Lexington Montessori School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042314257
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Lexington, MA, USA
Phone
7818628571
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,034,443
Expenses
$9,100,811
Assets
$17,329,188
Liabilities
$6,635,502

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CORINNE FOSTER (PRESIDENT)
  • RACHEL VORKINK (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN CLARK (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $257,553 total reported compensation
  • KATHLEEN LITTLE (ASST HEAD FOR FINANCE AND): $138,767 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM MAIER (DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC AND ALUMNI PROJECTS): $125,716 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lexington montessori school builds an inclusive, joyful community that ignites self-discovery through purposeful learning, inspiring children to embrace and challenge the world with compassion, resilience and courage.

What it reported doing in 2024

Providing independent educational services on a nondiscriminatory basis to 242 students from preschool to grade eight using the montessori method.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 80.9%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 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: 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: 9.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.9; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.6% of revenue deployed · 80.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $258K · 19 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.