Chiaravalle Montessori School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362580506
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Evanston, IL, USA
Phone
8478642190
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,609,347
Expenses
$9,151,649
Assets
$22,910,789
Liabilities
$8,981,427

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Elizabeth Al-Dajani (President)
  • Renee Ruffing (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robyn McCloud-Springer (Head of School): $258,945 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide a modern Montessori Education that inspires Independent, Compassionate, and Innovative thinkers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Private elementary and early childhood serving 155 children in early childhood programs; 68 in lower elementary; 58 in upper elementary and 43 in middle school

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.5; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.8% of revenue deployed · 78% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $259K · 16 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $111K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 17 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.