Jewish Community Day School

Legal name: Jewish Community Day School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043278141
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Watertown, MA, United States
Phone
617-972-1733
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,507,377
Expenses
$10,468,963
Assets
$15,568,252
Liabilities
$3,178,633

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nicole Gann (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shira Deener (Head of School): $309,065 total reported compensation
  • Robert Neuman (Director of Operations): $159,176 total reported compensation
  • Edward J Black (Director of Finance): $156,168 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We open worlds beyond our own. When we ask a child to learn… The mission of JCDS, Boston's Jewish Community Day School, is to provide a premier education that: Nurtures each student's capacity for intellectual discovery and decision-making within a respectful, pluralistic, dual language Hebrew-English environment. Gives our graduates the ability to create their futures informed by Jewish values, texts and culture, and to make a difference in their communities and in the world. Kindles the flame of lifelong learning in all its constituencies and serves as an inspirational model of innovative, effective and joyful teaching, and learning beyond the school.

What it reported doing in 2024

Elementary and Middle School Jewish Education for 179 Students JCDS is committed to creating an environment that nurtures the whole child and enables each child to reach his or her highest potential. The school strives to empower children to acquire knowledge and academic skills in a variety of disciplines, develop intellectual curiosity, experience the excitement of learning and exploration, gain understanding and respect for self and others and build physical and emotional well-being. The school provides an environment of academic excellence and cultural integration in which Hebrew and English are spoken throughout the day. It emphasizes awareness and appreciation of individual and group differences, teaches Jewish social and moral values and promotes a strong Jewish identity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 65% for direct work, and 35% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.3%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 69.8% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $8.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $309K · 18 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $955K reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 47 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.