Saint Helena Family Center Inc DBA Sun and Stars Montessori School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942765955
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Helena, CA, USA
Phone
7079671984
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$554,684
Expenses
$536,103
Assets
$302,784
Liabilities
$337

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Andrea Minoo (Vice President)
  • Christina Nicholson (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tammy Harbison (Treasurer): $93,324 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Operation of a montessori school in st. Helena, ca for approximately 50 students

What it reported doing in 2024

Sun and Stars Montessori School continues to serve toddlers, preschool and kindergarten age children with Spanish instruction in the Stars class and Spanish immersion in the Suns class. The staff of teachers, each with a specialty to enhance the curriculum, offers a well-rounded program incorporating an emphasis in the arts and cultural subjects.The vision of Sun and Stars Montessori School is to provide a nurturing educational environment; one which feeds the entire child emotionally, cognitively, physically. and spiritually. We believe that when the environment is appropriate for the childs growth and development, it will result in children who learn how to learn and develop a true joy for the process.Currently, there are 56 STUDENTS

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $99.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.3%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.4%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $480K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $93K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is not authorized to operate as a charity in California.