South Shore Stars Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237097840
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone
7813318505
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Child Day Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,243,202
Expenses
$13,123,432
Assets
$15,950,867
Liabilities
$6,711,904

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL MEONI (PRESIDENT)
  • TOM FINDLEY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DR JENNIFER CURTIS (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR JENNIFER CURTIS (CEO): $181,738 total reported compensation
  • ROBERTA LONDON (FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $122,807 total reported compensation
  • JACLYN MARTINSON (SCHOOL AGE PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $122,663 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Stars provides comprehensive early education and youth development programs that enhance the optimal growth of children from economically and culturally diverse families, using a family support approach in collaboration with schools and other service providers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Early education/preschool: our three nationally accredited early education/preschool centers support young children, including toddlers, infants, and preschoolers at our weymouth location, preschoolers at our randolph location, and preschoolers and toddlers at our quincy location. All children are offered the opportunity to learn in a safe, nurturing, and educationally rich environment. Teachers plan child-centered activities that are fun and spark exploration, creativity, and the mastery of new skills. The foundation of our program structure is highscope curriculum, which emphasizes child-centered learning. Research has shown that this type of educational experience is most effective in helping young children reach appropriate developmental milestones. Teachers frequently assess children's development and use the data to plan curriculum and develop educational strategies.supporting social and emotional learning is the heart of stars' programming and integrated into our daily practice. Low child staff ratios, small group size, and specialized training are essential to our success. Activities are included in weekly classroom plans that support the development of positive peer relationships, empathy, problem solving skills and the ability to self-regulate.we place great value on the partnerships we form with our families, believing that parent involvement is essential to children's growth and development. We build trusting relationships with families, incorporating respectful communication that considers diverse family structure, values and traditions. Our preschool family support clinician helps staff and parents/guardians with behavior management, coping with family stress and finding needed resources.our teachers are very diverse, speaking many languages, reflecting our families' backgrounds. Our culturally competent, multicultural approach is designed to support each child's construction of a knowledgeable, confident self-identity, along with an appreciation of different cultures.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 85% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 65.3%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $43.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd 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: 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.9%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61% of revenue deployed · 65.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $8.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $182K · 26 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.