starting private school - real estate help? (San Jose, Campbell: leasing, private schools)

[t_thibaud]

I live in SW San Jose and am just beginning to form a critical mass of parents who, like ourselves, want to offer our (bilingual or trilingual) kids a rigorous, European-focused curriculum. We can't afford the French-American, International or German schools on the Peninsula and in any case we're looking to realize a fairly specific vision of what our children should receive in terms of curriculum and teaching method, so we're going to see if we can make a go of it with our own school.

Has anyone here ever attempted this? Can anyone give some advice on how to get hold of an existing property at a non-insane, preferably below-market price in the Campbell/SW San Jose/ Cambrian/Almaden area?

A link to a list of public schools that have been closed in these areas would be much appreciated.

Finally, if anyone knows of some south bay private schools that are in serious financial difficulty, please let me know names of schools and whom to contact. Is the Stratford system in difficulty? How about the Mulberry School in Los Gatos?

tia, thibaud

[DMenscha]

I would think that leasing a facility in a storefront as an opening shot might be prudent. Our local community college did this and has about 4 classrooms carved out, it seems to work well for them as a satellite campus. Once you get a few years under your belt you could go explore other options. Talk to a realtor that specializes in commercial properties for even more ideas.

Sounds very interesting, good luck to you.