starting a chess club

You won't need to be a good player to start a club, administrative skills are more important than playing skills, but of course, playing skills do help...

The word school has a slightly different meaning over this side of the pond, you should consider whether members are likely to be children and/or adults, and whether appropriate adults might be required to conform with child protection laws.

You'll need some equipment, obviously, boards and sets first, it might be possible to add clocks later.

Your local federation should be able to give good advice on what is necessary, what is desirable, and what is required of you for running a club, especially if it is affiliated to the federation.

There may be other clubs in the area who compete in leagues, your federation should be able to tell you who to contact if you wish to compete in those.

AFAIK, nationality is not important for achieving ratings, just enough qualifying games, again, your federation will be able to tell you what conditions must be met for games to be graded.

I guess your next step would be to contact your federation...

Good luck