I’ve had many people ask me what it requires to open a school. Honestly, it requires a lot of time, money, and perseverance. I am not sure I would have the confidence to take on this project had I not successfully opened a school in Hawaii.

Seed Funding

Let’s take a look at the breakdown of the initial states of this adventure though.

• $550 – Incorporation
• $250 – Nonprofit application
• $300 – Website and email (Yearly)
• $2,000 – Marketing & branding
• $1,500 – Legal consulting
• $1,000 – Accounting setup / Taxes

That totals about $5,600 in administrative paperwork for the first year. You can support our initial funding by making a donation here.

2nd Stage

Next year we hope to grow exponentially. We will need a building, a teacher, desks, chairs, toys, and curriculum for the school. Any additional funding we receive during the seed process will go towards funding items for the next step.

• $70,000 – Nonprofit director / year
• $55,000 – Preschool director (CA averages are $50,000-$65,000) / year
• $50,000 – Part-time staff (x2 once we have enough students) / year
• $20,000 – Initial insurance costs / year
• $15,000 – Utilities / year
• $15,000 – Desks, chairs, tables (one time / fixed cost)
• $10,000 – Office setup (one time / fixed cost)
• $15,000 – Marketing campaign / Signage (one time/fixed cost)
• $30,000 – *Building rental. Locations in South El Monte vary greatly, so I am looking for a place that is easily accessible but ideally near a park. I have only seen a few.

That will total about $280,000 in startup / operating costs, depending on the building location.

* Purchasing a building is about $2,000,000. Whatever space we purchase would need to be a place where we would be able to grow and use for a long time. Here is an example of the type of space we would like to have at some point.

Another option would be to purchase a duplex or triplex in an area nearby a major street. Since the El Monte / South El Monte area are heavily industrial areas, there are many available. The cost would be slightly cheaper than a commercial building.

I’d like to note that I don’t think we will be fully setup the second we open our doors. I imagine I will need to “donate” a lot of my time initially, and we might not have all the furniture in place. I am completely fine with beginning with a slimmed down school while we work towards our goals.