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dreambeliever 07:08 PM 05-10-2012
I'm thinking of making a leap of faith and starting a very unique child-care program. Here's the situation, please give me any advice you can!

A new Charter School (pet project of University of Texas) for grades 3-12 is starting in August and my son got in with the first lottery. It's going to be very high-tech and project-based. The students will be issued laptops and will be introduced to the content in online classes (this will take an hour or so a day outside of school) and then when they go into the classroom, they will have intense project-based learning to reinforce and really learn the content. It's turning the typical model around. So we're really excited but unfortunately the school day will only go from 8-12 and after that, the students have to go.
They really want more parental involvement than in a typical school but unfortunately those hours just don't work for a lot of families. So there will be many parents looking for afternoon (or afterschool) care that is more than just babysitting and really fills in any holes that a short school day like this might create (like less time for the arts, P.E., etc). So I decided that who better qualified than I to start that?? lol. I am a certified all level art teacher and I currently am finishing my 6th year teaching high school. I love ALL subjects, I'm project oriented and I can't wait to get this started and not because I hate my job or think this will be easy. I know owning a business will be hard. I am not sure I'm cut out for the paperwork side of it but I'm going to do what I have to do.
My biggest concern is, how will I still make a living? My husband is a band director and cannot support us on his own. I know this will be a risk but I need a clear idea of what kind of expenses I'm going to have to deal with. I have more than one local church offering their facilities to use and I have big dreams for this program. My husband is concerned about how much less I will be bringing in (so am I) and we realize we may end up having to sell our home and downsize. Here are my questions:

1. Is it true that I will have to pay two sets of taxes? One, my income and two, the profit I make from the business.
2. Do I have to be certified or registered with the state as a daycare if I'm watching 3rd-12th graders "afterschool"? Is being a certified teacher enough?
3. Is there some kind of law about ratio when it comes to these ages for an afterschool program? It's such a big range (the first year will actually only have 3rd-6th and every year they will add another grade) so I wasn't sure.
4. Would being a church change anything concerning taxes or inspections? It's not a home and not just a place where children are cared for.

Thank you for any help you can provide! I'm sure I have more questions but I'm too brain-dead to think of all of them. End of the school-year craziness is wearing me out!
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