Orchard Valley Waldorf School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030330590
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
East Montpelier, VT, USA
Phone
8024567400
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,353,820
Expenses
$2,145,279
Assets
$1,509,497
Liabilities
$580,422

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MADELIEF WELTERS (ADMINISTRATI): $56,260 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Educational institution that serves children from early childhood through eighth grade. We deliver proven educational programs, guiding each student along a path that allows the child to grow into young adulthood with inner confidence, a love of learning, and the dynamic thinking required to promote social renewal. We seek to awaken and educate the whole child by equally engaging the mind, enlivening the imagination, and strengthening the will, in harmony with the natural stages of child development. This is accomplished by: integrating the arts into all aspects of the curriculum - foreign language, humanities, math and sciences creating an environment of safety and acceptance that seeks to recognize the special gifts of each child cultivating a living relationship between the land, our children, and the community where the joys and traditions of play, work, festivals and song unfold.

What it reported doing in 2024

A.founded in 2004, orchard valley is an independent waldorf school in central Vermont, serving children aged three months through eighth grade. Orchard valley waldorf school is a vibrant and diverse learning community dedicated to nurturing our students' intellectual, social, and creative potential. Our school strives to offer a holistic education that aligns with the principles of waldorf education. It emphasizes the importance of fostering imagination, creativity, and a grounding connection to the natural world by engaging the children's heads, hands, and hearts in all their lessons and play. Orchard valley serves students on two campuses. In montpelier, at the child's garden campus, sweet clover nursery uses a combined waldorf and pickler methodology to serve children aged 3 months-3 years. Even at this young age, sweet clover emphasizes bodily autonomy and independence as children play inside their beautiful, cozy classrooms and outdoor spaces. Grace farm, our 55-acre campus in east montpelier, houses programs for ages 3.5 years through the 8th grade using waldorf teaching methods. All students are taught in a screen-free environment, and the curriculum heavily integrates our working farm and garden, along with music, the arts, and movement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 65% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $44.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.9%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.6% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.