Downtown Montessori Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391851636
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Phone
4147446005
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,371,470
Expenses
$3,409,730
Assets
$6,320,675
Liabilities
$3,507,044

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL MOORE (PRESIDENT)
  • TRAVIS RHOADES (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • IAN SPANIC (EXECUTIVE DIR.): $142,873 total reported compensation
  • COLLEEN MCQUADE (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $119,575 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To create a montessori environment where the child's early experiences with learning will help him or her to become a self-confident, competent, cooperative adult.

What it reported doing in 2024

Downtown montessori academy is a small, diverse, community-focused montessori elementary school that has been serving families since 1976. As a city of milwaukee charter school, students who reach age 4 by september 1 can attend our school with tuition provided by public funds. Our mission is to provide a montessori education to a diverse group of k3-8th grade students. We are a title i school of recognition, and we have grown to serve nearly 300 children and families, providing an intimate small-school environment, upgraded facilities, and an award-winning outdoor classroom and play space. We continually engage with the broader community to leverage resources to provide a rich learning environment for our students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 80% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -1.1%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.85; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 78.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.