Leadership Development:
Building A School

Starting and building a school will demand more of your heart, soul, mind, and strength than virtually any enterprise.

Access to help from people who have started schools and reflected on the challenges - and developed procedures to reduce them - can be invaluable.

To help you start, we have created the following checklist to work through as you move forward (NB It is not possible to follow these steps in exactly the order presented, but you will find that they naturally flow more or less in this order):

• Resolve to take your time and act prudently
• Gather with a like-minded group for informal and prayerful discussion about starting a school
• Decide whether starting a school is what God is calling you to do
• If so, form a leadership team and divide roles
• Research starting a school and meet regularly to discuss your findings
• Decide on a governance model
       * Board governed
       * Teacher governed (Oxford style)
• Communicate with established schools that embody elements of your dream
• Research services that can help start-ups (e.g. ACCS, Paideia, Inc., CiRCE Institute, SCL, etc.)
• Form vision and mission statements
• Establish your schools creed (permanent and unalterable)
• Establish your schools basic values (always renewable)
• Establish by-laws, policies and procedures, and legal compliance
• Develop a strategic plan, including
       *Objectives
       *Means of assessment
       *Milestones
       *Initiatives
• Form committees to enact the initiatives
• Incorporate if you plan to be a nonprofit corporation
• Hire staff, especially a Head of School
• Secure facilities
• Begin marketing
• Hire faculty
• Develop curriculum
• Equip faculty
• Recruit families
• Open your doors

If we can provide any additional assistance as you begin your school, please contact the CiRCE Institute at (704) 786-9684.

We offer:

• Start-Up Working Papers
• Board retreats
• Curriculum guidance
• Teacher Development
• Headmaster support
• General consulting