I want to buy a school. There. I said it.
I think big. It can be overwhelming. So much so that I quickly become defeated and don’t know where to start.
Start small is what everyone says. Yeah, but I want to buy a high school. Not start in a room in a community centre.
I know the latter is the sensible way to start any project. Maybe if it’s your own business but I don’t want to own it or even run it myself. I just want to be a part of it.
Of course, an endeavor this large requires a large investment and people who know how to teach and run a school. I am neither.
I have thought about this since I was a school trustee fighting for special needs schools. Likely even before that when I first started to see that the best outcome for these institutions and its educators would be away from the political and system bureaucracy of public educaiton.
I’ve shared these ideas with some people. I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about how we could make a large multi-million dollar purchase sustainable and attractive to families, and a few of us have even talked about a name for the school and logos and such.
My alma mater will be up for sale within the next couple of years when our three girls are done borrowing it while their school is renovated.
Let’s build an institute for special needs, exceptional students, and for disengaged youth. They say public education is in greatest need of innovation. So let’s fvcking innovate.
Not a for profit though but only accountable to the government for the positive influence our students have on society after graduation and feedback from students because success – like inclusion – is personal.