Avery Coonley School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362171680
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Downers Grove, IL, USA
Phone
6309690800
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,682,230
Expenses
$12,656,221
Assets
$21,822,770
Liabilities
$6,491,447

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Kirsty Montgomery PHD (Head of Schhool): $360,921 total reported compensation
  • Geraldine White (CFO): $196,661 total reported compensation
  • Kenny Bae (Director of Innovation and Sustainabilty): $161,254 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Avery Coonley School elevates high-achieving and gifted learners through immersion in a mutually talented community where intellect, curiosity, and creativity are enhanced by optimal challenge.

What it reported doing in 2024

Avery Coonley School (ACS) is an elementary school (junior kindergarten through 8th grade) for gifted and academically advanced students. ACS has been kindling the minds of these learners for over 100 years. ACS is a place where gifted students collaborate with peers who are equally curious, energized by each other's creativity, and enjoy academic challenge all day. ACS provides the opportunity to delve deeper into a plethora of topics with highly skilled teachers, and the opportunity to interact every day with other children who are academically advanced, providing an incredibly rich environment for social, emotional, and academic development. All faculty engage in extensive professional development. They have presented and conducted trainings across the United States on everything from gifted education to integrating educational technology into the curriculum. In addition, ACS offers a thriving summer program. Students choose from more than 130 exciting and enriching offerings open to children in preschool through eighth grade. Academically and physically challenging courses and an individualized hands-on approach are hallmarks of the ACS summer program.

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 92% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 78.8%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.4% of revenue deployed · 78.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $361K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.