Acorn Montessori School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222553331
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lebanon, NJ, USA
Phone
9087308986
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,314,639
Expenses
$2,182,988
Assets
$3,686,461
Liabilities
$2,461,016

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS MARTINSON (Vice President)
  • ALLISON ROBERTS (Vice President)
  • DEREK FERGUSON (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARGARET PFINGST (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $142,689 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide an enriching Montessori-based education that fosters the child's innate love of learning, creativity and wonder. To cultivate dynamic partnerships between family, school and community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Elementary, primary and toddler educational programming.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.2%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.7%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.69; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.2% of revenue deployed · 65.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 3/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.