School in the Square Public Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810932728
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
7189167683
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,238,108
Expenses
$28,854,395
Assets
$91,841,435
Liabilities
$91,840,719

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EVAN MEYERS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • EVAN MEYERS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $340,381 total reported compensation
  • YEOU JEY VASCONCELOS (HEAD OF SCHOOLS): $291,882 total reported compensation
  • JUMAANE SAUNDERS (PRINCIPAL): $234,469 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

School in the square ("s2") engages, educates and empowers adolescents to respond mindfully and creatively to life's opportunities and challenges. S2 is a place where students, families and educators are seen, heard, and inspired and where students build the academic foundations, emotional intelligence and leadership skills necessary to excel in their futures. S2 draws its name from the concept of the public square, where communities gather to solve problems and celebrate successes.

What it reported doing in 2024

Academic achievement is our key focus. S2 is committed to being data driven while keeping students, not only test scores, at the center. Our students come from many places with varied levels of academic skills. To meet students at their level and pace, a co-teaching model allows for targeted teaching in all core academic classes. Students who are particularly struggling benefit from additional small group learning periods throughout the week. As well, students can take advantage of computer-based blended-learning curricula in both ela and math, which provide extra practice for lower performers and more challenging work for higher performers. We are personalizing each student's education because that is the key to their success.2. Learning extends beyond the classroom. S2 offers high quality experiences that spark each student's passion for learning and build skills beyond core subjects. Teaching artists and staff from community-based organizations mentor cohorts of youth through interest-aligned programming. Students benefit from our partnerships with the people's theatre project and the mets baseball team, and enjoy playing rugby, making mural art, taking classes in coding and exploring cartoon art. Through these programs students gain a vision of future possibilities and forge bonds with their community.3. Building a democratic community. At s2, we give students varied and authentic opportunities to practice democracy and make choices that contribute to the school environment. Every six days, students come together for voice, a time for reading texts, discussing complicated issues, developing proposals and presentations, and participating in democratic decision-making. Through voice, we empower students to address important school, community and social issues while learning multicultural awareness practices and perspective taking. We find that when children believe their choices matter, they crave the academic and personal skills necessary to exercise them responsibly.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 79% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 78.1%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $230.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.18; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 42.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.8% of revenue deployed · 78.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $22.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $340K · 22 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.