Cold Spring School

Legal name: Cold Spring School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061066740
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Phone
203-787-1584
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,904,249
Expenses
$5,022,477
Assets
$8,896,205
Liabilities
$3,167,580

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID THOMPSON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOCELYN HURWITZ (PRESIDENT)
  • ARATI PANDIT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ARATI PANDIT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $233,089 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cold Spring School provides a joyful, progressive education for children ages three through twelve, fostering a community where every child is known and every voice is heard.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cold spring school is an independent day school with approximately 150 students in preschool through sixth grade. The students represent the diverse cultural, racial and economic backgrounds found in the greater new haven, Connecticut area. The school occupies three renovated buildings overlooking new haven harbor and a city park.classrooms have two full-time teachers: a head teacher and an associate teacher. A low student-teacher ratio allows teachers to provide individual assessment, coaching and instruction. Classrooms are designed with spaces that accommodate small, cooperative group learning as well as one-on-one learning with a teacher. Each classroom also has space for whole-class meetings that typically start and end each day's activities. Children usually stay with a head teacher for two years, allowing student, family and teacher to form a close partnership and providing many opportunities for social and academic growth.the school employs a thematic approach which integrates the study of language, arts, math, social studies and science. Through age-appropriate themes, teachers support the development of a range of academic and social skills: researching, writing, listening, and communicating. Students are encouraged to ask, share and answer questions bringing their own skills and perspectives to discussions.an optional extended-day program is offered from 3:00pm-5:30pm. This program includes a balanced combination of outdoor physical activity, snack and project time for the lower grades and time to work on homework for students in the 4-6 grades. The school also offers vacation child care on many of the days when school is not in session. The program accomodates a limited number of children in pre k - grade 6, runs from 8:30am-4:30pm and is staffed by two teachers who plan a day of indoor and outdoor activities at the school.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.4%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 75.1% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $233K · 17 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.