First State Montessori Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273480706
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wilmington, DE, USA
Phone
3025761500
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,141,672
Expenses
$10,673,104
Assets
$26,922,699
Liabilities
$36,833,057

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • COURTNEY FOX (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $236,009 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH MADEN (DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION): $174,618 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the first state montessori academy is to create successful, contributing, life-long learners in a montessori public educational program for students in kindergarten through 8th grade.

What it reported doing in 2024

First state montessori academy (fsma) opened in 2014 in downtown wilmington, Delaware. We serve a diverse community of 600 children in grades kindergarten through 8th grade. Our program has successfully integrated a fully authentic montessori curriculum with the common core state standards. At the end of our academic year, fsma has met all academic, operational, and financial benchmarks set forth by the state of Delaware.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 65% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.6%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.52; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.37; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.6% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $236K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.