Q&A With Frank Toral, Owner of Neighborhood Kids

Neighborhood Kids owner Frank Toral discusses his history, calling to the brand and aspirations for growth and larger cultural impact.

Frank Toral: Neighborhood Kids began in Wellington, Florida, 44 years ago. The first school, formerly known as The Little Place, opened in Wellington in 1978. The Little Place served both working class and seasonal families when Wellington was a relatively small bedroom community.

As Wellington continued to cement its reputation as an equestrian capital, the growing community attracted enthusiasts from across the US, Europe, and Latin America. In 1986, the school’s then-owners opened a second Wellington location, naming it The Little Place Too. Both locations had a very strong brand loyalty, and families gravitated to the schools because of the care and compassion the faculty and administrative staff demonstrated to the kids. Many of the parents who pick up their kids today were themselves the children who crawled around those same schools in the 70s and 80s. The positive multi-generational impact and brand loyalty had very little to do with marketing and everything to do with the way the students were treated. The key impression came from the hearts of the staff who were committed to doing whatever it took to accommodate the parents' needs. That same intentional outlook continues to this day.

1851: What inspired you to take that chance to start?

Toral: I've been a lawyer for almost 30 years. During that span, I founded a successful boutique law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and led it for over 20 years. I'm still a licensed attorney, but my heart’s direction changed when I recognized God drawing our family toward a different purpose. We were honored to be part of a great, non-denominational church for over 15 years, and through that experience, we sensed a calling into full-time ministry. In 2016, we stepped out in faith by closing the law firm, selling our family home where our kids were raised, leaving dear friends, and moving to Palm Beach County to start a new church. In 2017, we launched Promise Life Chapel in Wellington.

Promise Life was comprised mostly of young adults and families with young children. Our church’s children’s ministry, Promise Life Kids, actually became the inspiration for Neighborhood Kids. For two and a half years, we held weekly Sunday services and positively impacted our community. Regrettably, we shut our doors the week before COVID would force the closure of most churches, schools, and businesses of our area. Although Promise Life would not reopen, it had become the opportunity doorway to yet another exciting beginning.

We had originally acquired the two preschools in Wellington because we saw them as an avenue to grow the church, minister to hundreds of families, and provide for our own family. The prospect excited us. We thought, “Hey, we're going to have two preschools that have 250 kids with parents and siblings totaling 1,000 people!” We believed it would be a wonderful opportunity to minister as a church to young families by giving them hope and encouragement while earning a good living with the schools. But little did we know that the end game was never about opening the church. God’s plan for us had always been the preschools. In the end, the church closed, but we discovered a ministry of tremendous significance. Through the schools, we had the opportunity to share the message of faith, hope, and love with communities throughout Palm Beach County and soon throughout Florida and beyond. 

1851: You talked about how you felt that God was calling you to do something different. Was there a moment or something that happened in your life or somebody else’s that really brought that to the forefront?

Toral: We had gone to one church all our married life, which, at that time, had been about 15 years. Our kids were raised in that church. It's a large multi-campus, non-denominational church with thousands of people located in Cooper City, Florida. Over time, I became a pastor and part of their executive leadership team.

Although I was unpaid, I spent a lot of time there. And the more time I would spend at the church, the less time I wanted to spend at my practice. God was already changing my heart. I remember distinctly the day I sensed that my season—my time there—had come to an end.

I came home and clearly remember telling my wife, “I believe God is calling us to something bigger,” and she admitted that she, too, was quietly feeling the same way. At that moment, in the spring of 2016, we distinctly sensed God moving us. We didn't know where or to what, but I remember we wrote on a piece of paper, “God, we will go, and we will do whatever you call us to do.” Being the practical lawyer that I am, we both signed that declaration. Within six months, we had made plans to move to Palm Beach County. We upended our whole life, and we've never looked back.

1851: There is a belief within some communities that religion and money don’t go together or shouldn’t go together. Do you see that as something that you will have to contend with or overcome?

Toral: Well, we are certainly not a church. We aspire to be an exceptional early childhood education brand that fully prepares children for kindergarten and beyond. On the way, we teach them about foundational family values, including biblical principles. One of the pathways to franchise ownership is in operating a Neighborhood Kids franchise within a church. We see ourselves as furthering the purpose of the church while simultaneously giving our franchise owners the opportunity to earn a good living and to make a positive impact in their communities. Money and impacting the world for good are not incompatible. We want to make a difference, but without financial resources, it is difficult. Basic economic sense recognizes the need for a ministry’s financial support. But while it is necessary, it can’t become the driving force.

The common thread in my life as a husband, father, pastor, and law firm founder as well as in this new venture of preschool franchising is faith. People don’t need some thing to believe in. They need to know the God who can direct their paths—the God in whom they can believe and who believes in them. In my view, success is never about money but rather about significance. Through a Neighborhood Kids franchise, we introduce children to God, the host church has an aligned organization, and the franchise owner fulfills a dream of ownership and ministry. It’s a win-win-win!

1851: How does Neighborhood Kids reach beyond education to impact its students?

Toral: First and foremost, we provide families with a safe and happy learning environment for their little ones. Beyond that, we instill in the children a foundation of faith. For example, at Neighborhood Kids we teach our students to “love your neighbor as you love yourself,” which holds more comparable importance than which schools that they will graduate from or which careers they will pursue. I told my 13-year-old son recently, “The most important thing Dad will give you is not money; it's not paying for your education. The most important thing is a legacy of faith. It's a recognition that God loves you and has a purpose and plan for your life.”

That's the kind of message we spread—that Neighborhood Kids spreads. That's our mission: to provide a God-honoring early childhood education experience for all children in a safe and happy learning environment.

1851: What is the future of Neighborhood Kids? What do you feel that the brand is working to do?

Toral: We intentionally commit to transforming our local communities and, through them, the larger culture. What I believe we're doing well is helping kids understand who they are—that they were created on purpose and for purpose—and where they are going—that God has a destiny planned for them.

We strive to stay true to our mission of raising up God-honoring schools to give children the best education possible to prepare them for their future. A flood of authoritative research concludes the strong, undeniable correlation between a high-quality preschool education and success later in life.

1851: How are you looking to grow the brand in the future?

Toral: Our strategic path calls for Neighborhood Kids franchise locations initially in the South Florida, Orlando/Kissimmee, and Tampa/St. Petersburg metro areas. Ultimately, we hope to see schools open up across the southern states—perhaps beyond.

One of the encouraging factors that differentiates our brand is our multiple-model format, offering two distinct paths in school operational setup. Franchise owners can open a Neighborhood Kids in what's called second-generation space—the traditional outside shopping center or standalone building. Alternatively, they can operate within an existing church which may already be utilized in caring for kids during Sunday services. To my knowledge, no early childhood education franchise brand in America currently operates inside churches. But we know that concept works because that's how we've grown our corporate locations. Additionally, the cost is significantly lower than building out traditional leased spaces. Perhaps most importantly in the church-facility model is the speed to market. Once the franchise agreements and church leases are negotiated, new franchise owners can open their new Neighborhood Kids locations within a few months. We see that as a game changer since franchisees must sometimes wait years through acquisition and construction phases to open their locations.

1851: Are there any benefits to operating within a church?

Toral: Absolutely! The church can benefit either by becoming a franchise owner itself or serving as a landlord to an individual franchise owner who operates a Neighborhood Kids via a lease agreement with the church. In the role of landlord, the church benefits from a ministry-aligned organization that furthers its overall purpose while also deriving a significant yearly rent. The church would also have the opportunity to interact with the many new young families who might otherwise not visit the church. It then connects all those school families to what's happening in the life of the church.

Additionally, the individual franchise owner would benefit by having a potentially built-in enrollment from many existing families who regularly attend the church. As I already mentioned, the lower costs associated without the otherwise necessary build-out and the speed to market are also big benefits.

Thousands of churches across America sit empty each week between their weekend services—nothing goes on. From South Florida to Central Florida to across America, the potential for these vacant buildings of lost opportunity is staggering. We know that potential is there, which is why our multiple-model development path is so attractive and why we are so excited for the many schools we’re planning to open over the next few years