Ember Charter School for Mindful Educationinnovation & Transformation

What it reported doing in 2024

REGULAR EDUCATION - ECSFMEIT was authorized to receive its charter in September 2009 by the New York City Department of Education. ECSFMEIT was issued its charter by the Board OF the Regents of New York State Education Department in January 2010.ECSFMEIT uses its innovative management structure called the Ember to operate its charter school, one that takes advantage of the unique strengths of the professional-partnership organizational model to maximize the acquisition, development and retention of top human capital to serve our students, achieve our mission and realize our vision. The Ember is a hybrid of the traditional nonprofit-charter school structure and the professional service firm (the management structure used by law firms, medical practices, investment banks, etc.): while like the traditional nonprofit in that the Board of Trustees maintains ultimate control and close supervision over the organization, the Trustees delegate the day to day management, leadership and operation of the school to a small group of its teacher-leaders (the Partners), who, like law firm partners who continue to practice law, will continue to teach fulltime and divide the school-wide level responsibilities among the group, each Partner taking on a distinct leadership/management role. The remaining classrooms in the school will be staffed with Associates (both Senior and Junior), who are teachers with anywhere from 0 to 5 years of teaching experience or equivalent. Like all top law firms, the expectation will be that every Associate is working towards becoming a Partner, a teacherleader who is ready to join in partnership with their colleagues to open and lead more schools. ECSFMEIT does not have one traditional Principalinstead the current SIX (6) Partners are the co-school leaders, delegated full authority over the school as a group (as a partnership); with the support of an Executive Officer and administrative staff to manage and operate the day to day business and operations of the school, the Partners will be able to focus on their twin responsibilities of teaching (students and Associates), and leading (serving as the strategic planners and decision makers for the enterprise). As a group, the Partners report directly to the Board of Trustees and are held accountable for the success of the charter school. ECSFMEIT began with three (3) Associates and three (3) Partners, where each Partner managed and supervised a specific set of enterprise level responsibilities (Business-Operations (Managing Partner), Instruction-Assessment-Data (Pedagogy Partner), and Special Education/ELLs/Special Family Matters (Stakeholder Services Partner)).DURING THE FISCAL YEAR END JUNE 30, 2017 ECSFMEIT ADDED A FOURTH "PARTNER." DURING THE FISCAL YEAR END JUNE 30, 2022 ECSFMEIT ADDED THE FIFTH AND SIXTH "PARTNER."Ember Charter Schools is a merger between two innovative schools, Teaching Firms of American (K-6)and The Anew School (7-11), designed to foster and developer the untapped potential our students who are traditionally, and unfairly, labeled "at-risk". We believe that when given access to opportunity, any child can reach their potential, becoming a community leader today and well into the future.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
• Fundraising efficiency: $5.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • 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: -22.2%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.13; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 14%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings