You seem to be really on top of it. You would be a great resource in Maine and the states around it. Maybe you already are involved in starting new schools in churches. This one is enough for me to support after seeing what all was involved. But it's worthwhile and an interesting topic so please keep us updated on how it goes starting one or more in Maine.
I have been involved but I am 73 years old and no longer involved. I am aware of churches that have started schools in their building, and am familiar with much of what it takes to do so here, in Texas, and even in liberal Michigan.
I wasn't referring to single mothers or single dads. I was wondering why the volunteers couldn't be men? Your idea sounds more like daycare than an actual school. Don't you believe that teachers should have some sort of curriculum and credentials? It's more than a volunteer "opportunity" to take on the responsibility of educating children. And speaking of church daycare, when my sons were small they attended a Presbyterian Church day care and kindergarten. I chose that place because it was clean, well organized, and provided a safe space for my children at a reasonable cost. It did not sway me one way or another to consider joining the church.
For a smaller church without a great deal of disposable income, I would suggest beginning with a homeschooling model or using one of the several pre-made Christian curricula that are available to get started, with the goal of hiring a teacher later. For a small group, one teacher could teach multiple grades, like in some small public schools even today, while other teachers could be hired later. Otherwise, it can be so complicated that no one would ever get started.
I agree that churches could be support centers for homeschoolers. It may not bring many more people into the church, but it could be used to strengthen the church family even in very large churches/mosques/synagogues. Many states have laws against church-based private schools that were born in the post-WWII anti-Catholic movement when people were afraid that the Catholic Church would take over education as so many non-Catholic families were enrolling their kids in parochial schools. Homeschooling has face the same issues now as the education system continues to rapidly deteriorate. Those laws are what is stopping the passage of the voucher system for school choice in many areas including Alaska where anti-Catholic language was included in the state constitution. As I have said before, we were something of a pioneer family in the homeschool movement when we started 40 years ago encouraged by a group of public school teachers. When we started, we purchased curricula from Calvert in Baltimore, Maryland, a Christian boarding school that developed a system for the children of missionaries stationed in other countries. I think Calvert has changed, but there are many companies that offer curricula including one developed by Bill Bennett, a former Secretary of Education that could be used in a church-based school program if real teachers are not available. When we started, we formed a "community" of mostly moms who met and discussed the issues they were facing, and who hired "experts", usually certified teachers, to teach classes in subjects that the home educators were not comfortable teaching. These were usually sciences and math, but sometimes included foreign languages and other subjects. This could all be supported by a church-based homeschool with a purchased curriculum or one developed within the church. There were some functions under state law (in Georgia then) that required supervision by someone with a Bachelor's degree or higher, and I supplied that sometimes, but it also was supplied by others or hired teachers if they were available. I think a church-based "homeschool" program would be a great way to go and would be paid for by those families whose children were enrolled. The church pastor, at least in mainstream churches, could supply the oversight if that is required in a particular state.
My Catholic grade school is still going. Not sure for how much longer. But from the pics it has been well maintained, kids still wearing uniforms. It taught the basics with no foolishness. It never occurred to us to skip class or misbehave or dye our hair green, or change sex...
Not being Catholic, I could be wrong (I'm not certain, but I think I remember a time when I was wrong once, but I could be wrong about that). Still, it seems that Catholic schools have a long tradition of being strong in academics and discipline, with high expectations for their students. But I'm not sure that they contribute significantly to the mission of the Church beyond not exposing these students to the public school system. One of my two best friends in high school (oddly enough, we were all in different high schools) attended a Catholic High School after attending public school in the lower grades (which seems backward from a Christian educational standpoint). He said that it was just like a public school, except that they made you work harder, the exception being a class in Catholic religious studies. My primary point in the OP was not so much that the church supports a school but that the school is designed to provide an excellent education to students and foster an allegiance to the church and a commitment to God or the church's beliefs. That second part seems to be missing in most Christian schools I am familiar with. They are held in buildings separate from the church, and, other than not including distinctly anti-Christian indoctrination in the curricula, as do the public schools, there isn't much to connect the school to the church; therefore, the school does not advance the mission of the church.
Oh my! You missed out on catechism and sacrament preparedness and finding out your father, who was not a Christian was not going to be in heaven with you? Our church was just across the street.
In the past, the church was the centre of every community. The local abbey educated the sons of the wealthy and also provided medical care for everyone. The problems started when the government decided that everyone should be educated and set up state schools. It has to be acknowledged that not everyone is academic and many children would be better served by learning a skill rather than subjects which are of no use to them. It is a fact that religious schools have more success than secular schools. Their standards tend to be higher with emphasis on behaviour as well as academic success. At the moment children are being indoctrinated by those who have their own agenda for society. Many of the things they are taught are simply not true. Parents really need to band together and put a stop to this.
But because of the destruction of the family, no one is willing to rock the boat of government daycare, which is what schools mostly are these days.
Occasionally I read the r/teachers section of Reddit. Horrifying what goes on in classrooms nowadays; the teachers basically have ZERO control and total chaos to deal with. Parents are creating these entitled monsters and sending them off to be someone else's problem. A stern nun with a ruler might be the answer.
The 2 church schools I am most familiar with locally do hold classes in the church building. In fact, that is intentionally part of the whole plan. Churches stand empty most of the week but not these. They are occupied 6 days a week and there is often something going on Saturdays as well. All the Sunday school rooms are children's classrooms 5 days of the week. Of course there are other churches that have separate buildings for the schools they sponsor. They are often secondary schools. There is a lot of home schooling in this area and they have formed groups for sports, social activities, curriculum review and to help new people just becoming home schoolers. There are also lots of charter schools. Things are so different than when my kids were in school. We would have welcomed a church school or a charter school. Of course, we still have the huge public high schools that can be like the halls of hell but there are alternatives for people who want them. It's surprising how many people think public schools offer a better education than any of the alternatives.
And there is not emphasis on good behavior as you said. They tied teachers' hands so as to be unable to discipline. I am not saying using a belt but there are no consequences. I know a kid who called the cops on her parents for disciplining her. The are indoctrinated into a- social behavior.
When I researched home schooling, the schools tried very hard to talk us out of it. I was told it was because home schooled kids tested better than public school kids. We can't have them showing up the government.