Launching Your Own School: Comprehensive Consulting Services

Northern Ivey Educational Consulting partners with forward-thinking organizations to design, develop, and launch exceptional school programs. Whether you are an elementary school expanding into a high-school division, an enrichment academy seeking credit-granting status, or a specialized institution planning a new school model (day, evening, weekend or blended), we bring the strategic insight, operational frameworks, and accreditation expertise required to build a sustainable, high-quality educational enterprise.

Our Approach

From vision to implementation, our process is designed to be clear, collaborative, and aligned with your mission and context. We guide leadership teams through each phase: feasibility and planning, program and curriculum development, operational setup, compliance and accreditation, and launch support. Our approach emphasizes equity, clarity, innovation, and whole-student development—ensuring that your institution is positioned for long-term impact.

Core Areas of Support

  • Strategic Planning & Vision Alignment: We work with your leadership team to define mission, vision, values, goals, and success metrics. We support school-wide strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and aligning your educational offering with your organization’s identity and mandate.


  • Program Design & Curriculum Development: Our team supports the design of new academic programs, course structures, sequence mapping, subject offerings, credit pathways, and assessment frameworks. We help tailor curricula to your school’s vision—whether internationally influenced, faith-based, arts-centred, sports-integrated, or mission-driven.


  • Regulatory Compliance & Ministry Accreditation: We bring deep experience with the Ontario Ministry of Education and associated regulations, helping schools navigate the process of becoming credit-granting, de-streamed-friendly, compliant with independent school legislation, and launched with integrity.


  • Technology Integration, SIS & LMS Setup: We assist with the selection and implementation of core digital systems, including Student Information Systems (SIS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), and communication or reporting platforms. We ensure your school launches with efficient, modern, and scalable technology solutions.


  • Operational Frameworks & Governance: We guide development of organizational structures, leadership roles, governance models, policy and procedure documentation (including safeguarding, admissions, staffing), scheduling models (full-time, evening, weekend), budgeting templates, and readiness checklists.


  • Human Resources Management: We support the development of HR systems including recruitment processes, onboarding procedures, role profiles, performance frameworks, staffing structures, and compliance with Ontario employment standards. Our goal is to help you build sustainable, transparent, and people-centred HR practices.


  • ONSIS Reporting Setup & Support: We establish and support Ontario School Information System (ONSIS) reporting structures, ensuring data accuracy, proper coding, compliance with Ministry requirements, and smooth submission processes.


  • Ontario Student Records (OSR) Management: We help you set up secure, organized, and compliant OSR systems, including storage, maintenance, transfer processes, and alignment with provincial documentation standards in both digital and physical formats.


  • Furniture & Learning Environment Design: We provide guidance on choosing ergonomic, flexible, and pedagogically aligned classroom furniture. We help design learning spaces that support accessibility, collaboration, safety, comfort, and strong student engagement.


  • Launch-Phase Support & Implementation: We support your team during the launch phase through timeline development, stakeholder communication, enrolment strategies, orientation planning, staffing support, data system setup, and readiness checks that ensure a smooth opening.


  • Review & Continuous Improvement: Post-launch, we assist with evaluation, data-driven refinement, accreditation maintenance, and long-term planning. We help embed a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and well-being across your school program.


Who Benefits

  • Elementary or K–8 schools looking to add a Grade 9–12 program or high-school division.

  • Specialized organizations—arts academies, sports institutes, religious or mission-driven schools—seeking to become full-time credit-granting schools or hybrid/alternative models.

  • New school initiatives that require end-to-end consulting: feasibility, design, accreditation, launch.

  • Existing schools expanding their portfolio or refining their program model, structure or accreditation status.

Why Northern Ivey?

Our consulting combines educational leadership experience, curriculum mastery, regulatory understanding and operational know-how. We don’t just provide high-level advice; we deliver actionable frameworks, timelines, templates and tools customized to your context. We partner with you because we believe in designing learning environments where high-quality education, student agency, and whole-person development are central. We support schools to become places that cultivate successful, well-rounded students prepared not just academically—but holistically.

Next Steps

  1. Initial Discovery Call – We begin with a conversation to understand your aspirations, context, timeline and key success factors.

  2. Proposal & Roadmap – We deliver a tailored consulting proposal and project roadmap outlining phases, deliverables and costs.

  3. Engagement & Implementation – We work together through the phases outlined above, with regular checkpoints, stakeholder collaboration and milestone reviews.

  4. Launch & Review – We support your launch, monitor key metrics, refine the program and help plan for sustainable growth.


Email us at [email protected] to get started today!


FAQ

For Organizations, Educators & Schools

  • Q: Can you assist with Ministry accreditation and ongoing compliance?

    Absolutely. We work with school leadership teams on goal-setting, vision alignment, well-being initiatives, and the implementation of research-based practices that create future-ready learning environments.

  • Q: What kind of HR and staffing support do you offer for a new school?

    We provide consulting on recruitment processes, role definitions, onboarding systems, performance frameworks, staffing structure and people-centre HR practices aligned with Ontario employment standards and your school culture.

  • Q: Do you support the selection and implementation of technology systems (SIS & LMS)?

    Yes. We help you evaluate, select and launch Student Information Systems (SIS), Learning Management Systems (LMS) and digital platforms that support your school’s operations, teaching, learning and reporting needs.

  • Q: What does implementation support look like when launching a new school?

    We work with your leadership through phases: feasibility & planning, operations setup, curriculum & compliance, launch readiness, orientation, enrolment strategy, and post-launch review. We provide timelines and checkpoints for every phase.

  • Q: How are your services structured and priced?

    Each engagement is unique. We begin with a discovery call to understand your context, then deliver a tailored proposal with phases, deliverables and investment. Engagements can be fixed-fee, phased retainer, or subscription-based depending on scope.