Some people enjoy teaching while others take a bigger step and open their own private school. If you have a vision of how students learn valuable lessons in life, or you see something that needs to be improved, your entrepreneurial spirit can allow you to take that passion for teaching and start a school of your own.
In fact, many of the people who start their own private schools see the shortcomings of the public school system and have taken it upon themselves to fill those gaps and provide students the kind of training that they deem to be useful and effective as they grow up. So for whatever reason, you may have for opening up your own small private schools, here are some things that you should consider.
Set An Opening Date
When you have a plan it’s important to have a target date to work your schedules around to accomplish what you need to do before the opening day. Before you begin with anything else, it’s important that you discuss with your founding partners the school’s vision and principles. This will allow you to have a central theme on what you want to accomplish and what sets you apart from other schools in your area. You may want to look at your market or the level of the students that you’ll be catering to and see if it matches with the goals you’re setting out. For example, if you’re planning to train nursing aids or medical technicians then you must center your efforts around finding what hospitals need and how you can mold your students to be competitive in that field.
Educational Community
The educational community is composed of different stakeholders to support the vision of your private school. They can be the parents in your community or experts in the field you’re planning to serve, all must have the knowledge, resources, or skills to help you establish your institution. They should also be able to provide insight and give constructive criticisms on your initial plans and find a way to improve the things that are lagging behind.
Permits And Other Details
It may also be the perfect time to comply with the requirements of the government both national and local. School guidelines and other legal matters should also be taken care of at this point. It’s also advisable to establish incorporation to limit the liability and to extend the school’s life beyond the founders.
Strategy And Budget
At this point, it is important to fill in the details of the business part of the school. You should have a plan on how you’re going to operate and manage over the first 5 years. Unless you have a donor who can support you, you don’t need to build everything in one go. This is the part where you discuss with the partners and your different committees how you plan to develop the school and what you expect to achieve within those first 5 years.
Financing and budgeting come in with the enrollment projections, staffing, and the different programs you plan to implement in the school. You should also map out how you’re going to handle the finances like record keeping, check-signing, salaries, benefits, petty cash, and auditing. Fundraising projects are common to support school development projects, but you have to be clear on your case statement and the plan to initiate and complete the project.
Location And Construction Of Facilities
If you want to start small, you can find a temporary space to house your expected number of initial students. Many great schools start with just one classroom and have moved or expanded campuses to accommodate larger classes as they grew. The committee assigned to the location and construction of the facilities will take care of the permits, complying with the different building and safety codes. In these modern times, sustainable development for green schools is pretty popular and economical in the long run, so it may be wise to invest in such facilities.
Once you’ve got the structure in place, designing the interior must entail the school’s vision and philosophy in mind. A school that focuses on nurturing modern technology must make sure they have the right tools and facilities to effectively instruct their students on the matter. Classrooms, teacher’s lounge, cafeteria, faculty room, etc. basically the school furniture must be provided adequately for the students and the staff. This includes the right desks and stools for laboratories, and for the other amenities in the school. Whether you’re a small or a big private school, there are a number of reputable suppliers in the UK that can provide you with the furnishings you need.
Staffing
Create a process that is defined by a profile based on the school’s vision to fill key positions of the school: Headmaster and a couple of senior staff. Make sure you’re objective in your search and be expansive as you can to attract great talents suitable for the position.
Make sure you specify the job descriptions, salary, benefits, and other details for your faculty and other staff. Your Headmaster will take the lead on the enrollment campaign and marketing, as well as, assist you in filling up the faculty positions. It is important that you explain to your faculty the mission of the school and the stakes. A competitive package will also help attract great talents.
Marketing
With the help of your committee and your Headmaster, you need to devise a marketing plan to attract students - they are your lifeblood. You can promote the school in various ways, as opposed to the traditional method of going to remote places or door-to-door to recruit students, social media and digital marketing can help you reach students from faraway.
You will also need to provide handbooks, uniforms, insurance, extra-curricular programs, tradition, policy, etc. so it’s important that you got it sorted out before you accept students. At this time, you can also start having your school get the necessary accreditation to attract more students.
Opening Day
Opening day is a memorable day, especially the first one. You can go big and invite important persons in society to promote the spirits of your staff and the aspiring students.
Everything won’t be perfect but if you’ve prepared enough, you won’t have so much to worry about once the opening day is coming up. As you go along you’ll be able to identify gaps and points for improvement. Just make sure you know where you are and where you want to be in the future.
