.
Step 4: Develop Strategic Plan and Feasibility Study
Develop the strategic plan. This of course will culminate in the subsequent development of the business, financial, and marketing plans. This will be your blue print of how the school is going to operate over its first five years. This is your chance to lay out, step-by-step, the process for the sequential development of the school. You will determine the enrollment and financial projections, and prioritize the staffing, programs, facilities, in a methodical, measurable fashion.
Step 5: Develop Budget
Develop a five year budget based on the goals of the Strategic Plan. This is a comprehensive review of the projected revenues (AR) and expenses (AP). The financial person(s) on your Steering Committee should take responsibility for developing this important plan. As always project your assumptions conservatively and factor in a contingency should the financial reality change from the projections. You should also map out the school’s bookkeeping procedures (e.g., record keeping, check signing, disbursements, petty cash, bank accounts, record keeping, reconciling bank accounts, audit committee) and accounting cycles.
Step 6: Fundraise
You need to plan your development campaign carefully so that you build momentum yet are able to keep pace with actual funding needs. 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. Of course, it will also drive your enrollment as parent’s see how their child fits in.
Step 7:
Locate a facility to accommodate the school (purchase or rent) or develop building plans if you will be creating your own facility from the ground up. The Building Committee member(s) should spearhead this assignment. Check requirements of local social and health services, building and zoning, health record-keeping, class size, food service, fire code, building code, and teacher-student ratios, etc. You should also take into consideration the learning resources, furniture, computers, etc. needed for start-up. In addition, you will need to begin thinking about the outdoor environment and natural habitat. Rental space for the classroom is frequently obtained from schools, churches, park buildings, community centers, apartment complexes, private school buildings, nursery schools, and estate mansions.
Step 8: Select Key Staff Members
Through a search process select your
Step 9: Marketing
At this step you need to begin to aggressively market for students. Members of the Steering Committee and Head need to devise a Marketing Plan to promote the new school. This could include: public meetings, newspaper ads and inserts, mail drops, radio, community TV, and coffee sessions. You will also need to design your brochure, communication materials (e.g., business cards, letterhead), web site, and set up a mailing list to keep interested parents and donors in touch with your progress.
Step 10: Open Your Doors
Open the school office and phones, and have the
Step 11: Select Faculty & Administrative Staff
It is critical to attract capable faculty; in the end it is staff that will make or break the school – reputations can be formed so quickly in a school environment. To attract great staff you need to ensure that they buy into the vision and have a competitive compensation package. Also, you need to develop the Staff Handbook, contracts, and structure for personnel files. While it is still a year from the school opening, line up as many faculty and senior leadership positions as you can.
Step 12: Orient & Train Faculty
Have faculty in place to get school ready for opening. The first year at a new school requires endless meetings and planning sessions for the academic staff. Get your teachers on the job no later than August 1 in order to be prepared for opening day.
Step 13: Opening Day
Welcome your students! Begin your traditions. Explore membership in national, provincial, and state private school associations! Start off with a bang. Have dignitaries there to cut the ribbon, have a family BBQ; make it special.
To find out more about our firm’s helping you to start a school, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs or click on the following link: http://bit.ly/Geo2l
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4. PRODUCTS AT OUR ONLINE STORE
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Here are 2 popular Toolkits that will help you to start and/or lead your school more effectively.
(A). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all there to help you develop your own plan.
(B). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)
Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share with you how to start a school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your own strategic plan.
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To your success,
Douglas Halladay
President and Founder
Halladay Education Group Inc.
P: 604.868.0002 / F: 868.472.8737 / Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit.
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