Brooklyn Kindergarten Society
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 111631820
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 7186239803
- Rating
- 89
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,945,048
- Expenses
- $8,394,631
- Assets
- $11,299,919
- Liabilities
- $5,907,156
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Kierra Wynne (Dp Dr of Education): $146,924 total reported compensation
- Olena Jaffe (Dir of Compliance): $146,887 total reported compensation
- Miroslava Poliscukova-Reyes (Dir Curric & Instr): $145,240 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Brooklyn Kindergarten Society provides high-quality early childhood education and family support services, ensuring that children develop the social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.Vision of Excellence: BKS offers children play based learning grounded inScienceTechnologyEngineeringArtsMathematicsChildren at BKS will receive equitable educational experiences that allows them to develop a strong sense of character, cultural identity and academic skills that enhance their genius.
What it reported doing in 2024
Early Childcare Education Program: BKS operates seven (7) centers: 6 in NYCHA housing and 1 formerly NYCHA, now under private management. The BKS program is strategically designed to provide academic and social enrichment that is rooted in best practices and are the hallmarks of high-quality preschools nationally.Today, BKS continues to chart its own course in supporting our earliest learners and continues to serve communities who have been traditionally under-served. We have expanded to seven Children's Centers, each located in NYCHA housing, and each center serving the unique needs of its students and families. Located in the neighborhoods of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Crown Heights, all area students ages 2 to 5 years old are welcome to apply to BKS. Our staff and students represent the diversity of Brooklyn. We offer a creative curriculum that marries together reading and writing with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) learning. Our Music & Movement Program brings tennis, violin, and dance lessons into our centers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 88% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 96.3%; rating input score 96
- Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $25.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -20.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.35; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 96.3% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $6.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 24 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $644K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.