Montessori Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
752990833
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Paradise Valley, AZ, USA
Phone
4809451121
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,125,923
Expenses
$2,276,015
Assets
$4,593,074
Liabilities
$4,930,913

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JULIANNE NEWMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIANNE NEWMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $100,363 total reported compensation
  • BAILEY BEDNARZ (GOV BOARD/TEACHER): $44,435 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Charter school

What it reported doing in 2024

Montessori academy is a unique private preschool and k-8 public charter school that specializes in bringing out the highest level of achievement from every student. Our montessori curriculum is aligned to the national common core standards for kindergarten through 8th grade. Our students experience education through our outdoor environments, hands-on learning materials, and interactive lessons. The school's primary mission is to guide children on their journey into a continually evolving, dynamic world that engages their minds and enlivens their imaginations. Each component of the educational journey will instill a love of learning, high self-esteem, and positive values resulting in high academic achievement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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: 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: Pass
    • 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: -7.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.07; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.2% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 1 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2009 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.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.