Professional Childrens School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 131635277
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2125823116
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Performing Arts Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,193,926
- Expenses
- $8,308,163
- Assets
- $17,200,844
- Liabilities
- $6,058,776
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES DAWSON (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $502,804 total reported compensation
- PAUL Q KANE (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $257,309 total reported compensation
- REEM ABU-AMARA (DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY): $197,766 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 professional children's school is to provide a challenging academic education for young people working in or studying for careers in the performing and visual arts, competitive sports and other endeavors; to meet the diverse needs of our students; provide mastery of fundamental skills and prepare them for college or other post-secondary education; to teach young people to balance the demands of their professional, personal and academic lives; to provide support for young people who must often contend with the pressures of the adult world in addition to the normal pressures of adolescence; to encourage young people to respect others of diverse ethnic, racial, economic, geographic and artistic backgrounds; to balance their individual needs with the needs of others and to accept responsibility for their decisions; to foster a community in which both academic and artistic pursuits are valued.
What it reported doing in 2024
Professional children's school is an independent coeducational day school for students in grades 4 through 12 who are preparing for or are already pursuing careers in the performing arts, entertainment or competitive sports, or who are drawn to a creative enviornment supportive of the arts. The school enrolls approximately 125 students and graduated 20 students in 2024.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 82.4%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- 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: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.4%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.07; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 82.4% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $503K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $397K reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.