Desert Montessori School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850423730
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Fe, NM, USA
Phone
5059838212
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,070,579
Expenses
$1,022,713
Assets
$613,802
Liabilities
$21,438

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • TERRY MARTINSON (BOARD CHAIR)
  • LAUREN PINEDA (TREASURER)
  • DEANN MEADOWS (TEACHER REPR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of desert montessori school (dms) is to provide a personalized, engaging education that inspires a life-long love of learning, fosters meaningful, independent thinking, social responsibility and self- confidence. Utilizing the montessori approach and values, along with proven best-practices, dms shines as an inspiring, respectful, safe and caring community for every student, parent and teacher. Dms is a ececd-licensed, two-star facility. We enroll students beginning at age two (2) and offer enrollment through sixth grade.

What it reported doing in 2024

Desert montessori integrates the montessori philosophy with research-based educational practices. Our students are active participants in academically rigorous classrooms. We honor individual learning styles while preparing students for future success, aiming to empowerourstudents with agency, creativity and integrity our programis based upon montessori principles and values. Teachers thoughtfully prepare engaging environments and guide children to learn at their own pace to reach their individual potential. We use sequences of progressively more challenging work, which allows children to build independence, leading to a strong sense of joy, agency and accomplishment. The materials and lessons are designed to lead a child from the simple to the complex, from concrete to abstract concepts. Our classrooms cultivate an atmosphere of peace, respect and collaboration throughout our community. Finally, outdoor experiences and opportunities for service instill a love of nature and social responsibility as children begin to question and integrate their purpose and place within the family, school and broader community. We are an award-winning school with between a 5:1 and 8:1 teacher-student ratio, a diverse student body, and a rich specials program that includes art, nature, and spanish. 98% of our 6th grade graduates have gotten into the middle school of their choice, including santa fe preparatory school, santa fe waldorf, and the academy for the technologies and classics.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.5%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.1% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $879K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.