District of Columbia International School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 461143189
IRS 990 coverage: 2013–2024
Official website data refreshed: Sep 2026
Forms available: Form 990 2024
Location: Washington, DC, US
Phone: (202) 808-9033
Rating: 85
Verdict: STRONG
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $50,152,016
Expenses: $46,440,421
Assets: $99,517,224
Liabilities: $59,630,099

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

Michael Rosskamm (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

Michael Rosskamm (Executive Director): $291,651 total reported compensation
Denise Lyons thru 0625 (Chief Operating Officer): $194,183 total reported compensation
Christopher Nace (HS Principal): $175,103 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

DCI believes that students should have a say in, make choices for, and really own their education.

What it reported doing in 2024

DCI provides advanced language learning in Chinese, French, and Spanish, and the international baccalaureate middle years and diploma programs in a 1:1 technology environment to DC public middle and high school students. The charter school was founded by the elementary language immersion schools in DC to provide a pathway for their pre-k - 5th grade students. DCI inspires inquiring, engaged, knowledgeable and caring secondary students who are multilingual, culturally competent, and committed to proactively creating a socially just and sustainable world. Cornerstones of the DCI education: International Baccalaureate For All, advanced language learning in Chinese, Spanish, and French and a focus on student agency powered by our 1:1 Chromebook.

Operating model

Revenue model: Earned-program. 90% 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 80
Transparency & Controls: 83
Accountability: 100
Sustainability: 58
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 81
Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 90
Fundraising efficiency: $10.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
Foreign activity oversight: Limited
Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.14; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $42M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $292K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1M reported
Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
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.

Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.