Gateway Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260749959
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Wilmington, DE, USA
Phone
3026334091
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,914,861
Expenses
$5,269,089
Assets
$4,444,697
Liabilities
$11,528,043

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WINFRED BROWNE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • GREGORY JONES (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CATHERINE DOLAN (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $146,835 total reported compensation
  • MARLIN WHITE (PRINCIPAL): $137,774 total reported compensation
  • SHANNON STAAB (PARENT DIRECTOR): $100,052 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 gateway charter school is to provide an extraordinary educational opportunity for children who are struggling to achieve academic success in a traditional school environment, utilizing research-based intervention strategies and a highly tailored, arts-based learning environment that seeks to identify and capitalize on a student's strengths and interests. To become a resource to the community as a center for the professional development and education of teachers, parents and students by providing access to the latest research-based curriculum, technology and training.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gateway charter school (gcs) serves students in grades k-8, providing a unique educational experience through the integration of arts, small class sizes, and social-emotional learning. Our enriching environment supports the holistic development of each student.gcs was approved for expansion in 2021 by adding grades k,1 & 2. We began our expansion with the inaugural kindergarten class in fall 2022, and we are excited to have completed this journey. In the 2024-2025 school year, gcs will include all these foundational grades, further enhancing our comprehensive educational offerings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 65.5%; rating input score 66
  • 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: Limited
  • 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.9%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.59; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59% of revenue deployed · 65.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.