If You Haven't Opened a School, You Haven't Lived! (Well, Maybe You Have)

10 Life Lessons From a Seasoned Montessori Administrator

If you ask me, anyone who hasn’t tried their hand at opening a school, whether it’s a traditional bricks-and-mortar affair or a digital empire, has missed out on some of life’s most, shall we say, formative experiences.

Now, I’m not suggesting you chuck your day job to become the next Horace Mann (he is considered to be “The Father of American Education.”)

But bear with me — there’s more to this school-starting business than meets the eye.

Lesson #1: Humility is Your New Best Friend

Remember that time you thought you were the absolute master of spreadsheet formulas? Or when you were convinced your PowerPoint presentation would make Steve Jobs weep with envy? Opening a school will gleefully disabuse you of such notions.

See, the educational landscape is a humbling beast. You’ll discover an infinite variety of learning styles, a baffling range of administrative hurdles, and the occasional student who seems to exist solely to test your patience. Your expertise, so carefully honed in the corporate world, might suddenly feel about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Embrace this feeling — it’s the first step to true wisdom.

Lesson #2: The Art of the Pivot (and the Occasional Pirouette)

In the business world, we love a good plan. Gantt charts, SWOT analyses, and the works. Schools? They have a tendency to laugh in the face of your meticulous projections. Picture this: you’ve spent weeks crafting the perfect curriculum, only to discover your students are obsessed with learning about… alpaca’s. (True story, by the way.)

The ability to pivot with grace and a healthy dose of humor becomes your survival skill. Sometimes it’s adjusting lesson plans on the fly. Other times, it’s performing a full-blown interpretive dance to explain the complexities of supply chain management.

Lesson #3: Bureaucracy is a Shapeshifter

Anyone who’s ever battled corporate red tape, raise your hand. Imagine that red tape has magically multiplied, gained sentience, and developed a fondness for interpretive dance. That’s the world of educational bureaucracy.

Licensing requirements, accreditation standards, funding applications… they’re enough to make your head spin. The key here is not to fight the shapeshifter but to outsmart it. Learn its strange language, befriend the gatekeepers, and stockpile copious amounts of coffee.

Lesson #4: Passion is (Mostly) Contagious

Sure, we all get jaded sometimes. But walk into a classroom full of eager learners, and it’s hard not to catch at least a spark of their enthusiasm. Whether you’re teaching thermodynamics or the finer points of meme creation, there’s something undeniably infectious about the raw curiosity of a student discovering something new.

Pro tip: this contagiousness is not always a given. Some students will arrive with the enthusiasm of a wet sock. Your job then becomes finding that one tiny flicker of interest and fanning it into a bonfire. Just try not to set anything alight in the process.

Lesson #5: You Are Never Really in Charge

You can have all the fancy titles you want — Headmaster, Dean, Chief Educational Guru. But the truth is, once those school doors open, you’re at the mercy of forces far more powerful than yourself. Like the student who always forgets their homework (but has an uncannily detailed excuse). Or the fire alarm that seems to have a vendetta against perfectly timed lesson plans.

The sooner you accept your lack of ultimate control, the more enjoyable the ride becomes. Think of yourself less as a fearless captain and more as a resourceful crew member, constantly adjusting the sails to the unpredictable winds of the educational experience.

Lesson #6: The Power of the Underdog

There’s something undeniably exhilarating about being the scrappy upstart in the education world. You don’t have the deep pockets of established institutions or the centuries-old reputation. What you do have is boundless energy, a willingness to experiment, and a whole lot of grit.

Use this to your advantage! Big schools are often slow to adapt. You can be the nimble innovator, the one trying out new teaching methods or catering to niche interests. Remember, the giant-slaying Davids of the world have their roots in this kind of fearless outsider attitude.

Lesson #7: Failure is Your Secret Sauce

We all like to talk a big game about embracing failure in the corporate world. But let’s be real, when a project goes belly-up, there are consequences. In a school, failure takes on a different flavor. It’s smaller scale, often more immediate, and sometimes downright hilarious.

The experimental lesson plan that flopped spectacularly? The fundraising event that attracted two attendees (one of them your dog)? These become the stuff of legend, the war stories you’ll swap over beers with fellow educators. And more importantly, they’re constant reminders that the best learning often comes from getting things gloriously wrong.

Lesson #8: The Profound Power of Tiny Victories

Opening a school isn’t about the splashy headlines or the seven-figure donations (though those wouldn’t hurt). It’s about the small moments that make your heart swell with an oddly disproportionate amount of pride.

It’s the student who struggles with reading and finally sounds out a whole paragraph. It’s the shy kid who raises their hand for the first time in class. It’s the batch of cookies you baked for the bake sale that miraculously didn’t burn. These victories might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but trust me, they’ll sustain you through the tough times.

Lesson #9: Your Tribe is Everything

Running a school is a team sport, whether you like it or not. You’ll need passionate teachers, supportive parents, and the occasional tech wizard who can wrestle the malfunctioning printer into submission. Building a community of like-minded (and occasionally eccentric) individuals becomes just as important as the curriculum itself.

These are the people who’ll celebrate the wins with you, commiserate over the burnt cookies, and offer a shoulder to cry on when the bureaucratic shapeshifter has been particularly vicious.

Lesson #10: It’s Never Really Over

Even if your school becomes a roaring success, the learning never stops — for you or your students. The educational landscape is always shifting, new technologies emerge, and the next generation of quirky, brilliant students will keep you on your toes.

The day you think you’ve got it all figured out is the day you should probably pack up your desk and try your hand at alpaca farming instead.

So, there you have it. Opening a school might just be one of the craziest, most rewarding, and occasionally absurd things you’ll ever do. Will it make you rich? Probably not. Will it turn your hair prematurely gray? Quite possibly. But will it forever change how you see the world and your place in it? Absolutely.

About Me: Magdalena Ponurska: Your Secret Weapon

From boardrooms to classrooms: I’m obsessed with helping schools and leaders build something lasting. My superpowers? I untangle chaos, get global teams humming, and zero in on what really motivates people (spoiler: it’s not always what they think). A psychology degree, global leadership experience, and a whole lot of Montessori passion — that’s my recipe for success. I’ve spoken everywhere, led workshops, and even co-founded a thing or two.

Ready to transform your school or organization into a powerhouse? Let’s talk.