Springtide Education Initiatives

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
881073525
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Traverse City, MI, USA
Phone
2314992749
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Reported finances

Revenue
$348,437
Expenses
$346,576
Assets
$103,728
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lacie Thornton (President)

People named in this filing

  • Lacie Thornton (President)
  • Victoria Murphy (Director)
  • Brian Thelen (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Springtide Education Initiatives Northern Blooms Montessori is a child care center serving children ages 12 months through six years of age. One teacher with one assistant in each classroom provides care for the enrolled children. The program operates in two-classroom in the Commongrounds real estate cooperative in Traverse City. 100 percent of the staff's time will be dedicated to caring for the children and the classroom environment. This program is a new program, so past activities have all been volunteer: all expenses thus far have gone into the construction and project management necessary to get the center opened. Funding thus far has been through private and public grants. Currently, approximately 1 percent of our overall expenses is currently allocated to the funding activities. Moving forward, this program will be funded through enrollment fees, membership fees, tuition, donations, and grants. Parent volunteers will provide a large part of the services for the funding structur

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Northern Blooms Montessori provided early childhood education to children ages 12 months to 6 years old and cared for 38 children, operating at full capacity. Northern Blooms offfered both full time and part time care to families. As part of our commitment to accessible education, four of these placements were tri-share family spots, supporting families through cost-sharing initiatives. To further our mission of educating families about Montessori principles, we hosted an educational evening in October , offering parents and caregivers an opportunity to learn more about our child-centered approach to learning. In addition to our core educational services, we engaged the broader community through nine public story time events. These events were open to both enrolled families and the community, fostering literacy and engagement. Northern Blooms Montessori collaborated with several local organizations, including Oryana, the Children's Advocacy Center, Companion Animal Hospital, and the Childrens Garden, to bring these events to life. Through these efforts, Northern Blooms Montessori continued to fulfill its mission of providing high-quality early childhood education while actively supporting family and community engagement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 37.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 65.3% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 67.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $234K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.