Discovery School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 341168732
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Mansfield, OH, USA
- Phone
- 4197568880
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,790,439
- Expenses
- $1,781,059
- Assets
- $1,780,060
- Liabilities
- $278,387
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
People named in this filing
- Margaret Black (Chair)
- Ben Bishop (Vice Chair)
- Monica Phillips (Board Member)
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
We are a private, independent school whose mission is to provide each child the educational opportunity to discover, with perseverance and imagination, the joy of learning and the interconnectedness of our world. Our vision is to bring inspiration and innovation to children through a dynamic educational experience one where learners ask questions, develop academic skills in creative ways, and are active and responsible citizens of the world. Our values are: adventure, innovation, community, inclusion, integrity
What it reported doing in 2024
We are proudly designated as an International Baccalaureate World School, offering the Primary Years Program, and serving more than 150 students in Preschool through Grade 6. We believe in constructivist learning - meaning that our students are discussing their ideas together, working to build understanding as a class. Through the use of classroom agreements and the I.B. Learner Profile we share a vision of what it means to be a learner, now and lifelong. Our students make learning take action by evidencing learning in many different ways, being active participants in assessment, and through project based learning that not only builds their understanding of the world, but also creates partnerships in learning between students, classes, the school, and the wider community. We prioritize outdoor learning from the environment around us, taking full advantage of the 40 acres of woods surrounding the school. Discovery students benefit from that idea of being balanced learners with a full academic morning centered around core subjects like reading, writing, mathematics, and the IB Program of Inquiry, moving to three related specialist subjects in the afternoon including woods, genius hour, STEM, visual art, music, library, Spanish, physical education, and health. Enrichment classes on Friday afternoons allow teachers and community members to share their passions and knowledge with students who choose from those offerings they are most interested in. Past offerings have included board games club, comic book clubs, art club, salsa dancing, urban farming, meditation, and more.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 74% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 73.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.