Community Nursery School

Legal name: Community Nursery of Cayuga Heights Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
160995420
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ithaca, NY, US
Phone
(607) 257-7648
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$290,180
Expenses
$271,526
Assets
$326,074
Liabilities
$32,366

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAKI JOHNSTON (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • TIM WELLS (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • JOSH LAMBERT (VICE PRESIDENT ROOST)
  • KAILLE GRAY (VICE PRESIDENT NOOK)
  • EMILY D'ALESSANDRO (VICE PRESIDENT NEST)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA GARNER (DIRECTOR): $27,609 total reported compensation
  • TESSA MASI-PERKINS (TEACHER REPRESENTATIVE): $22,550 total reported compensation
  • EMILY D'ALESSANDRO (VICE PRESIDENT NEST): $521 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CNS is proud to use a co-op model, where parents and teachers work together to build a wonderful, caring community for our children. For more than 60 years, CNS and its families have been helping children grow and learn together in a joyful and playful environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community nursery of cayuga heights operates a toddler and preschool program for children 18 months - 5 years of age.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 94.1%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.4%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 86% of revenue deployed · 94.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $256K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $28K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.